Black Drongo Brewing Co.

Black Drongo Brewing Co. (in Chinese, Wu Qiu Pi Jiu, after the black drongo bird common in Taiwan's fields) was co-founded by Tim Smith and Devin Nail, school friends from Camas, Washington, together with Bella Wang, who runs the taproom. They began home-brewing in Taiwan for friends, saved for several years to build the brewery, and launched in 2019, opening to the public in March 2020. The brewery describes itself as extra small and fully independent, with no outside investors, and it focuses on the classic Pacific Northwest styles the founders grew up drinking. After two expansions it now supplies craft beer bars around Taiwan as well as its own taproom.

The beers

• Classic IPA, American IPA, 6.6%
• Yilan Ale, American pale ale, 5.7%
• Amber Ale, American amber, 5.6%
• Black Drongo Stout, American stout, 7.5%
• Devil's Sail, double IPA, 8%

Numbered small batches, single-hop IPAs and seasonal releases rotate through the taps alongside the core range.

Where to drink it

The Black Drongo taproom is in Yilan City, opposite the Dongmen Night Market, with most of its taps given to the house beer. In Taipei the beer is poured at Learn Bar, Beer Rush Taproom, Flow Brewing Beer Taproom, Tipsy Dragon Bar and 23 Public; in Taichung at ChangeX Beer South Garden; and in Tainan at Piao-Lounge. All of these are listed below.