Introduction

Food and culinary practices help us understand social change, cultural identities, class, and gender (Mintz & Du Bois, 2002, p.99-119). As a marker of difference, food is a tool that different groups use to differentiate themselves by creating different eating patterns (Caplan, 1997, p.9). These culturally defined material substances not only feed people’s stomachs but also carry meanings that serve many different social and cultural purposes.

Beer has long been an essential part of Hong Kong people’s daily life since the 1970s when numerous labourers arrived from mainland China (Speece, Kawahara, & So, 1994, p.11). In the early days, it was perceived as ‘a good cooling drink’ under the heat during summer (Siu, 1976, p.1) and predominantly consumed by blue-collar workers with low education and income, who usually consumed Tsing Tao from China (ibid, p.20). In the 1980s, Hong Kong’s economy grew, and the number of manual labourers decreased, resulting in a stagnation in beer consumption (Speece, Kawahara, & So, 1994, p.11). In the 1990s, the market comprised imported commercial beer from Europe, America, China and other Asian countries. Though the locally brewed San Miguel held 60-65% of the market in 1990 (ibid), it was manufactured by a Philippines company and marketed as Spanish beer. Perceived as a “cheap” brand, it lost market share eventually as Hong Kong became more affluent. As a result, the brand started to brew the German Löwenbräu and the Japanese Kirin under licences, while its closest competitor Danish Carlsberg, despite being brewed locally, did not acquire a “local” image and was perceived as a ‘drink for expatriates’ and an up-market beer. Therefore, the beer market since the 1980s is characterised as the prevalence of “foreign” commercial beer, and to succeed in the market, it was necessary to maintain a foreign brand image, which was essential in reflecting the consumers’ social status and taste.

Nevertheless, in recent years, craft beer has taken away the fame of imported and mass-produced commercial beer, whereas many of these craft beers are productions of local craft breweries. Since the opening of the first craft brewery in 2013, the number of its counterparts increased dramatically over the years, as shown in Table 1 below. Many bars and taprooms specialized in craft beers also boomed in Central, Mong Kong, and Prince Edward. In 2017, the annual beer festival, Beertopia, featured 500 beers of which 87 craft beers were from 30 local breweries (DeWolf, 2017). Given that craft beers are generally higher in price and smaller in production, they do not challenge commercial beers in terms of market share, but the drastic increase in the number of local breweries and the growing popularity in Hong Kong made it worth studying. How did locally brewed beers evolve from bad and cheap beers to something sought after by ‘discerning’ and ‘sophisticated’ beer lovers (Murray & O’Neill, 2012, p.900)?

Year	Number of Breweries in Hong Kong
1995 2002 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018	1 2 4 5 15 19 29 34

Table 1: Number of breweries in Hong Kong (RateBeer, 2018)

In this article, I argue that the growing trend of local craft beer (LCB) is partly attributable to the rise of localism in Hong Kong, which is a political movement that focuses on preserving Hong Kong’s identity and autonomy as a response to the growing political encroachment by the Chinese central government (Law, 2013, p.96). Meanwhile, they also help the locals maintain their Hong Kong identity by participating in the greater nostalgic movement.

 

Craft Beer in the World

The micro-brewing movement ‘started in the UK in the late 1970s, flourished in the United States in the 1990s, and spread to the corners of the world in the first decade of the 21st century’(Oliver & Colicchio, 2012, p.270). Craft breweries are ‘small in production volume, independent enterprises, and focus on differentiation with their value proposition anchored upon utilizing both traditional styles, using malted barley, combined with their own unique formulas by adding nontraditional ingredients, hence developing new styles that have no precedent’(Rogerson, 2016, p.230).

Mclaughlin et al. (2014, p.135-7) attribute the rise of craft brewing in the U.S. to two major theories: resource-partition theory and neo-localism. The former suggests ‘as an industry matures, multiple segments may emerge’, meaning that after traditional commercial beers, which are relatively homogeneous, satisfy the demand of the majority of consumers, a demand for higher quality and diverse beer choices appear. ‘Highly experimental, innovative and opportunistic’ craft brewers meet the growing demand by experimenting with different flavourings (Reid, Mclaughlin, & Moore, 2014, p.120). This theory echoes Paterson and Hoalst-Pullen’s idea that globalization in the beer industry resulted in few styles readily available and ‘left a vacuum for the modern craft beer movement’ (Patterson & Hoalst-Pullen, 2014, p.5).

