A hotpot of creativity and collaboration

Aside from educating consumers about craft beer and expanding beer lovers' horizons, the annual event is essentially about supporting the development of Chinese craft beer scene through international collaboration, Acker said.

Collaborative breweries from China and abroad work closely through emails and Skype to hash out the ingredients, fermentation techniques, and names for their co-branded beer months before the annual festival opens.

Each year, Acker and Li join three to five beer festivals around the world, showcasing overseas beer lovers what Chinese craft breweries have to offer through Jing A beers made with distinct Chinese culinary ingredients.

Inspired by beer festivals they've been to, the duo decided to host their own beer festival in China around the idea of collaboration.

"The starting point was how we create a festival where it's focused on collaboration between foreign breweries and Chinese breweries," Li said, noting, "Many international breweries are so fascinated with China."

"The international breweries have their techniques locked in, but they are always curious about new ingredients and new kinds of fermentation," Acker explained, considering what draws foreign breweries to the 8x8 Brewing Project in the first place.

Chinese breweries are heating up to the idea. According to Acker, each year, dozens of breweries across the country approach them, eager to join the brewing project.

With such interest, Acker and Li have had to decline many requests. "There are more and more Chinese breweries with great quality and creativity. We wish we could invite them all but we need to limit it to just eight each year," Acker said.

Xiong Changchen and her husband Tian Yuan are owners of TapStar, a brewery in Southwest China's Guizhou city that opened its doors in June 2018. The couple said they also hope to join the 8x8 project in the future, but came to the festival mainly for "meeting friends in the industry and learning techniques from these top breweries".

"The idea from the beginning was something more than a festival. We call it a brewing project because it's really about the connection between Chinese and international breweries," Acker explained, hoping this project can help move craft beer forward.

Zhang Junyong, 38, owner of Yun Brewing, a Kunming-based craft brewery, said his brewery has benefited a lot from the collaboration with Thin Man Brewery from Buffalo, New York.

This year, the pair of breweries brought to the festival what they called Nu York Schisandra Berry Gose (5% ABV), a sour ale created using Thin Man brewery's special fermenting technique and the Chinese medicinal Schisandra berry from the Nujiang River valley as a key ingredient.

"Thin Man Brewery is very interested in the ingredients from Yunnan. Next April, we'll go to Buffalo and work on another collaborative brew with them as well as with other American breweries," Zhang said proudly.

"Apart from Thin Man, several other breweries on the 8x8 project have also approached us for future cooperation," the Yunnan native added.