Beijing microbrewery Jing-A decided that if you can’t beat the city’s infamous smog, at least you can joke about it. As a “tribute” to the pervasive problem, brewmaster Alex Acker created Airpocalypse, an 8.8%-ABV unfiltered double IPA that fluctuates in price according to the Air Quality Index.
Acker told the Wall Street Journal that the hazy appearance of the beer was intentional: “We wanted something strong and that had some quality that’s beyond index…we intentionally left this one hazier.”
The official launch party went down on May 3rd, and Jing-A’s event listing on Facebook detailed the AQI-based pricing:
[pullquote]There will be a sliding scale discount on The Airpocalypse based on the US Embassy’s AQI (pollution) reading. Get 10% off this new beer for every 100 points of AQI, e.g. 20% off if it’s a 200+ day. If the AQI hits “Beyond Index,” [500 or above] drink The Airpocalypse for free![/pullquote]
The AQI was 171 when the party started at 9pm, which dropped the usual price of a glass from 40 yuan ($6.42) to 35 yuan ($5.62). The brewery will eventually stabilize the price of Airpocalypse, but it’s considering bring back the promotion for Chinese New Year, when fireworks make the air quality even worse than usual.
Either way, a few beers probably help city-dwellers cope with the stifling reality of Beijing smog. In February, a report from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences said that pollution currently makes the city nearly “uninhabitable for human beings,” according to The Guardian.
[via China Real Time]