Anyone wandering into the trendy dive bars around Taipei would notice the variety of local craft beers adorning the menus. Visitors and locals alike are drawn to the colorful labels and diverse, regional flavors.
Taiwan’s microbrewery scene flourished after a substantial series of alcohol deregulations in 2002 ended the government’s monopoly of beer production. The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service estimated that Taiwan’s craft beer consumption, although small in the overall market share, has an annual growth of 20 percent. Although rising in popularity, Taiwan’s craft beers are still facing fierce competition from commercial brews, imported beers, wine, and spirits like whiskey.
“Craft beer is still very small in Taiwan. The craft beer consumption only makes up around 1 to 3 percent of the total beer market,” said Dr. Shu Wei Huang, urban sociology professor at the National Taiwan University (NTU).
