Monday, June 22, 2015

WEEK 53--feeling grateful---a visit to Cantillon

QUOTES:-
"to say one is feeling grateful to a brewery might caused a question of "why? did you not pay for the beer?"

"if one were to understand the process, time needed, as well what it took to produce a LAMBIC, then it's no surprise that there's some beer geeks who are grateful for the existence and well being of Cantillon brewery through the years...."
对很多喜欢喝天然发酵果酸啤酒(LAMBIC)的啤迷来说,比利时酿坊CANTILLON的存在是值得津津乐道又觉得感恩的事情。
听起来有点夸张?给钱买酒喝还要感谢感恩?

不夸张,一旦知道CANTILLON一路来在做的是什么样的啤酒,需要多长时间才有少量但非常高质素酿品面世就会了解,这家比利时老字号的天然发酵果酸啤酒得来不易。(“顽啤主张”前阵子去了CANTILLON酿坊拜访参观,感受良多)
"when big brewery such as Bud would produce and sell tens of millions of beer annually--it would take between 2.5-3 years for a small batch of  Cantillon lambic to be released.(only fools would do such business---some might say--but you know if you know--why some people insist and went on to be one of the best ...or the best for that matter...in whatever he/she/they chose to do..)

"with very short cold season in a year to produce new lambic, Cantillon already faced with production restriction by the nature as warm weather is not favorable for spontaneous fermentation,.."
当类似美国百威啤酒这样的大厂商可以每年轻易卖出千万桶计廉宜生产啤酒的时候,CANTILLON需要2年半到3年左右时间,才会向市场少量推出一批酿造後经过木桶熟陈的果酸啤酒,生意经来说,很多“心怀大钱”的商人会说“傻的才做这种生意”。
因为是利用空气中自然产生的野生良菌发酵,CANTILLON面对每年只有几个月酿制新酒时间的限制。每年秋末冬季是酿制新酒期,其他气候炎热时间不合适酿制,高温会带来不利酿酒的坏野菌。
曲高和寡这回事,放在市场经济上,是很残酷的写照。

“一旦决定做很高质素,跟市场流行趋势背道而行的事情,你已经选择站在市场金字塔上端,这意味着,你做的只有小部分人会欣赏,会买的也只有小部分人而已。”
"Cantillon almost went down some years ago--because initially not many Belgians like lambic---it's a big challenge to the taste bud---with low demands, it became much harder to run a brewery."

"by deciding to create lambic that not many people understand or know how to appreciate(initially), it's like standing on the upper part of a market supply pyramid, the market is much smaller than lower part obviously..."
酿造时间长,市场不大,CANTILLON一度面对差点要关门收档的下场。
“一开始很多比利时人并不喜欢我们的酿品,觉得这是什么东西?跟平时喝惯啤酒味道差天差地。。。”
喝过不同类别比利时啤酒朋友会知道,包括大名鼎鼎修道院啤酒都稍带甜味,至于比利时大厂啤酒,也没什么好说,就是冰冷易喝。所以,一开始接触性格鲜明,比较偏向葡萄,樱桃,李子等果酸味的LAMBIC,很多人味蕾反应不过来是可以理解。
结果,是出口市场让CANTILLON看到生机。
“日本是亚洲市场最早认识CANTILLON的,酿坊很久以前就会有日本啤迷来拜访参观,日本也是第一个极少数可以直接从CANTILLON酿坊进口的亚洲城市。”
出口市场中,美国占重要位置。是的,以喜欢酿造疯狂黑啤或较重口味啤酒花香四溢啤酒见称的美国人(包括不少酿酒师)也迷上天然发酵果酸啤酒的低调美妙了。
可惜,东南亚城市并没有直接从比利时酿坊进口的CANTILLON酿品,亚洲来说,去日本找吧
"sadly, there's no directly imported Cantillon in the whole of South East Asia ---if you are in Asia--you have much better chance of finding some in Japan---it's one of very few places in Asia that has got direct supply from the brewery.."

