To a large extent--in Asia it's not surprising that mere mentioning of the word "alcoholic beverages" would trigger images of drunken loud/rowdy crowd--and that would extend to imaginary images of a beerfest generally to people who can't differentiate what is binge drinking and what is tasting/savoring/enjoying.
说起啤酒节三个字，你会想到什么？大杯大口尽情喝？有免费酒喝的好日子？只怕喝不够， 不醉无归？
在亚洲，最为一般消费者知道的啤酒节大概就是源自慕尼黑的十月啤酒节，多得大厂啤酒公司促销策略，不管是不是跟德国或慕尼黑有任何关联,,亚洲很多城市十月都会有大大小小各式各样啤酒促销活动或啤酒节出现。
在craft beer的世界，啤酒节的确是推动craft文化所需方式之一，理由很简单,与其等消费者自发自动到专卖吧或瓶子店发现什么是另一个崭新的啤酒世界，通过更多人可以接触到的啤酒节把craft文化散播出去未尝不是好方法。
目前来说，亚洲不同城市大大小小的craft啤酒节不少，从北京上海到东京首尔到台湾香港再到曼谷新加坡，每年都有不同形式不同名堂啤酒节在进行，虽然不能跟一些顶级欧美啤酒节相比，至少有起到推介craft作用。
Generally speaking most people in Asia would have heard of Oktoberfest--along with images of large beer mug filled with seemingly endless volume of beers---that's quite typically the perception of the general public when the word beerfest is mentioned---of course they won't think or know that there can be really huge different levels of beerfest--depending on the intention/objectives of the organizer.
In Asia--most of the beerfest is either organized/run by event organizer who aim to sell space/booth or importers/local breweries keen to promote their brands( be it MACRO or craft) to a larger audience--while everyone need to sell more for business sake--there can be a different pertaining to how a beerfest is organized/run--there are fest which aim to only sell and sell--there's also fest which aim to spread out the craft cultures....
While generally going to a beerfest is seen as a good day to get slammed--drink to the ground--it really does not have to go that direction, beerfest can be quite an enjoyable affair if one take it nice and slow regardless if you are going for the very first time or been there and always end up face down on the ground....
亚洲craft啤酒节来说,多的有上百不同品牌类别啤酒等着品尝，少的也有几十种，怎么在一天或半天时间内好好品味而不是走着进去歪着或抬着出来是有简单小窍门的。
here's a few simple tips that would help one to enjoy a beerfest better:-
1) DON'T ever go in EMPTY STOMACH
Quite some people thought it's really natural/ok to go into a beerfest and starts enjoying some food & beer at the same time--meaning no food consumed PRIOR going into a beerfest--though it seems innocuous --the reality is that the body system will definitely go under attack by alcohol influences while the food is waiting to get digested.
Unless you plan to make a mockery of the meaning of enjoying one self at a beerfest--you would not want to do this--ever.
1) 绝对不要空腹喝酒
啤酒，无论是多么低度易喝(3到6%)都是带酒精饮料，的确在啤酒节一边喝啤酒一边吃东西是享受，所以空腹去好像很合理，这个观念听起来没问题，实际上，空腹去啤酒节一边喝一边吃，再继续喝，你觉得是酒精会先发挥醉人影响，还是食物可以比酒精先一步消化起到"压肚子"作用？
答案是很明显的，空腹喝酒明摆着就是在找自己麻烦，不但不能好好享受不同风味啤酒乐趣，分分钟还会让自己难堪。
2) less is MORE
Forget about the photos/video/images you have seen about that event in Munich--beerfest does not have to be only about drinking in huge beer mug or drink yourself to death---while it is true that generally all beerfest in ASIA is selling beer in a rather big serving-it does not mean you have to finish the beer all by yourself--you can always share with friends--just drink say 25-150ml of a particular beer and move onto other beers since a beerfest would have atleast tens of hundreds of different beers to choose from--if you really like a particular beer you can go slow and finish it--if a particular beer taste awful/not your liking--you could try ask if your friends/ or new found stranger friends wanted to try and share it--otherwise just leave it/pour it....
