It is a fact that majority of paying customers/consumers only know beer as what MACRO BEER portrayed it to be.
Majority never heard of the term Craft Beer--and obviously do not know differences between a Craft and a MACRO.
提起啤酒，你会想到什么？绝大多数人只会想到啤酒就只是冷飕飕喝的单调无趣大厂啤酒(MACRO BEER)。在消费者脑海中，绝大多数人不知道，没听说过CRAFT BEER的存在，更不了解跟大厂啤酒有什么不同。
吃过很多美食和说话口无遮拦出名的电视节目主持人ANTHONY BOURDAIN最近接受访问时说，他在节目中所喝啤酒是最被一些观众批评的画面，因为“我只会在最方便喝到冷啤酒的地方随意喝，而不是喝最好的啤酒”，批评TONY的人觉得既然对食物味道那么有要求，怎可以对啤酒味道没要求？
And so when Anthony Bourdain( yeah--that popular TV food and travel show host) was captured by UK news outlet The Telegraph with a headline saying "CRAFT BEER IS TURNING PEOPLE INTO ZOMBIES"--it's bound to stir up some ripples....
Anyone who kinda follow Tony's show would know--this is a guy who sort of talk trash at times--be it what he felt strongly about or just a way of expressing himself-seriously or half jokingly-i mean--he can be funny at times(while not actually being funny).
In that full interview with Thrillist where he talked mainly about food/wine/TV show--there's this few questions about craft beer--where he mentioned he was mostly slammed for his choice of beer in the show, because " I'm drinking whatever convenient cold beer is available in a particular place, and not drinking the best beer out there."
AND " I haven't made the effort to walk down the street 10 blocks to the microbrewery where they're making some f---ing Mumford and Sons IPA. People get all bent about it."
It is quite clear that Tony is NOT a beer geek--though i have seen him drinking an IPA or American Pale Ale in the show. The fact that a famous TV host who love his food fine/finest is NOT fussy about his choice of beer certainly sounds peculiar to beer geeks--though this is really not just an isolated case of"Tony Syndrome" ( if i may put it this way)---but much more of a general perception issue where beer is NOT seen as flavourful enough or worthy companion like wine or certain hard liquor does.
看过TONY节目的会知道，他其实也喝过IPA，只不过，他对啤酒质素要求并不高，换句话说，他喝过CRAFT BEER，不过不是啤迷。
对于啤迷的世界，TONY不了解，他在访谈中提起一次因为很口渴就近走入三藩市一家CRAFT BEER专卖吧经验，“酒吧内有很多我完全不知道是什么的啤酒选择，这很不错，不过，当我发现不少人对着面前五个（尝味）杯子不同啤酒研究味道，写尝味心得时，我觉得这是错的，这不是酒吧，比较像僵尸电影画面。。。”
对TONY 来说，酒吧应该是“比较喧闹互动的”，不是“坐着分析啤酒味道”的地方。
To beer geek--especially those who would slammed Tony on his choice of convenient rather than insistence on high quality of beer is simple--When you are seen as having high expectation for food--that's saying you have high expectation for flavours---and not being fussy about beer flavour/quality is just like saying ALL BURGERS served the same purpose--why bother eating a particular gourmet burger from a particular shop?
