Drinking in Haikou. Cheery Brewery – fortuitous

Our second day in Haikou ended in a most fortuitous way. Your correspondents can be accused of overusing that word, but this time it was most apt.

A day of biking, swimming and tombing was planned to be ended by a visit to the night market and the Baishamen amusement park. We had just finished a ride on a Ferris Wheel when a massive thunder storm hit. We missed being in a steel cage way above ground in a lightning storm by 5 minutes. After seeking refuge in a dodgem car ride, we had no choice but to make a run for it. A small restaurant was open and they kindly welcomed two very wet and bedraggled Australians. The lovely co-owner spoke some English and told us that their beer came from a local brewery called “Cherry”. I tried a Wheat beer, which was very good and she printed off its location, which wasn’t far from Sharky.

My wingman was keen and we set off to find it. A cab ride and a couple of miss turns later – we finally stumbled across – “Cheery Brewery”. What a find! 16 taps including a couple from Mikkeller. A few google translate questions later the brewer and owner came in to have a chat.

Richard lived in England for four years before returning to his hometown and always home brewed. He set Cheery Brewery up 7 months ago and also imports a wide range of craft including Kaiju Krush from Australia.

I had a tasting paddle, which included IPAs, a coconut stout and a gose. I also had a half pint of his flagship brew the WTFog Weizen. All are excellent beers. The coconut stout was particularly fine. The brewers of Haikou are all mates and we’d missed a tap takeover by Drunk Bear by three nights. I think he might make some of his beer offsite, because I couldn’t believe he could produce so many varieties from such a small set up.

So you read about Cheery Brewery here first. A welcome discovery and a great end to a couple of fine days in Haikou.

Cheery Brewery: Longxing Lu, Longshua, Haikou, Hainan