"so you mean you flew all the way from your country to here because of beer?"--an airport immigration officer asked me once.
你飞来这里的目的就是因为啤酒？”这是真实对话，问话的是机场移民厅官员。
啤迷会为啤酒出行到其他亚洲或欧美城市，又或向欧美求购亚洲找不到啤酒的举动看在一般人眼中觉得不可思议，有非啤迷朋友问，“为什么你们会为啤酒做这做那？”。以下是非啤迷的一些问题：-
This is what i told my non-geek friend during a not too distance conversation---he was obviously quite "confused" as well as "intrigued" by the fact that beer geeks at times do things out of the norm just to get beers---here's some part of what was spoken"-
Q1) What is beer to beer geeks?
" Different people might have his/her version of what beer is all about--for me personally beer is a form of deliciousness---kinda like delicious food---with a wide varieties of taste profile/nuamces to be explored---though beer is alcoholic drink but it's more of gourmet food in liquid/beer form when really well made."
1）啤酒对啤迷来说是什么？
不同啤迷有不同看法，个人来说，酿得精彩的啤酒就跟美食一样，是不同美味的化身，虽是酒精饮料，跟一般人认知最大不同在于，啤迷追求的是化身为啤酒的美味层次。
Q2) Geeks finding own beers from US/Europe? is that necessary?
" It's not really that surprising or out of the norm---in a way it's kinda like an avid scenery photographer would go around places in the name of photography---or say a foodie would travel for food---the reason why some beer geeks living in Asia would willingly pay some good money on mailing cost to get beer mail in is quite simple---to taste/to drink some beers he/she really wanted to try--also many a times those bottle/s would be shared with fellow geeks/friends."
2）一些亚洲啤迷自己从欧美外求找酒，听起来很夸张，有需要这样大费周折？
这并不夸张，其实跟迷上风景摄影发烧友到处去拍不同地方或喜欢美食的为了美味到处去是一样道理。啤迷会花时间付外国运费也要找到一些欧美酿坊作品的原因很简单，排开炫耀土豪心理或高价转手卖因素之外，动机就是因想喝但亚洲买不到，很多时候啤迷买了也不是自己独饮而是选择跟几个朋友一起分享品饮。
Q3) All these hassle just to get a few sips? why not buy a dozen of the same good beers and enjoy by yourself?
"Here's the scenario:-
1/ In the world of craft beer---it's not always the case of money can buy you whatever beers at any number of bottles you wanted---some newly released bottles are limited/very limited in supply---there's always a limit of how many bottles one can buy---some are only release via lottery system---so it's really hard to get one at times let alone a dozen.
*certainly not talking about/not recognizing some who don't mind throwing silly monies to buy from greedy re-sellers at XXX times of original release prices.
3）大费周章才买到就只喝上一点？为什么不干脆买上一打慢慢喝？
这事情要分开来看：-
第一，在craft beer世界里，很多时候不是有钱就一定买得到，不少酒是限量的，有的是一年一次特定日才卖，别说亚洲啤迷，就算在地欧美啤迷也很难买到一打。
第二，如果能买到一打自己慢慢喝固然很不错，不过好些啤迷只想小杯小口品饮，喝到了解味道层次就可以了，喝一打不是重点。
第三，对一些有玩啤酒评分/打卡习惯啤迷朋友来说，同一款欧美啤酒买一打是浪费资源的事，一箱寄来都是不同款啤酒才是正道。
2. If at all a particular beer can be bought for a dozen--that would be nice too--but to some geeks--having some sips to understand the taste profile/nuances would be good enough---drinking a dozen is not a priority.
3. To some geeks who are quite seriously into beer ticking/untappd badges--having a big box of beer mail in from US/Europe with dozen same beers would be deemed a waste of resources---a box full of different beers is what needed.
Q4) Beer geeks must be quite rich then？
“Nope---it's not about individual wealth(though obviously it helps to have a deeper pocket)---the key is about what would be your area of focus/interest? Say if all things equal and have 500myr to spend---A might be buying new shoes/clothing---B might be spending on bags and so on---but for a geek--it's not surprising that all 500 would be spend on buying beers(or some mead too). To a geek--if he/she wanted certain bottles--and at a price deemed reasonable---it's a given he or she will buy without hesitation with that 500 available.
* 500 MYR is about USD 120/ EURO 105/ POUND 95 which is hardly enough for a decent box of beer mail......