I would go as far to say wine and liqour food pairing is OVERRATED--while food pairing with beer--especially fine dining--is way way underrated. (Go try Upstairs Mikkeller Bangkok if you ever in Bangkok for instance--and see what you think after a meal and lots of good beer)
CRAFT BEER的世界到底是什么？跟一般只卖大厂啤酒/酒精饮料《酒吧》有什么区别？
很简单，最关键区别就是啤酒选择。
以大家耳熟能详的很多大厂啤酒品牌来说，你能说的出有哪一家有卖比如说“奇异果”或“黑/白巧克力”或“樱桃”或“烟熏培根”口味啤酒的？在CRAFT BEER的世界里，只要是你能说出口的真正食材/味道（人工/化学香精绝对不在考虑范围），就会有人酿造那个口味啤酒几率是很高的。
换句话说，只要是各种食材能提供的美味，在CRAFT BEER的世界里都有可能从《啤酒》形态中找到。
很可惜，这是绝大数人想都没想过的事，包括对美食/食物味道很有要求的人也那样。
可笑的是，当美食配搭葡萄酒是公认的“品味”动作，配搭一些烈酒也被认可的同时，很多对食物味道有要求的人们并不知道，不同类别风格CRAFT BEER所能给予的味蕾享受绝对变化多端到超乎想象，完全适合配搭美食。
有喝过不少“高级”葡萄酒的米其林星级厨师这么说过“葡萄酒，说到底用的只是一种食材--葡萄，风味变化始终有限。要是对比CRAFT BEER可用的各式各样酿酒食材选择，啤酒怎么会被认为没味道没变化，不适合配搭美食？”
But the ripples don't just end there about Tony's choice of beer--there's another interesting point he observed:-
"I was in San Francisco, and I was desperate for beer, and I walked into this place...and I noticed there was a wide selection of beers I'd never heard of,"
"Which is fine...But I looked around: the entire place was filled with people sitting there with five small glasses in front of them, filled with different beers, taking notes.
"This is not a bar. This is f---ing Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This is wrong. This is not what a bar is about."
From a beer geek point of view--It's quite hilarious to hear all those words--in kinda very "Tony-ish" style (that's why he can be funny while not actually trying to be funny)--because it's nothing weird for geeks to do what they do--taking pics of bottles/savouring tasting flight --the list goes on....
Take those words and look from another side of coin--it's also quite relevant--because a drinking place a pub/ a beer bar has always been perceived as--in Tony's words "the entire point of a bar is to "get a little bit buzzed" and not "sit there f---ing analyzing beer."
既然CRAFT BEER那么厉害，那么多不同口味选择，干嘛还是那么多消费者完全不知道，没听说过，不懂哪里找？
这大概也是TONY之所以被一些观众骂的原因，因为“我不会特意走十个路口到某家酿坊只为了喝啤酒”。
在亚洲，相比财力雄厚，通过各种行销手法围绕市场，抢占销售点主攻两三种畅销货的大厂啤酒，CRAFT BEER文化只依靠为数不多的专卖吧/瓶子店在默默耕耘，情况有点像传统小店对抗国际连锁集团那样，不是随便去超市或便利店就能随手买到，卖的地方不多意味着不容易普及，也间接解释了为什么那么多人完全不知道啤酒可以是美味选择。
WHAT is so different about craft beer bar than a usual watering hole?
The answer is simple--CHOICE of beers--plenty--much more choices of flavourful beers. That's the most important different between the average drinking places and a craft beer place.
For those of you who until now only know your easy to obtain MACRO BEER--maybe you can try imagine these and ask if any of your favourite MACRO brands ever given you choices of say KIWI fruits beer? Dark/White Chocolate beer? Cherries beer? Smoked Bacon beer? the list of beer flavours can be endless---and please take note that there's NO Artificial flavouring here--we are talking about REAL FOOD items / Real Flavours.
In Asia--where beer market is always surrounded by Big companies cornering all major point of sale with big marketing budget and at times misleading advertising campaign/promo activities--craft beer bars/bottle shop in Asia are kind like very small houses next to sky scraper--barely noticeable at times but is there for you to discover.
The "Tony Syndrome" (where people are fussy about food but not about beer) is quite a funny scenario really--in the context of ASIA where many people in different cities pride themselves as FOODIE-- it is very common to find at least 9 out of 10 of these self-pride either DO NOT KNOW what Craft Beer is all about--or DO NOT THINK beer is something worthy of their time to explore further...
It might take many discussion/pages to talk about the technicality/ differences of Craft Beer vs MACRO BEER--i like this simple way of saying :-
"Drinking a MACRO BEER is like drinking a hastily boiled soup with lots of artificial flavouring--it makes you even more Thirsty.
A well made Craft Beer is like home cooked soup with lots of fresh ingredients/invested with time and patience--just a few sip would bring pleasure/gratification.
要具体说MACRO BEER和CRAFT BEER之间的区别可能需要长篇大论，我喜欢这个说法“一般大厂啤酒就像是喝省时省料加入很多味精的汤，让人越喝越口渴。好啤酒比较像用足材料用时间用心思熬出来的爱心汤，喝上几口已感觉幸福满足。”
