Taiwan Head Brewers

Taiwan Head Brewers (in Chinese, Pi Jiu Tou Niang Zao) was founded in spring 2015 by three home brewers: Duan Yuan-jie, who had won gold and silver at the 2014 Asia Beer Championship with Belgian-style beers for North Taiwan Brewing; Song Pei-hong, an engineer and author of a Chinese-language home-brewing guide; and Ye Yi-chen, founder of a home-brew yeast business. The beers were first brewed under contract, and its own brewery at No. 50, Zhongxing North Street, Sanchong, New Taipei, opened in July 2023 as a visitor brewery with a shop, exhibition space and taproom above the brewhouse. The core idea is a beer for each of the 24 solar terms of the traditional calendar, each using a Taiwanese ingredient such as jasmine from Changhua, winter melon tea sugar, oolong tea or Pingtung cacao. The brewery says it has won more than 80 international awards, including World's Best Dark Barley Wine at the 2021 World Beer Awards for Wan Wu.

The beers

• Major Heat, jasmine IPA, 6.7%
• Grain Rain, oolong tea Belgian pale ale, 5.5%
• Grain Full, winter melon tea ale, 4.5%
• Beginning of Autumn, Oriental Beauty tea ale, 6%
• Spring Equinox, Taiwanese plum ale, 6.5%
• Minor Cold, chocolate stout, 9%

Most beers are bottled, with seasonal Solar Terms releases, barrel-aged barley wines and stouts, fruit ciders and collaborations on top.

Where to drink it

The Taiwan Head Brewers Taproom at the Sanchong brewery pours 24 beers and runs tours, best booked ahead. In Taipei the beers are also poured at Mikkeller Bar Taipei, The 58 Bar and the Taiwan-only Learn Bar. All of these are listed below.