The key is--beerfest can be like a larger scale tasting session--with different choices to pick--why not just drink/sip in small volume, that way you could try a lot more different styles/brands of beers and enjoy/savour each taste profile better.
2) 少即是多 (Less is More)
如果你去的啤酒节有几十种甚至上百不同类别风格品牌等待品尝，假设有8小时喝酒时间，是要大杯大口喝够本还是说要小杯小啜慢慢品味？
一般亚洲人酒量来说，喝上10支330毫升小瓶装啤酒算"厉害"的了，以此推算，怎样可以从容的在啤酒节细味享受超过几十或更多款不同风味啤酒而不是勉强喝\拼命喝\喝到挂是重点。
抛开个人酒精承受力，体质不一样，当天身心状态等因素不说，最简单的喝酒方式是<积少成多>，意思是想试的每款啤酒都尽量只要一点，比如25到100毫升之间，也不需要每杯喝完，个人很喜欢的可以慢慢喝完，感觉一般或不对味的可以看下身边朋友是不是想试，可以分享，再不然就放一旁或干脆倒掉，再去试其他的。
啤酒节可以是一个放慢来品尝不同风格啤酒的地方，就像在餐厅享受美食那样，狼吞虎咽会少了很多乐趣，细味才是重点。
3) Get "time out"--go for intervals
Going to a beerfest can be like playing a ball game--you do need to take a break in between drinking--drink some water/eat some food/ go for coffee if that's your thing--it is true everyone has got different level of alcohol tolerance--but it's always good to take a short interval--let the palate/body system freshen up a little before continuing.
3) 喝酒也有休息时间
像去运动打球那样，在啤酒节只是一直不停喝也不对，应该给身体机能一些调适时间，喝酒的同时也喝水，间中吃点东西，只要不是太重口味比如辣或麻辣到令味蕾失调的就好，喝喝停停，停停喝喝，聊聊天聊聊啤酒经，新旧朋友间交换下心得，啤酒节会变得有趣。
The craft culture/ craft beer movement in Asia is still in early developing stage--while various beerfest is happening more often in and around different cities in Asia--the majority drinkers are still very much influenced by the binge-drinking culture--that beerfest is about price factor/value for money/drink til you drop kinda perception--which of course can be avoided if more people starts to realize that just like there are awesome beer and really bad beer, a beerfest can also go that direction of making a different.
在亚洲，很多人觉得啤酒节就只是个很多酒喝的节目，基本都一样，啤酒节基本元素是“共聚一堂把酒言欢”，说白了就是喝喝酒说说话吃吃东西，这原理放在鼓励大家开怀畅饮（或者牛饮）的大厂啤酒节，或是更鼓励慢喝细味的craft啤酒节听起来好像没差别，因为理论上啤酒节只是个把喜欢喝啤酒或喜欢热闹人们聚在一起的节目。
实际上，在craft的世界，一个啤酒节的规模大小，是不是有什么明星艺人出现不是重点，真正重要的是啤酒阵容，有什么酿坊什么类别啤酒出现才是关注点。
亚洲啤酒节现阶段来说，在一般消费者比较关心价格，是不是可以喝到饱喝到卦，不是很了解craft文化情况下，说这样的话可能会让人觉得困惑，去啤酒节需要关注有什么啤酒喝？不过，如果你觉得疑惑，很好，至少现在你已知道不是所有啤酒节都一样的。
YES--it's completely unfair/incomparable to mention about the level of #MBCC #CBC has set for a beerfest to what Asia can envisage to achieve---it can be a sky high benchmark Asia beerfest can look up to and see what mini version can be done here in ASIA--in simple word--a day when you announce a beerfest which would only serve between 25-100ml per pour and people who paid for the beerfest ticket wold have to line up for 1 small keg of each beer and won't question "why so little/why so expensive/why so stupid to have only 1 keg why can't be 10 keg of the same"?
That would be the ultimate challenges for beerfest in and around Asia --though i honestly don't think there would be many out there who would share that thought or agree with.
