Night Talk: Four New Venues

Cheers-In

What: Boutique imported beer shop

Why: Because you adore malted grain alcoholic beverages

How much: Beer RMB 5 and up

Where: 25 Yongkang Lu, near Jiashan Lu. Tel: 6418 8400. Web: www.cheers-in.com

While our fair city is blessed with a few excellent beer bars, including Kaiba, Jackie’s Beer Nest, Boxing Cat and The BREW, Cheers-In is Shanghai’s first beer-only store. In fact, it just might be the first in China. For beer drinkers, any proper night out on the town should have its genesis here.

Founded by three Frenchmen with more of a passion for malted grain than grapes, the store is on a mission to educate locals and expats alike on the delicious diversity in the world of beer. Presently, with over 170 varieties of liquid gold from 26 countries, Cheers-In far and away represents the best location in town to supply your beer drinking needs, putting the nearby City Shop and Parkson to shame.

From Newcastle to Hanoi, Colorado to Barcelona, the selection – for China at least – is very impressive. Gems include five trappists, Jade – France’s first organic beer, five types of Japan’s Coedo, the Ferran Adrià designed Inedit by Estrella Damm, as well as a few Shanghai shop exclusives like La Chouffe and Gouden Carolus Tripel. A wide selection of fruit beers is also available for those who like it sweet.

Besides affordable prices, Cheers-In also offers free delivery for orders of over RMB 200 through their website. Check out their blog for information on newly added beers and don’t hesitate to send sourcing requests for beers you can’t find around town – should demand for a beer be high enough, they’ll look into importing it.