However, the theory is insufficient as there is ‘a wide array of fine beers available from importers and larger breweries’ (Flack, 1997, p.48). Neo-localism, which is ‘the deliberate seeking out of regional lore and local attachment by residents within a community’ (Shortridge, 1996, p.10), can complement the theory. In the U.S., Mcdonald’s and Wal-Marts have made every town virtually identical, so people actively create a new sense of place (Schnell & Reese, 2003, p.47). Similarly, globalization has made people around the globe share ‘a homogenous, mutually intelligible culture’ (Watson, 1997, p.7) and practically the same beer, the global craft brewing movement reflects ‘the desire of people to break away from the smothering homogeneity of popular (global) culture and reestablish connections with local communities, settings, and economies’(Schnell & Reese, 2003, p.46). By creating distinctive flavours that are only locally available, naming and labelling the beers with unique local features, and adopting marketing strategies that emphasize local identity and distinctiveness, craft brewers create some genuinely local experience.

Hong Kong Identity, Localism and Food

Food consumption and eating practices have been vital in the construction of Hong Kong people’s identity, but only since the 1980s (Law, 2013, p.87-90). After World War II, refugees from China made up a significant portion of the population but did not feel any belonging to the city and only saw themselves as migrants from China. In the 50s to 60s, apoliticization policies of the colonial government and the Cold War suppressed cultural activities as well as the local identity in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong identity did not exist.

The 1980s was the time when the Sino-British negotiations about Hong Kong’s future took place. The signing of the Sino-British Declaration in 1984 not only confirmed that Hong Kong’s sovereignty would be transferred to Beijing in 1994 but also triggered an identity crisis for the locals, resulting in the pressing need of cultural identification. As a result, the once disappeared herbal tea shops returned and peaked in the 1990s as ‘part of a nostalgic movement among Hong Kong Chinese’ and a reaction to the identity crisis (Cheng, 1997, p.51-2; 1997). Herbal tea, as a part of the traditional Chinese folk culture, was used to remind people of their Chinese roots abandoned previously amid the construction of a modern and metropolitan Hong Kong identity. On the other hand, Tam (1997) suggested yumcha (the practice of eating various hot and cold foods, in a restaurant, when Chinese tea is served) was significant in culturalisation of the Hong Kong identity, which was ‘both Chinese and Western’ as well as ‘non-Chinese and non-Western’ whereas cultural hybridity and metropolitaneity were stressed. Therefore, despite the differences in the meaning of the Hong Kong identity, herbal tea and yumcha were of great importance in identity construction in the 1990s as a response to the political change in 1997.

Following the transition, public discontent towards both the city’s and Beijing governments intensified. Over 500,000 people participated in the annual July 1 demonstration in 2003, when Hong Kong people first sought their autonomy with action on such a large scale. The 2003 march became the watershed of the maturity of the local identity (Law, 2013, p.92). Cheung (2005, p.263) suggested that the questions had become ‘what it means to be “Hongkongese”’ and ‘who is “Chinese, and observed the popularity of Hong Kong’s “low” and everyday cuisine, especially puhn choi (basin food) and si fohng choi (private kitchen food). He explained the phenomenon as ‘people’s nostalgia for tradition, remembrance of the past and an imagination of the “good old days” (ibid, p.260). These “low” cuisines fostered the construction of a specific Hong Kong local identity and helped the people differentiate themselves from the Chinese in the mainland. Hongkongness, instead of Chinese, is emphasized in this evolved identity.