# if you are not sure what Lambic is all about--there's plenty of technical details on the www---so there's no quoting of those info here---for very new newbie---just get a hold on 3 key words:-
Lambic----Kriek---Gueuze..........( there's more varieties but these 3 would go a long way to introducing one to the world of wonderful lambic)
LAMBIC什么概念?
有人形容LAMBIC是最兼具白葡萄酒和啤酒特质的酿品。也有人觉得,LAMBIC不像是啤酒,比较像经过窖藏熟成的发酵果汁,非常温和,带水果酸香,清爽富余韵。
CANTILLON的天然发酵果酸啤酒有好多不同层次类别酿品,对新朋友来说,最主要的是三个名词:-

LAMBIC天然发酵果酸啤酒,不同“年龄”的果酸啤酒都会经过收藏熟成之后再决定是以纯LAMBIC形式推出市场,又或者是混合形式,或以不同水果(比如不同品种的葡萄)浸泡形式成为变奏酿品。
KRIEK---这是果酸味比较浓郁的类别,因为用的是酸味樱桃(每500公升啤酒要用150公斤的樱桃历时大约半年浸泡酿制)。
GUEUZE有人形容为布鲁塞尔香槟。这是具有类似香槟气泡口感细致延绵的天然发酵果酸啤酒。(通过混合不同年份LAMBIC并在瓶中再次发酵)

Friday, June 12, 2015

CBC---Copenhagen Beer Craving---SIDE NOTES

CBC 2015 is over--yet memory still alive & kicking--this one is more of a personal note-- of beers tasted in Copenhagen--before, during CBC,.
去了哥本哈根出席CBC2015, 啤酒庆典是重点之余,几家酒吧当然也是要去要看的。。这期比较是个人的寻啤记录。写写找到什么,喝了什么之类的。。看图或看酒单就很清楚,就不多写中文版本了。
Looking at the little black book i was carrying through out the 2 days--4 sessions CBC--though tasted some awesome beers, but miss out on a lot more.... 
Before CBC-
Arriving on 28th April---the day when Mikkeller Viktoriagade was having THREE FLOYDS tap takeover-- simply no missing out on this one...
Dark Lord + Zombie Dust+ Dark Lord vanilla bean--talk about triple fisting


Warpigs brewpub is still spanking new in every sense of the words--lots of geeks who descended on Copenhagen end up here....

ALSO--A little bottle share session at Mikkeller bar(thanks Rob)
The day before CBC---found these two delights at Mikkeller and friends
DAY 1---YELLOW SESSION
一早就跟朋友来排队,一到已经有更早到的啤迷们。风有点凉,不过,为了好喝啤酒,风不算什么。
went early--line up--went in---took my time to walk around--took some photos....then only started...here's the list of beers tasted:-
1)      TO OL  flower sour   10% ( oak aged elder lower sour)
2)      The Kernel  London sour,damson 4.3%(Berliner weisse with fruit)
3)      The Kernel  Pale Ale Nelson Sauvin 5.4%
4)      8wired  Rastafari unchained  6% BA stout
5)      B.Nectar Zombie Killer 5.5%  Cherry Honey Cider
6)      Omnipollo  Yellow Belly Sundae 12% Bourbon BA peanut butter biscuit stout
7)      Arizona Wilderness Denmark in the desert BA pappy barrels 8.7%  sour peach porter
8)      Bell’s Black Note  11.5%  Bourbon BA imperial stout
9)      Alpha State  Raspberry Cheese Cake IPA  6.5%  speciality beer
10)  Surly BA Darkness 10.3% Russian Imperial stout Rye Whiskey
11)  Mikkeller Spontantripleblueberry 10% Sour
12)  Warpigs Christiana Chronic  6% malt liquor
13)  Side Project Biere du Pays  4% Farmhouse Ale
14)  Alpha State  Vanilla Mocha Shake  10% Imperial Stout
15)  Cigar City  Jai Alai 7.5%  IPA
16)  Westbrook  Bittermilk 8% Rye old ale aged in old fashioned barrels
17)  Alesmith Coconut Speedway stout  11% Russian imperial stout
18)  Buxton  BA Dragon Tips 9.1% imperial stout with Chipotle, maple syrup & bacon
19)  Mikkeller Rieslingale  6.7%
20)  Jester King  Repose  8.3% biere de garde brewed Hay and refermented in brandy barrel
21)  Arizona Wilderness  American president stout 9.5%
22)  Beavertown BA bone king  8.9%  BA DIPA
23)  TO OL  Mead Cleaver  9%  mead
24)  Siren Life is a peach –collab with omnipollo 6.4% fruited IPA
25)  Siren Maiden 2014  11% blended BA barleywine
26)  Jackie O’s  Berliner Weisse  5%
27)  Green Flash  West coast ipa with mango & fresno chilli  8.1% DIPA
28)  Buxton Two ton ipa  11% DIPA
29)  Cycle  Wednesday- Rye batch 500  10.5%  Rye whiskey BA imperial stout
30)  Tired Hands  Portcullis  6% blended saison 

