Craft is Art: 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)