WEEK 59--of GEEK & Drain Pour...

Beer Geek

In any cities where craft beer revolution is moving at a certain pace, there will be a group of people who are so into it that they are labelled  as BEER GEEK

Beer geek is a bunch of opinion splitting people--some look up to them as a group of people who really know their beers, know what they want, know what better beers to choose, more rounded palate, and generally a friendly bunch of people who like to share beers, share experiences...

形容对啤酒很着迷的人/一群人。

某些程度上，也是让一些人爱或恨的特定群体。

在小小的本地撞意啤酒圈中，有一小群超级啤迷，对一些认识的新人来说，这个群体是被羡慕的，因为超级啤迷从国外想方设法带进来本地的啤酒是短期内甚至很久都不会出现在本地店家货单上的。

换个角度看，因为对啤酒质素类别口味的高标要求，让超级啤迷有时候不那么受欢迎，很简单，因为能带进本地的难找啤酒数量有限，可分享人数更加有限，间接给人一种“一群爱炫耀家伙”的印象。

But of course there are those who think that beer geek are no more than a bunch of annoying-choosy-picky-vanity chasing people who only chase after big name beers, look down on average beers, think they know better, hard to satisfy, generally a group of assholes....

Is being a beer geek one of the nicest things in life? the answer is YES----but not without prerequisite---the most simple condition needed is --you have to live in a place/city where craft beer culture is booming--with loads of different styles/brand of craft brew to choose from.

偶尔，超级啤迷也让开店卖撞意啤酒的业者觉得没劲，因为这群人一来，好像店里都没有太多能让这群家伙们特别满意的啤酒选择，这群啤迷家里私藏分分钟每瓶都是店家自己没有的。

当超级啤迷是快乐的事？理论上是。只是，客观条件必须是住在撞意啤酒文化，不同品牌类别啤酒供应多如天上繁星的城市，那样的环境，那么多源源不绝选择会让超级啤迷很快活，因为，最基本也最重要的条件---“啤酒选择”已不是问题，剩下的只需尽情发挥个人鉴赏力，分享同乐。

可是，如果你住在供应有限，不同类别啤酒选择少的地方，比如吉隆坡，身为超级啤迷可还真是蛮考验的事，在先天和后天条件都贫乏的环境中，这群人只能自寻管道，向其他不同城市啤迷朋友求救吧。

If you so happened to live in a craft desert like KL--then it's probably not much fun to be a beer geek--at times you might even get ridicule by certain group of drinkers(because of your insistent on choices-varieties)--being a beer geek in KL generally means not much choices available locally--your only ray of light is to seek help from friends living in other cities around the region or far and wide to US/Europe....

Drain Pour

Why would anyone drain pour a perfectly good beer?

I would understand if the beer has somehow gone very bad because of mishandling-mismanagement during delivery or storage. But, to pour away a perfectly good beer is something that never cross my mind--that is until this year's Copenhagen Beer Celebration--yeah--people do pour away perfectly good beers, including me...( yes--it is crazy to think that any of those beers--which in a normal day on tap at any of the craft beer bar would be treated with much more attention.

把接近整瓶或大半杯啤酒倒掉是喝CRAFT BEER之前没想过会发生的事。这里说的是好端端没坏掉的啤酒。

在撞意啤酒文化中，有一种现象叫DRAIN POUR（倒水沟）

因为不同口味类别繁多，撞意啤酒跟吃东西基本原理一样，如果事先没做功课或是喜欢不停试新酒的饮客，偶尔碰上不合口味啤酒是平常事，这时候，你有几个选择，一是勉强喝完，一是把啤酒分出去给其他人，另一选择就是直接倒掉。

倒水沟这回事，在不同啤酒类别选择非常丰富的欧美城市比较常见，亚洲来说，比较少见，要是本地就更加少啤迷会做。在一些著名啤迷网站论坛，倒水沟这件事有专页讨论，不过，少数蓄意倒掉一些出名瓶子哗众取宠的做法是不受认同或要被骂的。当然，也有一些无聊人其实已经把出名啤酒喝完，只是做状倒掉“其他液体”。

When you have a certain limit on time frame--as well as your own palate/abv absorption/capability--and you have hundreds of beers waiting----then it is understandable to pour away certain beers that does not tickle your curiosity or taste too similar or no better to what you usually drink at your local bars...