A series of social movements have continued reshaping the Hong Kong identity, for instance, protests against the demolition of Star Ferry Pier and Queen Mary Pier in 2006 and 2007, as well as the construction of High-Speed Railway in 2008 emphasized protecting the collective memories and the democratic participation in city planning (Law, 2013, p.93-4). These piers are not only symbols of the colonial time but also memories which deserve preservation. Democratic participation also entails the equal rights of members of the community to decide the future of Hong Kong collectively and autonomously. Nevertheless, The Beijing government increased its intervention in Hong Kong’s domestic affairs, such as imposing a patriotic education curriculum in 2012, and conflicts between Hongkongers and mainlanders have grown, including disruptions brought by parallel trading activities and hospital beds being occupied by mainland mothers. These gave rise to the anti-Chinese and anti-mainlandisation movement, namely Localism, as reflected by the establishment of various localist groups since 2010. The localists regard that ‘the Chinese government is attempting to invade Hong Kong and weaken Hong Kong’s identity’(Kwong, 2016, p.66) and Hong Kong people are responsible for safeguarding the Hong Kong core values, the language – Cantonese, the local culture and also the local identity, which are all vulnerable under Beijing’s encroachment in the political and cultural spheres.

Therefore, Hong Kong’s identity has undergone an evolution from non-existence before the 1980s, to being associated with Chineseness and metropolieaneity in the 1990s, a distinct Hong Kong culture and collective memories after 2003, and finally an anti-Chinese and anti-integration sentiment in the last few years. Alongside this evolution, food has played an important role as a medium for identity construction and, in the following, I suggest that LCB shared a similar effect when localism grew.

Craft Beer in Hong Kong

As aforementioned, the number of microbreweries, local craft beer bars and taprooms in Hong Kong increased drastically in the last few years. Undoubtedly, it is in part due to the global craft beer movement in the first decade of the twenty-first century and the excitement brought by the new and diverse beer selections. Fung, a 23-year-old university graduate, said he first tried LCB simply because of the novelty of LCB and his curiosity, but then he found it tasted better than what he usually drinks. The resource-partition theory discussed above indeed contributes partly to phenomenon, but is insufficient in explaining how the images of LCB are constructed and used in the beer market.

Unlike San Miguel, which intentionally marketed its locally brewed beer with foreign images, LCB breweries nowadays emphasize that their beer is “made in Hong Kong” and their connections with the city. For example, Young Master Brewery, one of the major breweries, is named after a 1960s local Cantonese movie “Gongchang Shaoye” (the young master of the factory). Despite his Indian origin, the owner of the brewery was fascinated by the bright industrial past of Hong Kong and wanted to evoke the old memories (Yinjunzi, 2015). The founder of another major player in the market, Moonzen Brewery, said in an interview ‘Moonzen Brewery is more than just beer. As told by our brand name, which means ‘Door God’, our core philosophy is to celebrate local culture while reviving local craftsmanship. We want to create a local brand that gives back to Hong Kong.’(InvestHK, 2015) On the website of Lion Rock Brewery (2015), it is written, “…we share the same core values of Hong Kong people – “Strive for excellence”. We strive to create inspired local recipes that pay respect to Hong Kong people’s industrious nature, perseverance and solidarity spirit.” Lion Rock is more than simply a landmark in Hong Kong, but also symbolizes how the local residents struggled in poverty and adversity in the 1950s as reflected in songs and TV dramas. These are a few of the many breweries which celebrate the old Hong Kong memories and the local culture with their names.

In addition, these breweries name and label their production with local elements. For example, Moonzen names its beer with names of god and goddess in Cantonese folk stories, such as Thunder God, Jade Emperor, Monkey King, etc., and also associates them with stories. Lion Rock Brewery names the products with some popular phrases, such as dongfangzhizhu (Oriental Pearl), wanfuchaozong (Expandables) and yidaizongshi (Grandmaster), which also refers to the famous Kungfu master movie character, Ip Man. Local slangs, i.e. gangnan (Hong Kong man) and gangnu (Hong Kong girl), and famous local landmarks, i.e. Dragon’s Back and Big Wave Bay, are also used by other breweries.

