CL-056 Christopher DeWolf Plays Tug of War

Welcome to the Good Beer Hunting Collective podcast, the show where members of our team interview each other to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of our favorite articles. I’m Evan Rail, international editor here at Good Beer Hunting.

As a longtime fan of Hong Kong action movies from directors like Tsui Hark and John Woo, I’ve often wondered about life in the city. With Hong Kong in the news over its ongoing protests and the tightening of Chinese rule, it was fascinating to read “City on Fire,” Christopher DeWolf’s recent article for Good Beer Hunting on craft beer in Hong Kong and the political situation there. Although the piece focuses on the city’s leading craft brewery, Young Master Brewery, it also brings up lots of other questions, including ideas about audience, and what it means to be a local flavor.

For example, if people in Hong Kong love a particular taste, spice, or type of food that is actually from mainland China, does that not eventually become a local flavor in Hong Kong itself? What would a Hong Kong beer actually taste like? How are breweries there dealing with the demonstrations in support of democracy? And how have things been affected by what was already a third wave of coronavirus infections?

In this episode, I talk to Christopher, a long-term Canadian resident of Hong Kong who is currently in Montreal. We discuss craft beer in Hong Kong, the political situation there, and even the city’s legendary street food scene, as well as the article Christopher’s working on next.

Here’s Christopher DeWolf.