WEEK 115-----Beer -Camera Phone & CAMERA

'i recently realized that the journey of craft beer exploring is very similar to photography" 

It was a casual chat with a photographer friend who is starting to know a bit more about craft beer:-

"i used to think craft beer is only beer, why the fuss, or why you keep saying there's such thing as palate building" (looking at me, shaking his head a bit while saying)

"then slowly i get it--it's a process of discovering, letting palate explore new flavours/combination of flavours---kinda like learning how to shoot photos---from a hand phone camera user(drinking MACRO) to learning how to use a proper camera..."

“原来喝啤酒跟摄影是可以很相似的。”

说这话的是一位开始了解Craft Beer美妙之处的摄影师朋友。

他说“一开始完全不理解为什么有喝啤酒需要时间历练味蕾说法，觉得不就是啤酒嘛，直接喝就对啦，干嘛还需要这么麻烦？”

“然后慢慢的开始懂了，原来喝Craft是需要一个过程的，情况就像是一个一路来只是拿着手机用自动对焦功能拍照的人，如果把摄影机交给他/她，没经过时间锻炼很难拍出什么像样照片。”

这样子比喻的话，还真的蛮相似。

That was quite a reference--with probably 9 out of 10( if not 10 out of 10) people nowadays happily snapping away with whatever phone camera they hold--it's all about convenience/accessibility--kinda like beer too--i mean--how many of us would carry a DSLR camera/lenses/tripod while going out( if it's not passion driven /work required?)

and then he asked "while i kinda understand how the technical indicators/pointers of photography works--in the world of craft beer--how do i know what is a really nice brew /and what is not? i mean looking at the bottle label don't give much clue unlike a camera specs"

That is a valid point--indeed there's NO clear cut indications showing HOW GOOD or HOW BAD a beer gonna taste like--until you drink it--and then again that's also subject to many factors such as:-

1) personal preferences 

2) palate appreciation level

3) condition of the beer( examples -if it's fresh enough if it's a hop beer--if it's well kept--if the tap line is properly cleaned and so on)

4) mood and physical condition of the drinker on that day

喝啤酒是需要培养一定程度味蕾鉴赏力的，Craft Beer 世界迥异多变的众多风味选择意味着喝酒人需要能辨别不同类型风格啤酒的变化，只喝大厂啤酒或固定一两各个风味类型的话肯定无法领略个中奥秘。

那要怎样从手机自动对焦照相者变身厉害使用照相机的人？摄影师朋友答案“基本就是多学多用多观察，再吸收使用。”

放在啤酒的世界，也一样，多尝味多了解，多些尝试高手酿酒师的不同类别啤酒，慢慢就会领悟。

在摄影的世界，有一些技术要诀作为指南，不过，在Craft的世界，要怎么区别什么是上佳或劣作？这是很难也可以说是没有100%公认的事，就算是要举例说哪一支啤酒是必喝也是不容易的事，因为同一款啤酒可能会有几千支不同品牌选择，大家又因为地理位置不同，有的酒喝得到，有的因为没人带来亚洲不容易喝到，单是不同城市能喝到什么或喝不到就可以有很多差异之处。

“可是不少新朋友都想知道说什么啤酒是值得尝试的，喝了会领略那类型啤酒美妙的”摄影师朋友的好奇提问，因为那样，就从亚洲城市最普遍被接受的不同类别啤酒说起：-

It's true there's NO DEFINITE GUIDE about what is a good beer or bad beer until one drink it--- no one can say with absolute certainty that THIS IS THE BEST BEER IN THE WORLD--nope NOT even ratebeer/beer advocate and/or untappd combined can say it's absolute--in fact NO ONE CAN--that's probably why craft beer is fun, as basically there's only one way to find out if a beer is good or bad--- by drinking it.

'But surely there must be some guide/reference beers for newbies to get a feel of what's the benchmark of a nicely brew style of beer?" he opined and then pop that question--" say for examples what would be a few porter/stouts/ipas you would refer to always when asked?"

and so i obliged with these few--reference point is made with regards to what's available in KL in those early days of drinking craft and felt in awe/or fell in love with(for sure people in different cities in and around ASIA would have different favourites due to different supply from importers)

PORTER

by modern day beer terms/theory--porter is the "thinner/weaker" cousins of Stouts--that a porter is usually lighter in taste/lower in abv/ which personally it could also mean watery/not rich enough for a tasty black brew.

