You know what they say; “You can’t teach an old fish new tricks”. It’s an apt descriptor too, when talking about Nanjing’s Old Fish Elite Brewing Fresh Beer Workshop.
For this particular old fish stands out from the competition for not even a hint of trying to beat them at their own game. Leave those upstarts to their new fangled ways; at Old Fish, it’s classic brews all the way. Close your eyes and be back in Old Blighty, on your favourite barstool in the local pub on the corner.
But first you need to find it. In something of paradox, the Old Fish lies at the end of a secluded, but very short alleyway, off one of Nanjing’s busiest street-food thoroughfares, the Tuolejia Commercial Street beside Leshang World on Shengtai Xi Lu in Jiangning District.
That makes it a dawdle for students at NUAA. For the rest; come out of Exit 3 at the Cuiping Shan Station on Metro Line S1. Follow the evening crowd until shoulder to shoulder, whereupon the alley shall be on your right.
Old Fish is a husband-and-wife effort. She, Yue Fei, hails from Huai’an, while her worser half, Wang Yi, is from up north, Dalian in Liaoning Province.
Setting up their brewery in 2009 in Nanjing’s Guanhuamen, the pair supplied other bars in the city until choosing to complement that side of the business in the form of their own operation. That first location, a stone’s throw from its new and much-improved incarnation, opened not long before COVID, and survived, in no small part, thanks to its take-out and delivery service.
Speaking with The Nanjinger, Wang said delivery makes up for approximately 60 percent of the Old Fish trade; most commonly, an older clientele who are entertaining at home.
Then there are the walk ins, such as that from this publication or those generated by word of mouth, plus a not insignificant proportion of foreigners, of the variety that appreciate no-nonsense brewing.
Back to that barstool. Of the eight brews available, The Nanjinger partook of two near pints; Angel IPA (¥36) and Classic Pale Ale (¥26). Both knocked it out of the park. No learning of new tricks required.