DAY 1 ---BLUE SESSION
1)      Mikkeller  Sour Ol Ananas  7%  sour
2)      Omnipollo  Fruit tap orange juice pale  5%  fruit beer
3)      Magic Rock Bearded lady BA chocolate orange  10.5% grand marnier imperial stout
4)      The Kernel  Farmhouse—collab with Jester King  3.2%
5)      Alesmith Hammerhead speedway stout   11%  imperial stout
6)      Arizona Wilderness  sweet potato saison-tequila barrel  8.4%  farmhouse saison
7)      Buxton the living end BA bourbon  10.1%  BA imperial stout
8)      Brekeriet  Kombucha  6%  sour ale
9)      Superstition Meadery  Portuguese Blindfold 14% dessert mead
10)  Siren Dippy and the equinox-collab with boneyard  8%  something hoppy
11)  Alpha State  Levemand (laphroiag & bourbon BA blend)  10% imperial stout
12)  Alpha State  Equinox IPA 7.5%
13)  Side Project Grisette 4%  farmhouse ale
14)  Beavertown Heavy Water 9% imperial stout with sour cherries & sea salt
15)  18th Street  Deal with the devil  9.4% IPA
16)  Surly Pentagram 6.7% wood aged sour
17)  Warpigs Smoldering holes BA sherry  9.6% imperial stout with vanilla
18)  Surly  BA devils works  6.7%  robust porter BA rye whisley

DAY 2---RED SESSION
sort of purposely went to venue slightly late--having experienced the awesomeness of day 1--it's natural for palate to go slightly slow in wanting to rush again....in fact inside the hall--it felt a lot more calmer than yesterday--everyone seem to take a slower pace..
经过第一天后,很自然的会稍微放慢脚步--实际上不只是我,整个体育馆内的氛围都是比较放松的,可以感觉到大家都没有像昨天那样冲。。
1)      18th Street  Contessa  6.5%  Saison with pink & green peppercorn & pink seasalt
2)      Surly Eight  11% Rye whiskey BA oat wine
3)      Boxing Cat Donkey punch porter  5.6%  robust porter with ancho chilli & cocao
4)      Lervig –collab with Magic Rock  6% farmhouse IPA
5)      Brewdog  Bowman’s Beard  18.3% Double Barleywine
6)      Buxton Bloc Head  6.1%  farmhouse pale ale
7)      Superstition Meadery Blueberry Spaceship Box  6.9%  fruit cider
8)      Alpha State  Sorachi Black Ipa  6%
9)      Westbrook Lichtenhainer Weisse  4% smoked sour wheat
10)  Alpha State  Black Forest Gateau 10% imperial stout
11)  Edge  Midnight lullaby 8.1%  BA imperial stout
12)  Firestone Walker Agrestic  6.6% American wild ale
13)  Crooked Stave  Origins  6.5%  Burgundy sour ale BA wine
14)  Boneyard  Suge Knite 13% Imperial stout
15)  Jester King Natural Union –collab with Prairie 7.1% farmhouse ale brewed with lemon beebalm rosemary  
16)  Tired Hands  Only Void 12% imperial stout
17)  7th Sun Octopus has no friends 6.1%  sour brown
18)  Cellar Maker  Imperial coffee & cigarettes 10.4%  lightly smoked coffee porter
19)  Way Beer  Purple High 5  -collab with AZWilderness 5.5% fruit sour with raspberry fermented in Cachaca barrels