Apart from brewing traditional pale ale, IPA and pilsner, these local microbreweries also add local ingredients and flavours to their recipes. Borrowing the concept of the popular local sugarcane juice and homemade “life-nurturing” soup, Mak’s Brewery produced sugarcane stout and Longan beer with other traditional Chinese medicine ingredients, such as goji and candied date (Wong, 2015). Imitating the classic soda drink with a salted line commonly found in local Cha Chaan Tengs, Young Master brews Cha Chaan Teng Gose (or xianningpi in Chinese). Craft brewing provides these companies room to invent their beer by incorporating local ingredients and flavours.

From the above, it is observed that the breweries not only put emphasis on the fact that the beers are locally brewed but also attempt to connect the products to the local culture and collective memories, which are essential parts that make up the Hong Kong identity. Neo-localism contributed partly to the craft beer movement in the U.S. (Flack, 1997; Schnell and Reese, 2003), as a response to the homogenizing national culture by creating a sense of place. As Schnell and Reese (2003, p.65) point out, many of the images used to market LCB are ‘obscure to anybody but the initiated insider and this sense of community that comes from having such knowledge is a widespread part of the appeal’. Consider the fact that most of the stories, slangs, symbols and tastes used by the Hong Kong breweries are only known by the locals, they are used to appeal to the locals and as a statement of pride in the local culture and history.

However, brewing locally and adding local elements do not turn beer, an essentially foreign drink, into something similar to herbal tea, sugarcane juice and soda with salted lime. Nonetheless, these attempts successfully made LCB a fusion drink and a product of cultural hybridity. Moonzen’s labels which feature the Chinese god and goddess in a Western comic style are examples of a mixing of local and Western culture. Not only the breweries, the LCB bars and taprooms also participate in the process by offering fusion side dishes. The Ale Project in Mong Kok serves dishes such as “Lap Cheong Schmear”^[1], “Crispy Cajun Wings with Fermented Tofu Dip” and “Siu Yuk Cubano”^[2]. This cultural hybridity is also reflected in the coexistence of the Western decor and local features, i.e., the pair of Door Gods paintings and the Mong Kok minibus sign, at the bar. This mixing of cultures is consistent with Hong Kong’s ‘diversity’ and ‘syncretism’(Tam, 1997, p.298), which contribute to an indispensable feature of the identity.

It is important to note that though some kinds of Chinese features are incorporated in the beer and the bars, they are more closely related to Cantonese folk culture which the locals do not relate to the bigger Chinese concept and those shared by the North. For the locals, the door gods, sugarcane juice, homemade soup and lap cheong, despite their Chinese origin, are essential parts of Hong Kong culture and the local collective memory. In the LCB movement, these local features are brought in again and mixed with the foreign culture, creating something both non-Chinese and not entirely Western, which fundamentally matches the characteristics of the Hong Kong identity.

The homogenizing American national culture contributed to neo-localism and the rise of craft beers. Similarly, Hong Kong’s culture and identity are under the threat of Beijing’s attempt at removal, whereas localism arose as a political movement to safeguard local history, language, memories and culture by differentiating the local features from the Chinese. LCB takes part in the movement by once again celebrating the good old days of Hong Kong as well as reminding the locals of the city’s collective memory. It, using Schnell and Reese’s words (2003, p.65), helps proclaim the difference and distinctiveness of Hong Kong, and build a renewed sense of loyalty to the city.

Conclusion

This paper discussed the rise and special features of local craft beer in Hong Kong in recent years and its relationship with the larger socio-political environment. The incorporation of local memories and culture into the beer is part of the nostalgic movement alongside the rise of localism which seeks to protect the distinctiveness of Hong Kong. Although LCB currently holds a small market share in Hong Kong, it fundamentally challenges the local beer market, which used to stigmatise local production. With the enhanced taste, greater variety, and the value added with local features and stories, LCB changed the meaning of “locally brewed”.

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^[1] Beer bread and pâté with local duck liver and pork chinese sausage

^[2] A sandwich made with pressed ciabatta, house roasted siu yuk (pork), sweet ham, chicharrones, hoisin (seafood) mustard, cheddar and Chinese pickles