NOT this one--black ball was one of the very early days porter which still remain a personal choice now--it maybe only a porter but it's rich and tasty enough to overshadow many supposedly richer/thicker/"bigger" stouts.

Porter /Stouts 

大众认知的黑啤，两者之间是有些不同的，以近代历史说法演变来看，stout 是理论上要比porter 来得更浓郁，更香醇，酒精度更高的黑啤，虽然实际上在天马行空的Craft 世界里这个理论未必时常被酿酒师遵守。

黑啤风味虽然被认为离不开烤香麦芽，咖啡，巧克力，香草，草本，类醋味等基本风味，但是当然其中变化还是可以玩到很大差异的，比如可以有带水果酸香味的黑啤，也可以有酒体类白色的黑啤！

以吉隆坡较早期喝得到的黑啤来看，达到一定水平的摄影机级别黑啤有以下几支

To Ol  Black Ball 

北欧品牌porter, 虽然理论上酒体较浅，不过口感一点都不输很多牌面上更浓的stouts。

STOUTS

Personally--any stouts under 9% abv would get a "???" mark as i have very seldom found a stout rich/thick/aromatic enough for my liking.

Well--this breakfast bottle broke that perception--it was really nice for a stouts with lower than 9%abv.

Mikkeller  Beer Geek Breakfast 

只看酒精度的话，会觉得低过9%酒精度的黑啤会不够香醇浓郁，这支丹麦名牌黑啤是好喝的“低度”stout 。

For "bigger'/richer/bolder stouts--these 2 would still work for me, Bomb is the one with chili/pepper spiciness along with the dark chocolate/roasted malt/vanilla influences.

Prairie  Bomb 

美国酿坊的带辣味香浓黑巧克力咖啡香草黑啤，超过10%酒精度却不是那种会让人感觉带酒精味的佳酿。

while Black Albert is a stand out to those who think Belgium don't have any good stouts--try one and you shall be blown away.

captured with phone camera

IPA

personally don't really have much to say about what's available locally since IPA is something you need to drink real fresh--with KL being a prohibited zone for home brewing/no brewpub it's hard to pick an outstanding one though there are some which is quite all right to start with.

with my photographer friend's insistence--here's what i told him" if you live in ASIA-with accessibility issues especially pertaining to those big IPAs from USA---no matter what ipas you might have had via local importers--personally i would think everyone should try to get hold of these 2--they are NOT THE BEST( which many would tell you)--but these 2 for me are the ones which saves me from ipa fatigue( from the same old grassy grassy thops attack) of almost giving up drinking any more ipas.

capture with CAMERA

或许对一些新朋友来说，从大厂啤酒直接尝试喝比较苦涩浓郁的ipa 会是个味蕾系统震撼，不过，只要不是喝到过期变质的ipa ，一旦味觉可以逐渐接受这类啤酒强调的啤酒花柑橘类苦涩甘香就可以领略到个中美妙。

一般情况来说，除非有上佳的在地酿坊，因为运输时间处理等关系，在亚洲喝进口ipa 都很难是最佳状况，比较难喝得到啤酒花保持上佳新鲜度的啤酒，或许因为那样，有一些朋友觉得只要是苦到够力就是好喝ipa，实际上并不那样。

以吉隆坡本土能喝到ipa 为例，选择不是很多，近期开始热起来的类果汁NEIPA也没什么机会在本地酒吧出现，就不举例了。

硬要举例的话，或许可以这样说，无论在亚洲喝过多少不同品牌的欧美进口Ipa ，还是应该想方设法从美国找来这两支/罐最具代表性的酿品，只有喝过了才能领略什么是摄影机级别啤酒。

Russian River  Pilny the elder 

美国加州酿坊的名作，让觉得ipa 只是强调苦涩的人们开始了解什么是啤酒花麦芽酵母均衡结合的美妙。

The Alchemist  Heady Topper 

绝对的经典作之一，罐装上有一行字说"drink from can "鼓励从罐口直接喝，当然也可以一分为二，倒些在杯子，留点在罐中，味蕾能感受不同程度啤酒花冲击表现。