从2013年底朋友鼓励抱着写玩玩心态开始“CRAFT IS ART” 部落客，到隔年写“顽啤主张”，有朋友问到底Craft魅力何在，可以让人如此着迷？来聊聊到底怎么回事。
It's been quite a while since this blog started, here's a little "looking back and forth":-
1) how it started?
About 5 years plus ago--going to the only dedicated craft beer bar in town--the drinkers would almost always full of either expat or foreign tourists, the percentage of local drinkers are quite small- that's when a friend suggested " why not try writing a blog about craft beer in Chinese?"
(*Malaysia as a muslim country--technically speaking it's only the Chinese with 20 plus % of population and Indians at about 5 plus% who are not bound by "prohibition laws" and can drink freely)
Then again--since there are Chinese who don't read Chinese, as well for the benefits of some friends who are not Chinese--a Chinese + broken English blog was born in late 2013.
1) 怎么开始的？
5，6年前去本地唯一1家craft beer专卖吧时，都是外国人居多，有朋友提议说为什么不写中文啤酒blog尝试推广？后来想到有不会看中文朋友，也不管半桶水英文，于是变成中英文双语版。
2) drinking craft---what is it all about?
it's still beer drinking--only and HUGE difference is Choices available.
Imagine this--all the MACRO BEER you been drinking so far is like eating Plain White Bread and nothing else. Drinking craft is more like making bread into all sorts of delicacies -you could put on fresh vege or ham or eggs or add some fruit jam-peanut butter jelly- toast it- roast it---the possibilities quite endless...
2) 喝craft 到底怎么一回事？
基本还是喝啤酒，巨大不同是变成有很多不同类别风味啤酒选择。
简单说，可以想像成以前喝的大厂啤酒都像是白面包，而喝craft beer就像是开始在全麦面包上做各种美味添加，涂上果酱-花生酱-蜜糖，变成三文治或烤土司等美味转身，听起来是不是美味多了？
3) what got you into the craft "black hole"?
10 years ago--anyone who chose to drink some "Macro-ish" German beer or Belgium beer here in KL is considered advance drinker ;)
There's simply no supply of craft beer here until about 7,8 years ago when a small Belgium restaurant in Bangsar brought in beers like de la senne, st.martin, Hopus, Duvel...that was probably the time when palate was open up somewhat. BUT the 2 beers that really gotten me was Rochefort 8, as well as a vintage 330ml Struise Black Damnation Mocha Bomb kindly shared by the owner, those 2 beers definitely impacted the palate in more ways possible at that time.
3) 什么情况下陷入浩瀚啤海的？
一直以来吉隆坡没有craft专卖店，当时会喝些德国啤酒就已很与众不同了，七八年前有一家比利时餐厅自己小量进口几个不同品牌比利时craft beer，那时算大概知道什么是不同啤酒美味层次，真正让人开窍的啤酒是餐厅主人分享私藏，一是Rochefort 8号，另一是已绝版Struise Mocha Bomb小支装，对那时候味蕾来说，这两支啤酒带来震撼是影响深刻的。
4) what fun being a geek?
Geeks at times are seen as "alien subject" by some other drinkers--simply because they are seen to be either too picky about beer or trying to make something as simple as beer drinking into complicated rocket science?
In truth the joy of being a geek is the same as say a foodie, it's all about finding and enjoying different taste profile, in this case, either a beer or a mead, and that is all geeks wanted, nothing too complicated really.
and if you don't realized, being a geek in ASIA can be not much fun--painful even at times--simply because we lives so far apart from Europe/US where lots of awesome beer/mead originated from and hardly get any consistent or fresh enough supply.
