WEEK 130---Drink Beer for Taste/Flavours---NOT ALCOHOL

This piece started with a conversation with a geek friend who not too long ago had a beer at a craft beer bar which was already way past it's best.

那天和朋友聊天，说起他最近在某家专卖吧喝到明显过了“能接受美味期”的一支，喝了两口就摆一边不喝了，店员看到问怎么回事，朋友说啤酒花已经氧化老化变难喝，结果店员回答让朋友有点啼笑皆非，说“是吗？不太了解为什么这样，瓶子上可饮用日期还是有效的”。

It's not unusual--from Shanghai to here in KL--we hear geeks complaining at times about encounters with either badly kept beer or beers which already past it's prime(due to whatever reasons it might be but the fact is these people still sell to drinkers these subpar beers)--especially those which emphasis on hops freshness such as IPAs or Pale Ale.....(yes--we are talking about imported beers here)

这里有三大要点：-

1）朋友说的是“能接受美味期”，这跟一般人印象中的超市罐头/瓶装食品或饮料“可食用/饮用期限”概念有别，在Craft Beer世界里，如果一支啤酒是属于强调啤酒花鲜味类型，特别是IPA或Pale Ale类的话，就算瓶子/罐子上印着一年内可饮用，这也只是“可饮用”期限，绝对不是“美味期限”，打个比喻，如果说面包新鲜出炉一小时内最好吃的话，强调啤酒花鲜味类型啤酒也一样，要是说面包每多一小时新鲜度/好吃程度就逐渐直线下降的话，可以说，面包的一小时就类似等于这类啤酒的一个星期美味度，放得越久，美味度越低。

What happened to my friend was that he went to a bar--ordered a certain ipa( or was it pale ale?)--had two sips and told the guy at the bar "the beer taste off--it's smelling/tasting died hops and old malt"--the "funny" part was the staff at the bar look a little surprised/puzzled--pointing to the label on the bottle and said "oh, but the beer is still within expiry date"......

2）店员说可饮用期限仍然有效并没错，“技术上”来说这支啤酒并没有崩坏掉，可是，对强调啤酒花鲜味类型啤酒来说，仍处于可饮用期限并不意味着啤酒仍然好喝，用新鲜出炉面包概念来比喻的话，如果面包可食用期限是72小时，美味期限实际上很可能只有不到12个小时时间，以这个概念估计的话，朋友喝的那支啤酒是已经过了至少50多个小时的面包，虽没坏掉，但距离美味两个字已很远。

For the uninitiated---it is true a beer( be it bottle or can) would be deemed drinkable within a certain "expiry date"---BUT---if we are talking about certain beer styles which give first priority to FRESHNESS of the beer--in particular hops---examples IPAs or Pale Ale--then the term "expiry date" does not really come into play here--in short--the "expiry date" is a USELESS term because UNLIKE canned food items from supermarket---a beer which emphasis on Freshness is only as good as a freshly baked bread/bun--the deliciousness goes down by the hour( in beer case--by the week/month)

3）虽然啤酒仍是在“可饮用期限“内，说白一点，一般喝酒人绝大可能也喝不出/不会觉得那支啤酒有什么问题，可是对啤迷来说，如果专卖吧店员不很清楚店里啤酒有什么问题的话，那就是个大问题，这意味着店家很可能只把Craft Beer 当一般商品看待，也意味着去这家喝的新人朋友在还不太懂得分辨珍珠还是稻草阶段时要喝到高质素啤酒机会将减低，Craft Beer 并不像卖大厂啤酒那样简单，店家没有一定程度热爱/了解/正确态度的话，分分钟可能误导着饮客还不自知。

Let's assume that if a freshly baked bread/bun with no additive is good for 72 hours( read--expiry date)---the truth may well be this particular bread/bun is only tasty within the first 12 hours---same goes for a freshness emphasis beer like ipa or pale ale---the longer it wait in the storage place( there better be a cold room)---the less tasty the beer become--hence--let's say THAT beer my friend had has a 12 month expiry date---and it was kept in cold storage( rather than warm room temp)--the deliciousness of the beer would diminish by the week goes by---and according to what my friend described--that bottle of beer though might still be within "expiry date" but it's certainly past it's 'delicious hour"--if we could use a bread/bun hours to describe--that bottle of beer is like a bread already over 50 hours--still not expired but you would prefer not to eat.....

或许，这样听起来喝Craft Beer好像是件有点麻烦有点需要基本知识的事情，其实也没想象中那么复杂，就像吃东西那样，比如说吃过十多二十家不同店家做的云吞面/鸡饭/汉堡包就会有点基本概念说什么是用料好坏差别，什么是有真功夫或学艺未精就敢开门做生意的，喝酒基本也是这样，比如说喝多些不同酿坊但同类型风格啤酒就会对酿品高下有点了解，又比如说那种强调啤酒花鲜味的啤酒可以通过喝同一酿坊但不同日期版本来了解什么是啤酒花鲜味退减影响等等。

The main issue here is that ---expiry date is not really important---unless what you wanted to drink is only alcohol--if you drink for the many different taste and flavours beers can bring and especially when drinking a beer style emphasizing on deliciousness due mainly to freshness of hops--then one should always look for the "delicious date"(read the shorter the kept date the better) of a beer rather than paying attention to expiry date.

如果说你是个求知欲比较强的好奇宝宝，那很好，除了可以自己从品饮经验中学习之外，书店和网上有很多啤酒专门知识等着发掘，喝Craft很麻烦？一点都不，那只是不懂得啤酒能有不同美味层次这回事人才会说的藉口。

后记：基本概念，Craft Beer不同类别风格非常多，不是所有啤酒都需要第一时间新鲜喝，有不少类别风格比如比利时修道院啤酒(Trappist)，天然发酵果酸啤酒(Lambic)，大黑啤(Imperial Stout)，大麦酒(Barley Wine)等都适合收藏，很多时候，收藏得好的话，时间能让酿品变更有层次更好喝。如果要问什么类型啤酒能收什么需要新鲜喝的详细，网上资料很多，可以自己上网查看。

If you need to understand what are some beer styles need to drink fresh and what are some actually needing longer time of keeping( for beer to mature/become more rounded/complex)--there's plenty of info in the WWW to explore--there's also some books you could read on for that particular knowledge......

The next time when you find an ipa or pale ale tasting weird but still within expiry date--you might want to read the label of the bottle again to see if the brewer/brewery actually said--"drink as fresh it can be....."