Now that you’ve experienced cider, it’s time to dive deeper than ever into craft beer. This May, the Young Master Invitational Beer Festival is back for its second year, bringing some of the highest-rated craft beer brands from around the world to House 1881 in Tsim Sha Tsui for a weekend that will likely get a little blurry. By the looks of it, the festival will be bigger and better in 2019.
Between May 25 and 26, Young Master is bringing together 21 of the top breweries from countries like Denmark, the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, as well as ground-breaking breweries from more obscure places such as Estonia. Those include two very large and recognisable names in Mikkeller and Stone – brands that helped elevate the craft beer industry into the global powerhouse it is today. But some great emerging brands will bring the goods to Hong Kong, too. Among them are Norway’s highest-rated brewery on Ratebeer, Lervig, and South Korea’s pizza-and-beer pioneer Magpie. Not to mention Põhjala, an Estonian brewery that is making waves on the scene with big, bold beers like imperial stouts and porters.
If you’re intimidated by craft beer or think it’s just a bunch of high-alcohol IPAs, fear not. The festival will feature four themed sessions during which representatives from each brewery will be on hand to explain what you’re drinking, how it was made and why it tastes the way it does.
Those themed sessions are Hoppy (1pm-4pm) and Session & Strength (5pm-8pm) on May 25, and Sours (1pm-4pm) and Freestyle (5pm-8pm) on May 26. Fortunately for everyone attending, things don’t get going until 1pm each day, so you’ll have plenty of time to sleep off the prior day’s drinking.
Early bird tickets are still available. They start at $320 for one session, $580 for one day and $920 for both days, but the prices will go up soon, so act fast. And remember to drink responsibly.