OBVIOUSLY---there are some attention seeking pour or just plain HOAX--the bigger the name of the beer/brewery that you "pour" away--the bigger attention you get?

And yes--i did found a photo from the net--pouring away White Chocolate by The Bruery--first thing to mind---HOAX--unless the beer has somehow gone bad because of mistreatment---NO WAY a decent geek would pour away such a brew.

要不要把只喝了一两口的啤酒倒掉，关键在于合不合个人口味，至今，不是寂寂无名啤酒品牌会遇到，一些有名气瓶子有时也会碰上被倒掉的命运，这其中，最常被啤迷倒掉的就是啤酒节中无数的好酒。

比如说，今年五月初丹麦啤酒庆典，被邀请出席的都是撞意啤酒界中前辈或新人高手，平常日子在任何一家专卖吧，这些啤酒都会被视为上选，不过，在会场的洗杯机两旁都有大大的空桶让啤迷在洗杯喝另一不同类别啤酒前，把没喝完或不打算喝完的上好啤酒倒掉！（如果你在几小时内有超过几十种不同类别啤酒要尝味的话，倒掉不是很打动你味蕾或好奇心的啤酒是很自然的事！）

there's this video circulating on Youtube ---someone pouring away PLINY--because it's a week or so older than "fresh"!!---BUT obviously the guy who up loaded admitted that it's only a HOAX--the beer been consumed--what poured away was just something else....

Some people is of the opinion that drain pour is probably needed to become a better drinker--that is to say--since one would likely encounter some really crappy craft beer--instead of forcing yourself to finish the bottle/pint---why not just POUR...( since the palate has tasted what's crap--why not give your liver a rest...:)

WEEK 58---Craft is HARD?

It is common knowledge that in every city in the world, beer market is DOMINATED by the boring(but heavily advertised/ given lifestyle package) BIG factory beers.

Craft beer is moving and gaining momentum in Europe, US, even in Asia...but it is still a small market player--in comparison to big factory beers--not to mention other alcohol beverages players. 

CRAFT BEER在吉隆坡萌芽慢步走了大概5-6年左右，要是跟其他亚洲城市比较，我们的步伐很慢，撞意啤酒文化市场发展没有想象中那么顺，很大程度上大多数一般饮客听都没听说过CRAFT BEER这个词，又或者有些很模糊的听说过，可是不知道是什么东西，也不知道哪里有卖，全力投入卖CRAFT BEER的业者还很少，目前只有2家瓶子店3间酒吧。

普通大厂啤酒笼罩市场是所有尝试推广撞意啤酒业者都面对的挑战，从欧美到日本这些撞意啤酒文化比较盛开的城市，到曼谷新加坡和吉隆坡，大家都面对着消费者不熟悉或完全不知道撞意啤酒存在的挑战。

In KL, the craft beer movement started some 5-6 years ago--and the city finally have the very first 100% craft beer bar some 4 years+- ago....now, 4 years plus later---the KL scene is such:-

3 dedicated craft beer bar + 2 bottle shop.

要探讨为什么本地撞意啤酒文化不普及，原因不少，例如以下情况：-
CRAFT BEER不是大厂商品，不会有铺天盖地宣传攻势

或许，最近在本地专卖吧跟一位外国人的对白可以浅显现状：-

外国人：“这是本地唯一的CRAFT BEER专卖吧吗？”

回答：“不是的，是去年才开的分店，4年前在市中心开了当时吉隆坡唯一的专卖吧。”

外国人：“真的? 就在你说那地点？啊，之前我在邻近大厦住了两年，没注意到！”

“什么是CRAFT BEER？有这种东西存在？”类似问题都是市场推广不足，认知不够，以致本地消费者不认识撞意啤酒或朦朦胧胧的原因。

What's making craft beer movement seems hard to move locally? of course there's 1001 reasons out there, maybe these are part of the 1001:-

1) What? Where?

Let's face it---craft beer will not go the advertising way the Big factory beer boys do--so it means one thing in general--that the term craft beer is not commonly heard of---most average pub goers have no idea what craft beer is---some or many don't even know there is such a thing called CRAFT BEER...perhaps this conversation i had at one of the dedicated craft beer bar in KL would tell a little bit:-

expat:-"is this the only craft beer bar in KL?"

me:-"nope--this is the branch--the same guys opened up the first bar somewhere in KL 4 yrs ago..."

expat:-"oh...you mean that place? ahhh...i used to live one block away for 2 years---BUT--never noticed--never knew.."