Day 2---GREEN SESSION
while waiting in line to get in again for the last session of CBC 2015--you could feel it already--that everyone seems to have "come alive" once again and ready to dash for the beers....
到下午最后一个环节,很清楚可以感觉到,整个大堂内那种冲劲又上扬了。。
1)      Cigar City Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout   11% spiced imperial stout
2)      Side Project Lattice 6%  farmhouse ale
3)      Westbrook 2014 BA Mexican Cake(tequila barrel)  11% BA imperial stout
4)      Lervig  #Grapeful Oat IPA  6% dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin & Hallertau Blanc
5)      Omnipollo Protein Shake IIPA  8% DIPA
6)      B.Nektar Meadery  Scurvy Shyster Bastard 11.5% grape juice fermented with orange blossom honey, dry hopped with citra, Amarillo hops, elder flowers & grapefruit zest
7)      MAD beer Old lambic BA sherry jerez  5%
8)      Westbrook Shane’s Big DIPA 9%
9)      Mikropolis Toffee Tequila  15% classic cocktail
10)  Surly Damien  7.7% small beer made from “darkness”
11)  Mikkeller  BA X imperial stout Mikkeller/Spirits bourbon Ed  16% BA imperial stout
12)  Beavertown  BA ‘Spresso  8.5% BA stout
13)  Gigantic One Step Beyond 13%  BA quad
14)  8wired Flanders Pale  6%  pale sour beer
15)  Alpha State Larsen’s Ruin( Moonshine BA) 10% imperial stout
16)  Alpha State Larsen’s Ruin( Ardbeg  BA)  10%  imperial stout
17)  Edge brewing  Brass Knuckles BA  10.1% American strong
18)  Edge Flor de la Vida  4.7%  American pale ale
19)  TO OL Mr. Bombastic  10.4% long time boiled barleywine
20)  Brekeriet  Smokey Sour  6%  Sour ale
21)  Stillwater  Liquid Rio-collab with Morada  4% peach Berliner Weisse
22)  Lervig  Once You Go Black (2013 vintage) 13.5% bourbon BA imperial stout

Somehow ended CBC 2015 with a bottle found in Amsterdam which i shared with some new found friends---perhaps the name of the lost abbey beer is just a nice conclusion to a wonderful beer trip....Angels Share....

If were to count the number of beers tasted--it's really very little as compared to total available--but it's ok, for me CBC is not just about getting as much beers possible...and I really enjoy having coffee, cold brew, sausages and cheese in between chasing beers...

整体来说,喝到的佳酿不少,当然要是算数量的话就喝的不多,反正个人感觉良好就可以,那么多不同高手酿酒师的佳酿,如果胃口饱和了,勉强为了喝而喝反而是种不尊敬。

Monday, June 8, 2015

WEEK 52---the small matters of CBC 2015

This week's column is very much like an intro to CBC for general readers---about what the fest( or fuss?) is all about....why geeks fly all the way from far and wide to attend.... 

之前有幸出席了在哥本哈根举行的CBC 2015--这期专栏很浅白说下这次啤酒庆典的几件小事。。。
就像电影,音乐或美食那样,撞意啤酒在不同城市每年也有各种庆典。
各大小庆典中,有些啤酒庆典是啤迷想出席却未必一定能的。

比如说,很多啤迷心目中的两大CRAFT啤庆典,其一是历史悠久,每年在美国科罗拉多州丹佛市举行的THE GREAT AMERICAN FESTIVAL,或简称GABF,这是美国撞意啤酒大聚会。另一是近年才开始,由丹麦名牌MIKKELLER主办,每年4月底5月初在哥本哈根举行的COPENHAGEN BEER CELEBRATION(简称CBC),跟GABF不同,虽然规模小,汇聚的是世界各地包括欧美,南美洲,亚洲,大洋洲各大高手酿品。
just like the music scene or movie industry--there's plenty of festivals going on in the craft beer world---some huge, some big, some smaller..
to some geeks--there's 2 beers fest that's really high on the list of "must go--wanna go"---one is THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL or GABF in short---that's an annual gathering of lots and lots of American beers in Denver, Colorado.

The other one is a fairly new kid in beer fest terms but already attracting such immense interest worldwide--Copenhagen Beer Celebration( or CBC in short) held annually at a gymnasium in the city of Copenhagen---with beers from lots of different places around the world being gathered and celebrated. 

What is CBC?
in a nutshell----a fest where you will find  "damn famous--or insanely hyped--but so bloody damn hard to find beers" + "crazy beers" + "experimental brews" + "first release to public beers"..and so on so forth---all come under one roof---literally.

