Beer is a pretty big part of the night life culture in Xinjiang. Night markets, food streets and restaurants serve long necks and cans, but there isn’t really a presence of pubs or bars. Before arriving in Urumqi my only tap was a litre of Wusu Red in an open air food market in Aksu, from a pop-up bar.
After back to back 5 hour train trips from Aksu to Korla and Korla to Urumqi, I was keen to stretch the legs and grab an afternoon beer. Resources like Trip.Com tend to focus on whisky bars and cocktail bars, which is definitely the Chinese preference. I am not sure how I discovered the New Frontier Brewing Company’s outlet on the second floor of a shopping centre.
Your three best friends in China are AMAP, AliPay and Google Translate. AMAP is the Chinese Google Maps which has a good English interface. To find New Frontier Brewing Company’s OG venue you need to type in “Northwest Jingniang”. Three venues come up. And you want the (Aolong Branch).
After doing a lap of the shopping centre, I found an entrance and lo and behold, the it was the New Frontier Brewing Company’s original outlet, complete with bar and gleaming brewing equipment. I pieced together the history of New Frontier on my last evening in Urumqi at the second venue. It started in 2019 in the shopping centre and has branched out more recently.
They write up their beers well. They also use local ingredients where possible. That’s what I’ve noticed here in China. They aren’t afraid of throwing something different into the mix. New Frontier’s flagship lager was differentiated by the presence of “Hetien Rose Leaf”, which is rose grown on the edge of the desert in Southern Xinjiang. It gave the beer not an unpleasant piquancy and a dark plum hue.
Osmanthus is an Asian shrub and the leaves and flowers are used in a number of different ways – tea and cooking for example. I’ve seen used by craft breweries in Hong Kong and Singapore and New Frontier uses it in their pale ale. Hard to describe the different taste from a regular pale ale – but totally potable.
The barman pushed the Oil Field Stout on me. It was very good and reminded me of old school Australian stouts like Sheaf or Southwark. They had a small amount of IPA left and that was fine also. Despite the lack of English, through the magic of Google Translate and AMAP, the boys behind the tipped me off to Seven Arrows Brewhouse which was the subject of an Instagram reel that can be found here.
What the boys didn’t alert me to was that New Frontier had a second outlet in Urumqi. After a long day at Heavenly Lake, I wanted a decent feed. I don’t know what I typed into AMAP, but Northwest Jingniang came up but with a different location and only 1km or so from my hotel. Fortuitous™.
This is a smart looking establishment and turns out has only been open for three months. The manager could speak good English and generously/foolishly alerted me to their Happy Hour. 68RMB (AUD$14.50) for all you can drink between 6pm and 9pm. Given the beers are around 24RMB (AUD$5), that’s generous.
The food menu and the beer menu were identical between the two venues. In both establishments the spicy edamame was excellent. Now I’ve been going hard on the Chinese food since I’ve been here, but the sausage option on the menu caught my eye and 68RMB for a plate of five different sausages felt like a another bargain.
Sadly, the beer selection was very limited because of a lack of availability. According to the manager they had pulled large crowds over the National Week Holiday period and had been drunk dry of both IPAs and both wheat beers. I tried a glass of Cranberry Ale, which wasn’t too bad – but I couldn’t back up with a second. At about 8.30pm, I made to leave and the manager said “Wait – you still have half an hour!” Well, twist my rubber arm. I had another Hetian Rose Lager, which I really enjoyed – and called it a night. Craft beer in Urumqi – a real thing.
New Frontier Brewing Co (Aolong Plaza): 1355 Xinshi Changchun Middle Road, Urumqi
New Frontier Brewing Co (Economic & Technology Branch): 353 Fenghuangshan Street, Toutenhe, Urumqi