4) 啤迷一定都是有钱人吧？
不是那样的。不同啤迷之间个人消费力当然不一样，但财力并不是先决条件，真正关键在于说如果大家同样有五百块闲钱可任意花，一般人可能会买鞋子衣服之类的，但啤迷会把钱都只花在买啤酒。亚洲啤迷向欧美找酒的确需要付昂贵运费，就算买的是一瓶5美元的啤酒，运费会让每瓶单价上升，但对啤迷来说，只要是认知中合理价格范围内，会毫不犹豫出手。
Q5) What do geeks want? constantly discarding older tasted ones in chase of newer beers?
"This is one situation facing geeks---it is natural for geeks to want to taste a wide varieties of different styles of beers from different breweries---in that process of exploring-- it is quite inevitable that some beers from some breweries which tasted good during early years of craft drinking might no longer appeal or some could be tasting not so great now. However--it is a fact that some really good ones would always be welcome by geeks even though some might be labelled as "old school"/‘not in vogue"...
While at times drinking craft beer can be almost similar to the fashion world where some people keep looking out for the newer styles/ most hyped up beers or the in trend style/s of brew---there's also always a group who are happy to drink what they are happy with---end of the day---beer drinking is an act of personal preference---palate enhancement/exploring varieties of different styles apart---it is still about drinking what makes you happy.
5）啤迷要的是什么？一直喝不同酿坊不同款啤酒？喜新厌旧跟追新品没完没了？
某种程度上是有喜新厌旧情况出现，不过也不完全是那样的，对啤迷来说，多品嚐多尝试不同风味佳酿有助于提升啤迷味蕾鉴赏力，过程中会很少再喝入门阶段喝的酒，因为已经不再吸引，对于一些经典/佳酿，啤迷还是会有想再喝的，一定程度上，喜新不厌旧会比较适合。
的确，craft beer界有点类似时尚界，有当红不当红酿酒师作品/酿坊品牌以及稀有难寻啤酒这回事，不过，追不追当红或稀有难寻啤酒因人而异，是有一群不停追逐最新最当红酿坊作品的啤迷，也有不惜代价要找到稀有难寻啤酒的一群，但也有满足于只喝所住地方市场上找得到酒的啤迷，各自修行各适其所没所谓对或错。
Q6) Beer drinking and palate enhancement? what's that?
"Perhaps the biggest different between a casual beer drinker and a geek is that---a beer is only a beer to a casual drinker---but to a geek--the whole focus is about what kind of taste profile/ deliciousness a beer could bring about---to better appreciate what are the nuances of a beer can bring---geeks would want to enhance his/her palate appreciation ability--one of the ways to achieving this is by tasting/drinking/sampling a wider range of different styles of brew from different breweries---including very importantly some Benchmark brews of each styles of beers---accumulating tasting experiences would slowly help a newbie to slowly understand what is a bad beer/ an average one/ a good one and an awesome one.....
6）喝啤酒跟味蕾鉴赏力提升有什么关系？
或许这样说，一般人喝啤酒概念跟享受美味层次这事完全联系不到一起，不过，对啤迷来说就是为了品嚐不同味道层次而喝，怎样更好的享受不同啤酒带来不同美味是重点，而能达至目标条件之一就是通过品嚐不同酿坊不同风格类型啤酒累积品饮经验，慢慢的自然能分辨什么是劣作什么是平庸什么是佳作。
Q7) come on--it's just beer drinking--why sound so complicated?
"haha---it's not complicated at all---imagine this--say a guy would only eat ramen from shop A and burger from shop B--that would mean he does not know how ramen would taste from shop XYZ or how burger is differently made by shop EFG---let alone any other different food would taste since he only eat ramen shop A and burger shop B all his life.
Drinking craft beer is the same---if you keep drinking beer X and don't explore any other styles or beer X made by other breweries --you will never understand how taste profile can be so widely different in beer---and obviously missing out on the chances of tasting a lot more other nice beers awaiting to be explored."
7）怎样才叫做有味蕾鉴赏力？听起来好像很麻烦。
如果说如果一个人一路来只是一直吃同一家云吞面或汉堡包的话就不会知道外面其他家的味道如何，也不会知道云吞面汉堡之外其他食物滋味。训练味蕾鉴赏力其实就是说不要只是一直重复喝A酿坊的XX啤酒，而是多喝不同酿坊不同类型风格作品，特别是指标性作品带来的感受，逐步累积味蕾记忆後慢慢会知道是怎么一回事。
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