The craft beer market has grown fivefold over the past five years. This local brewery in Hangzhou has won wider attention by using “beer stations”: more than 50 have already opened across Zhejiang Province.

Caiwen Xie Zhenyu Reporting from Hangzhou and Chengdu

Around 4 p.m. on April 5th, the second day of the Qingming holiday, at a direct-sale craft beer shop in Longhu Xixi Tiandi, West Lake District, Hangzhou, a customer bought 2.5L of live yeast beer on-site, and the store immediately received another takeout order. As the weather warms up, beer consumption is gradually entering peak season, and the business of the live yeast beer pouring station, a key product of Qian Dao Lake Beer, may heat up.

As a local beer brand in Hangzhou, Qian Dao Lake Beer has grown to be among the top ten in the industry. In the face of competition from beer giants, differentiation is one of the key strategies for the company’s breakthrough. In recent years, the company has focused on creating a popular product, “Live Yeast Beer,” hoping to offer consumers tasty, fresh beer. Meanwhile, the company has matched this with innovative channels and sales models, with over 50 direct-operated “pouring stations” established within Zhejiang Province.

Qian Dao Lake Beer’s move also aligns with the craft beer boom in the industry. Amid the limited growth of traditional beer, craft beer has become a high-growth track. Focusing efforts in this area is undoubtedly one of the ways for small and medium-sized breweries to break through.

New Products as Core Branding

The entrance features a refreshing lake blue and silver-gray color scheme, with a lake blue signboard reading “Qian Dao Lake Live Yeast Beer Pouring Station.” At the pouring station in Longhu Xixi Tiandi, after receiving an order, clerk Xiao Lu skillfully dispenses beer from the tap of the pouring machine into a 2.5L bag, then places it into an insulated bag with plenty of ice, stores it in the refrigerator, and then hands it over to the delivery person, completing the order.

Inside the pouring station, as seen by Xie Zhenyu

The price of Qian Dao Lake’s live yeast beer is tiered based on time: most expensive within 24 hours, with prices decreasing over time. Xiao Lu told reporters that sales are roughly similar across different time periods, with many loyal customers preferring the 24-hour product, with a repurchase rate as high as 80%.

Qian Dao Lake Beer has made “live yeast” its technological moat and core brand label. This product is not pasteurized, shipped on the same day of production, and transported through a cold chain to maximize the preservation of the beer’s original flavor and active nutrients.

“Live yeast is beneficial for promoting human digestion and absorption, and regulating gut flora. Fresh beer is not subjected to high-temperature sterilization, nor diluted or filtered; it only lowers yeast activity through low temperatures. Live yeast helps break down large molecules, making amino acids and soluble proteins in the beer more abundant. But the downside is that it requires higher standards for transportation and storage,” Zheng Xiaofeng, chairman of Hangzhou Qian Dao Lake Beer Co., Ltd., once explained.

Company product manager Cheng Yuanzhen told Caiwen that live yeast beer is a product the company has focused on developing in recent years, officially launched in April 2025, and is a pioneering concept for the company. Although the industry has long used the term “fresh beer,” this product, containing live yeast, maintains a fresh taste at all times. Currently, the company has made it a key focus of its independent business segment.

Qian Dao Lake’s launch of this product also aligns with the trend of increasing popularity of craft beer. According to data from Zhuoshi Consulting, the domestic craft beer market size grew from RMB 12.5 billion in 2019 to RMB 63.2 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.4%, and is expected to continue rapid expansion through 2029.

Cheng Yuanzhen further explained that live yeast beer does not follow traditional sales channels; it is mainly sold through the company’s self-operated pouring stations and instant retail channels.

Over 50 stations opened, with plans for nationwide expansion

Currently, the pouring stations mainly sell the live yeast beer product. Xiao Lu said that customers mainly buy beer for gatherings, with evenings being peak times.

The pouring station of Qian Dao Lake Beer where Xiao Lu works adopts a unified company style, with an area of about 40 square meters. He said the store opened around July 2025, making it one of the larger stores, followed by smaller community stores.

Unlike some franchise models, Qian Dao Lake Beer’s pouring stations are all self-operated, initially mainly in Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, and other cities. The company has also established dedicated delivery routes, with refrigerated trucks departing daily from the brewery located by Qian Dao Lake to various stations in Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Zhoushan, and others, each equipped with cold storage for low-temperature transfer.

Cheng Yuanzhen said that currently, there are over 50 pouring stations, centered in Hangzhou and covering major cities in Zhejiang.

The pouring station model of Qian Dao Lake Beer perfectly fits the current trend of scattered wine shops and pouring stations in the industry.

Caiwen reporters noticed that at the Chengdu Alcohol and Food Fair, many new scattered wine shops and pouring shops appeared, including well-known liquor companies and emerging new shops, some of which had already received funding, making it a very hot track. But on the other hand, the market still needs to test these models.

For Qian Dao Lake Beer, opening stores directly means a heavy asset model. Additionally, many pouring stations opened in 2025 missed the peak summer season for beer consumption, posing certain challenges for the company.

The company’s booth at the Chengdu Alcohol and Food Fair, as seen by Xie Zhenyu

Cheng Yuanzhen revealed that some of the company’s stores are already profitable. In 2025, the company plans to open more stores while exploring different models. “In winter, we have time to focus on standardizing store models and processes, and to strengthen our internal capabilities,” she said.

“Future goal is to reach 200 stores.” Qian Dao Lake Beer hopes to complete its nationwide deployment of pouring stations within five years. Currently, a new batch of stations is being prepared and is expected to open soon.