Beer drinkers warned they may get more than they ordered at the bar

    Fake "foreign" beers sold in some Beijing bars could cause sickness because of insanitary conditions in the brewing process, according to enforcement officers with the bureau of quality supervision in Chaoyang district.

    The area is home to Sanlitun - one of the most well known bar streets in the city - as well as many luxury hotels.

    "These beers are produced in small workshops with no disinfection process," said Wei Jinsheng, head of the enforcement team.

    "Customers in bars usually wouldn't check what they are drinking, which raises the chance of getting a disease."

    In a recent raid on a rented house in Wuliqiao village, officers found four men making counterfeit beer that they hoped to pass off as Budweiser, Corona and Carlsberg.

    The men were filling empty foreign beer bottles with Chinese beer and resealing them using a bottle-capping machine. Officers seized more than 10 boxes of adulterated beer.

    They said Chaoyang is known as a base of fake beer makers.

    In 2007, an adulterated beer production workshop raided in Chaoyang contained 7,000 boxes of phony foreign beer.

    According to Wei, it is easy to pass off fake beer because many brands have a similar taste.

    "Some people add water to light beers, such as Corona, which is quite popular among women in bars," he said.

    Officers said fake foreign beers are sold to bars for around 7 or 8 yuan a bottle and sold on to customers for 30 to 40 yuan a bottle.

    In 2009, the team handled about 15 cases related to the production of adulterated liquor, including beer, Chinese white wine and foreign wine.

    "I believe some bar owners know they are adulterated," Wei said. "But since they are cheap, there is still big demand from the bars."

    However, bar operators insisted they would not sell bogus beer.

    A man who answered the phone at "The Club" said they "never sell adulterated beers".

    "How can we do that? Our customers can tell when they taste our beers," he said.

    And a woman at a bar in Sanlitun, called Boys and Girls, also said they would not sell counterfeit brews. She told METRO the bar had purchased beer from a place called "Dinglixin", before another woman took over the phone and said beers were "ordered directly from the manufacturer".

    He Liang, customer service manager from Babyface, which operates one of the largest bar chains in Chaoyang and other parts of the city, estimated that about 100 bottles of foreign beers are sold every weekday in a single chain bar.

    Before the Olympic Games, many adulterated beers were produced in Datun, Chaoyang district, according to the enforcement team. Now, the sites are scattered in the outskirts of Beijing.

    Some bar owners say they are actually the victims of the producers of adulterated alcohol.

    Chad Lager has been running a bar named FUBAR in Sanlitun for three years. He said the fake alcohol problems seem to run along the distribution chain and employees.

    "Most of the bars do not try to make fake alcohols. At least the foreign bars I've dealt with. But sometimes an employee buys a bottle of fake Absolut, brings it to work and steals your bottle of real Absolut. Or, it could be delivery drivers or further down the chain," Lager said.

    Garry Lu, director of Carlsberg China Marketing Team, remains optimistic about their anti-counterfeit system.

    "Our marketing representatives in Beijing do regular checks on bars' Carlsberg stock," Lu said. "We only found five cases of counterfeit beer in Beijing in 2009."

    Wang Yuanyuan, a frequent bar-goer, told METRO drinkers may have difficulty telling the real thing from the counterfeit brews.

    "Well, I cannot tell the brand from the taste," Wang said. "I don't think there is much difference between them. If I don't order a cocktail, I would accept any beer handed to me."

    Zheng Tieqiu is another self-described "bar-worm".

    "I cannot tell the beer brand by taste, that's why I choose to buy foreign wine instead of beers," Zheng said, adding that a substantial number of apparently foreign alcohol may not be genuine.

    啤酒饮用者被告知他们在酒吧饮用的啤酒可能有假。

    朝阳区质量技术监督局执法人员称，在北京某些酒吧销售的假"外国"啤酒可能导致呕吐，因为这些啤酒是在不符合卫生标准的条件下酿造的。

    出现假啤酒的区域主要集中在三里屯（本市有名的酒吧街之一）以及许多豪华酒店。

    执法队队长Wei jinsheng称，"这些啤酒是在没有消毒措施的小作坊生产的。酒吧的顾客通常不能辨别真假，这增加了得病的可能。"

    最近，在五里桥村的出租房内，执法人员发现了4个男子正在制造假冒伪劣啤酒，他们计划以百威（Budweiser）、嘉士伯（Corona）和科罗娜（Carlsberg）的商标销售。

    他们正在向用空的国产啤酒瓶充当的外国啤酒瓶中灌装啤酒，然后用一个瓶子压盖机密封。 执法人员查封了超过10箱假冒伪劣啤酒。

    据说，朝阳区是一个假啤酒生产基地。

    在2007年，在朝阳区了捣毁了一个假酒生产工厂，共查封7000箱假的外国啤酒。

    据姓Wei的官员称，因为许多商标的啤酒味道相似，所以他们很容易销售这些假酒。

    许多人常加水稀释啤酒，如Corona,这在酒吧的女士中是相当受欢迎的。

    执法人员称，假的外国啤酒卖给酒吧每瓶约为7元或8元，可到了消费者手中每瓶卖30-40元。

    在2009年，执法队共查获生产假冒伪劣液体事件15起，包括啤酒、国产白葡萄酒和外国葡萄酒。

    我认为某些酒吧知道有些酒是假的。但是因为它们便宜，仍然有较大的需求。

    然而，酒吧经营者却强调他们不销售假酒。

    一名在俱乐部的男士在电话回答中称，"他们从未销售过假啤酒".

    "我们怎么会那样做？ 我们的顾客如果尝到我们的酒有问题会告发我们的。"

    在三里屯一个称为"Boys and Girls"的酒吧中，一名女士也称她们从不销售假啤酒。 她告诉执法人员说酒吧的啤酒是从一个叫"Dinglixin"的地方购买，但之前另一名女士通过电话说啤酒是直接从厂家订购。

    何亮，Babyface酒吧的客户服务经理，其经营着朝阳区最大的酒吧连锁店之一和本市其它地区的酒吧，他估计大约每周仅在一个连锁酒吧就能销售约100瓶外国啤酒。

    据执法人员称，奥林匹克运动会之前，许多假冒伪劣啤酒是产于朝阳区的大屯。现在，加工点分散在北京的郊区。

    许多酒吧拥有者称，他们实际上是假酒的受害者。

    Chad Lager在三里屯地区经营一个名为FUBAR的酒吧已有三年。 他说，"假酒问题似乎与雇佣者有一定联系。大部分的酒吧不会试图销售假酒，至少是我掌管的外国酒吧不会。 但是，有时雇员购买了假酒，用它偷偷更换了酒吧购买的真酒。或者，可能采用其它方式促使事态的进一步发展。"

    Garry Lu,Carlsberg的中国市场总监，仍然对他们的防假体系保持乐观。 他说，我们在北京的销售代表定期检查酒吧的Carisberg标示。在2009年，我们在北京仅仅发现5次假啤酒事件。

    王圆圆，一个频繁出入酒吧者，告诉执法人员，饮酒者不敢说出假啤酒的真相。

    王说，"我不能从味觉上辨别啤酒的优劣，我认为它们之间没有很大差异。如果我不要鸡尾酒，我将接受递给我的任何一种啤酒。"

    Zheng Tieqiu 是另一位自称"酒吧虫"者。 他说，"我不能凭味觉来判断优劣，这是我选择购买外国葡萄酒而不是啤酒的原因".他还补充说，"大量标示为外国酒的啤酒不一定是真的。"