After initially inciting shock over one of China's most well-known beer brands, a viral video of a man seemingly peeing into ingredients at a Chinese brewery has since sparked outrage.

A man wearing blue work clothing enters a Tsingtao Brewery storage facility, looks around multiple times, and then seems to urinate into a malt vat in a video that was shared on October 19 and went viral on China's Weibo social network.

In a statement released on October 20, Tsingtao stated that it had notified authorities to initiate an inquiry and that it was taking the video seriously.

The malt in question, according to the business, had been "completely sealed."

Founded in 1903, Tsingtao is sold to numerous foreign markets and has the second-largest sales volume in China, behind Snow Beer. The video was unexpected by followers of the storied company.

When the video first went viral, some people doubted its authenticity.

The act in question is not clearly seen in the low-resolution footage. There's no shortage of clickbait videos featuring outrageous stunts on Chinese social media. Conspiracy theories even suggested that a rival beer manufacturer was behind the entire fiasco.

On November 1, however, the story took a turn for the worst when Tsingtao announced that the video was indeed recorded at its brewery in the Shandong province city of Pingdu, according to a joint investigation with the authorities.

The company claims that the individual in the video was employed by an outside contractor that provided loading and unloading services, not by Tsingtao. An outside truck driver who had delivered malt to the brewery took the footage.