有人觉得啤迷就是没事找事的一群，不就是啤酒吗？有什么需要那么执着讲究花钱花时间精力研究，一定只要喝这或那的？
在亚洲，很多欧美厉害啤酒没人引进（或者说拿不到代理权），啤迷只能自主，通过欧美朋友或特定网店或啤酒对换方式等取得心头好，这其实是不太符合经济效益的举动，不过一些啤迷甘之如饴，为的只是想和同道中人分享尝味道。
说到底，啤迷就只是对啤酒风味水准有一定程度要求的一群，像喜欢美食的人那样，这是个讲求酿品水准美味层次群体，不了解的人觉得啤迷为了普通不过的啤酒而走火入魔是可以理解的，毕竟，不同风味佳酿能带来乐趣只有啤迷才能领会。
5) what so fun drinking craft?
first and foremost--it's different--though it's still beer--the varieties of taste profile one could get out of a craft beer (or mead) is so so much different from gulping your usual BUD or Tiger or Carlsberg or Tsingdao or Chang....
secondly- drinking beer can become something one could "taste"--the term tasting session no longer belongs to just whisky or wine--with craft beer you really can enjoy better with a tasting session- drink less taste more.
IF you are into or have friends who are very into certain sports or hobbies, say photography, cooking, rock climbing, writing or whatever--the joy is the same when you share and appreciate good craft beer/mead.
5) Craft的乐趣是什么？
不喝酒人对喜欢喝酒人印象就是醉醺醺，喧哗，乱性，甚至闹事等刻板负面标签。
说喝craft是不一样的，一般人好像有点难以理解，因为不也是喝有酒精饮料？
对啤迷来说，喝craft基本像享受美食甜点咖啡品茶，是讲究味蕾享受美味层次，不牛饮不斗酒，意思是，啤酒在这里变成适合品饮（TASTING）的东西，不再是一般人印象中廉价酒精饮料而已。
因为品饮，因为不同美味层次享受，啤酒让啤迷之间找到共同话题，也因为craft文化特质，让啤迷间有了共识，找寻或分享美味佳酿是乐趣，让更多新朋友认识craft也是乐趣。换个角度看，啤迷的乐趣跟摄影发烧友或美食爱好者之间没区别，大家都有追求目标，也有共同语言。
6) does it make any difference---when majority drinkers just simply buy BEER and gulp it down?
It's a fact that MACRO BEER is the market leaders in terms of volume and easy access to getting it--but craft is here, craft is a CHOICE, and a much much better one (ok, fxxk some awful brew claiming to be craft)--people just need to open up their eyes and mind and give some varieties of craft a few tries before even trying to decide or judge if craft is worthy sip or to your liking.
craft in ASIA is still at early developing stage--if the US market took about 20 odd years to gain a strong foothold in the beer market while trying to fend off all kinds of tactics from MACRO--ASIA might need that long a time to get craft moving in the right direction--one step at the time--so long as craft community moves--the craft movement will move in tune...
6) 绝大多数人都随便买随便喝大厂啤酒，啤迷摇旗呐喊有用吗？
Craft主要靠口口相传，如何让更多人知道啤酒不是只有大厂品牌，craft beer才是更美味多变化选择不是短期内就能看到成效的事。美国的craft革命用了20年左右才有如今占整体啤酒市场销量10多巴仙成绩，亚洲肯定需要时间，而且搞不好比美国更长时间才能让更多消费者开始意识到喝啤酒时其实有更多美味选择。
7) why write when the market is dominated by MACRO still?
when this blog started--or subsequently when the local Chinese newspaper Guangming Sunday feature section invited to start a craft column--the thought is the same--it's to share thoughts about craft--though maybe it would be nice to be able to earn money while writing/sharing like J.K.Rowling or some big time blogger but i guess that's not happening/not gonna happen :)
end of the day--if anyone who read this blog/newspaper column or say someone met in person got interested with craft and went on to explore more--i guess that would be reasons enough to keep writing/sharing...(though i won't mind IF someone like to donate millions to the account and say go on be a full time craft writer or go and publish a book or something : )
7) 大局是那样，还有什么好写的？
无论是最初写部落客或“顽啤主张”，都没什么伟大理想抱负，只抱分享心态，想到什么就写什么，要说有谁看了会对craft beer产生兴趣，或觉得原来长大以来以为认识的大厂啤酒并不是啤酒全部真相，那就够了。
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