京A Brewing Co. is the brainchild of Kris and Alex, two North American guys and long-time Beijingers with a passion for great beer. One cold day in January 2012, they decided to homebrew a hop-forward American IPA to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year. The result, which they named "Hoppy New Year" (what else?!), was surprisingly good, and friends quickly finished off the batch and called for more. The two realized then that the only thing better than drinking full flavored, handcrafted beer is brewing it for others. And so began their dream — to make creative and delicious ales and lagers with only the best ingredients for craft beer fans here in the 'Jing'.

What began as a hobby with a couple pots and plastic buckets quickly became an obsession. Balancing corporate jobs by day, and brewing by night, Alex and Kris hosted pop-up events around town to showcase the latest creations from 京A. Over the next few months they moved from brewing out of their apartments to borrowing commercial kitchens and guest brewing on other local systems. In Spring 2013 京A Brewing Co. established its own brewery inside The Big Smoke Bistro on Xingfucun, which runs 24/7 to supply an ever-growing growing number of taps in Beijing and beyond. 京A Taproom 1949 opened soon after, and operated as one of Beijing's most popular, award-winning bars from 2014-2017. Finally, in Fall 2017, 京A completed an overhaul of their longtime home at The Big Smoke, transforming it into a new flagship location – 京A Brewpub Xingfucun.