撞意啤酒复杂难懂？

某个程度来说，撞意啤酒不普及其中一个原因是不同类别啤酒需要一定时间培养胃口和鉴赏力，比如说以前只喝普通大厂啤酒的新人一开始喝比较烈的IPA会叫苦，比如不喜欢酸味食物的可能需要长时间慢慢接受天然发酵果酸啤酒。（又或者一直否定）

这是视乎个人修为的事情，有人快有人慢，也有人安于现状好几年喝来喝去就两三样，只是，涉猎范围有限的话，不同啤酒类别鉴赏力也不会长进。

有个真实个案，朋友在家里冰柜收着世界100大之一的比利时修道院啤酒有天突然不见了，问清楚後才知道，原来家里有位喜欢喝啤酒的长辈因为好奇打开来喝。结果两口後觉得怪怪的因为啤酒坏了，就整瓶往洗碗盆倒！！（必须说的是，这位长辈不是没喝过啤酒，只不过，老人家喝的都是口感比较淡的啤酒，突然间喝性格特出的啤酒并不容易接受）

2)  Complicated leh...

It is true that newbie need a certain period of time to go through the so called "palate building" stages when it comes to drinking craft beer---that is if you have fallen into the "black hole" of craft and intend to go all the way froward....

For newbies--average occasional craft drinkers--the numerous choices of different styles/brand of beers available seems to be an issues they sometimes find it hard to comprehend...

This is a true story from a friend--kind of show why craft beer is not so easy for average or occasional drinker:-

"A friend kept some beers at home--one day discovered that 1 of the TOP 100 beer--a Belgium Trappist to be exact has gone missing--what happened was---a senior member of the family open it for some home comfort drink---but after 2 sip( maybe 3?)---the whole bottle went down the drain!--( because it taste weird...as explained by the senior citizen) ---nope the beer was fine--it was just an issue with palate.

is there a given period for palate building? the answer is no--it all depends on individual--some people learn fast, some slow--some just don't bother to learn or try certain varieties---just happy with one or two or three different styles of beers after years of drinking---anything wrong with that? also nope--beer is all about personal preference,you decide what you like or dislike to drink...

3) How then?

This is a common questions often asked by newbie...

and to be honest--there's probably more than a dozen answers on how to start or how to drink---to put it simply--how to start appreciating something new or completely alien to your palate?

怎么喝才是？

这是很多新人会疑惑的课题。

也是没有绝对答案的问题。

道理很浅显，喝啤酒跟吃东西看电影听音乐一样，好不好都会有人提意见，而这些意见都是以个人喜好个人口味为准。

在撞意啤酒世界里有两个独立评酒网站是很多啤迷会参考的。还有一个手机APPS。很多时候评价高的啤酒都备受追捧。虽然很多高评价啤酒确是名不虚传，可是有时候太注意别人评价，会错过找到自己真正喜欢不过评价低或新啤酒的机会。比如一些较少去到欧美市场的亚洲品牌啤酒，或一些比较少人注意到的其他地方啤酒品牌。

所以有资深饮客会说，不能只听别人评语就决定喝不喝。

也有另一种意见是，新人开始时候参考下其他饮客评语是不错做法，可帮助了解不同啤酒的风格类别特质，减少摸索时间。

反正，跟着自己口味感觉走，自己喝自己判断是最佳开始方式，之后再各自修行好了。

One of the commonly recommended way of cutting short palate building or learning stage is to refer to other people's opinion--yeah--look up RATEBEER or BEERADVOCTAE or download UNTAPPD--use it as a guide.

Of course--there would be another opinion which says that the best for newbie to go forward is to try out beers basing on your own taste preferences--and slowly venture out of the comfort zone( because sooner or later--that taste comfort zone could become boring zone at times)

CRAFT BEER很难？ 一点都不，你需要的只是尝试几杯/几瓶你从来不知道存在的另一个美好啤酒世界，只是那么简单，喝了就知道。

Is craft beer a hard one?----I say nope----it's damn easy--all you need is try a few beers--pick something you like--and you will open up a whole new world of beautiful brews you never knew existed.