China: China to become the world’s largest consumer of stout beer

Chinese customers are projected to drink 2.64 million hectoliters of stout beer in 2017, thus overtaking the US and the UK as the largest markets for the dark brew. According to data from Euromonitor cited by Bloomberg, Chinese demand for stout will more than double to 6.59 million hectoliters by 2021.

Stout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or roasted barley, hops, water and yeast. Porter beers originated in London/England and became popular in in the 18th century. Stronger pprter beers were traditionally called "stout porters", but over the centuries the term stout has become firmly associated with dark beer, rather than just strong beer.

The best known stout beer is Guinness Draught, a dry stout from Diageo that originated in Arthur Guinness’ brewery at St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin/Ireland in 1776 and gained its customary black color and a stronger flavor in the 19th century. Today Guinness Draught is brewed in almost 50 countries around the world. Since 2016 there is also a non-alcoholic version of the iconic brew in Indonesia available called Guinness Zero.

In China, especially brewers like Guinness and Tsingtao Brewery have benefited from the more than 10-fold growth in the last five years.

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