What to expect?
this is a beer fest where often tickets are sold well off months before the actual event date---yes---it's like going to a mega rock star concerts---tickets can be gone almost as soon as sale open ONLINE----yup--there's no on site ticket for sale during the 2 days fest.
什么是CBC
直截了当,就是汇聚了超级出名但很难找到啤酒,疯狂啤酒,实验性酿品,新啤酒等等各地高手酿酒师心血作品,为期两天的啤酒庆典。
有什么值得期待?
跟之前几届一样,这是很多时候有钱也买不到入场票的庆典。除非受邀或你是工作人员,入场需要买票。问题是,庆典那两天,现场完全没票卖。门票几个月前通过网上订购方式出售,如果说陈奕迅周杰伦张惠妹演唱会门票常被秒杀,CBC也一样,几万啤迷抢每个场次的1000张票,基本秒杀。根据主办方数字,这次有来自25个国家啤迷上网抢购,尝试但买不到票的次数接近8万。
 重点是?
大家都冲着众多受邀酿酒师啤酒而来。或许可以这样比喻,这场庆典就像是汇聚了世上最顶尖厨师,最受看好新秀厨师,甚至是已登上“厨神”位置大师级美食的飨宴。2天,4场,接近50个不同CRAFT品牌,不少于三四百种美味啤酒,啤迷能不心动?
如果你是爱电影的,可以想象康城或威尼斯影展星光熠熠画面。(当然,CBC不是比赛性质)
What so great?
it's ALL ABOUT THE BEERS--obviously. if you were to imagine a gourmet food fair--it's something like you will get to taste food prepared by some of the best chefs in the world---the most famous--the up and coming--even the legendary chefs.
2 days--4 sessions---hundreds of different beers--good enough?


How is it like?
here's 4 sessions with different tickets for each--for examples the 1st day morning session is Yellow, afternoon session is Blue--- if you hold a PINK ticket--then yes it's a 2 days ALL sessions pass, you get to taste all the hundreds of beers on site--if you so desire--all with a specially crafted taster glass given while entering--and that is all you need--no money is needed for BEERS because it's all inclusive.
现场情况怎样?
CBC只有两天,会场在小体育馆,每天分早场(早上10点到下午2点半)和下午场(下午3点半到8点)。票以颜色区分,比如第一天早场黄色,下午蓝色。如果你拿粉红色票,那就是两天4场通行票。门票已包含酒钱,啤迷只需排队入场,拿到特制尝味小杯後就可开始忙活。

没有就没有了
出席啤迷都知道,CBC游戏规则是,每位酿酒师每一场次只带2桶不同啤酒来,一些备受期待,盛名赫赫或平时死鬼难找到啤酒一定出现人龙,大家一早乖乖排队,因为都知道,那桶珍贵的啤酒发完了,就是完了,有再多钱也没用,现场再没有同样啤酒配给了。
When a beer is finished---it's bloody finished
everyone knows--that's the golden rule--and the fun part of CBC(or maybe some would say not so fun if bloody missed out)--for each session--no matter how hard to find/famous/rare/hyped or whatever you wanna call it---there will only be ONE KEG of that beer--you want that beer? you line up---if that keg is out--then yes--no amount of money would be able to buy you a tiny taster filled with that beer--because there's simply no more....
Flying all the way to Copenhagen for beers---worth it?
just like basketball fans outside of america would dream of or wanted to one day watch NBA live in the states---or football fans wanting to go far and wide to support own team---beer geeks feel the same--and going to a beer fest like CBC 2015 is something many geeks wanted to but can't simply because there's not enough tickets to accommodate everyone. 
There's thousands of geeks who missed out every year--because there's only so many tickets for sale--for examples--this year's official figures showed that there's geeks from 25 different coutries went online to purchase---with nearly 80,000 attempts that never got thru.

So what awesome beers were on?
too many---if you are interested--just go on to Copenhagen Beer Celebration FB for the full beer list link....
https://www.facebook.com/copenhagenbeercelebration
大老远飞去哥本哈根,值得吗?
如果说篮球迷心愿是去美国现场看NBA,足球迷想在自己支持的球会主场看球。啤迷情况也一样,对不是住在欧洲啤迷来说,去CBC是需要飞很远的,现场所见,有亚洲,巴西,美国等地区啤迷。不过,路途遥远不是顾虑,每年想来却没能买到票啤迷至少几千人,买不买得到票才是每年让众多啤迷期待又担忧的事。

有什么厉害啤酒?
太多了。有兴趣知道什么酿酒师受邀出席,还有几百桶啤酒什么是什么的话,可上CBC 2015官方面子书看看。