WEEK 153---Know what you are Drinking

Someone very new to craft beer asked " how do new people get familiarize with craft selections easily and rather quickly? "

It is understandable where the question is coming from having seen many a times new people walking into a craft beer bar/ bottle shop and seemingly overwhelmed/ confused/ too excited upon seeing various brands/styles of beers available for selection....

有新朋友说，craft beer那么多不同类型风格啤酒选择，有时候让人看了头昏眼花不知道什么是什么，有没有什么最简单直接的入门方法？

对新朋友来说，开始接触craft beer是有可能感到混淆的，喝酒最重要的是自己喝过品嚐过才能理解酒的味道层次，但新朋友的确有时候搞不清自己喝到什么或只是雾里看花一知半解的不能领略一支酒是好是坏，也谈不上欣赏不同层次变化带来美味。

喝craft beer当然不是件有多么高深难懂的事，只要新朋友有心，可以相当快掌握品饮欣赏分辨酒的好坏基本要诀，虽然过程难免需要一定时间味蕾训练，不变的第一个要诀其实很简单，就是每次喝之前或正在喝时都尽量了解自己喝着的是什么。

The answer to that is simple---newbies just need to do one thing first---know what you are ordering/drinking each time a beer new to you appear---knowing what you are drinking is the single most important thing every new drinkers to craft beer should do---it's the first step to getting to know more about beer styles/flavours profile/nuances and so on.

To people who are are new to the world of craft beer---knowing that drinking craft beer is more of a process to finding deliciousness in a beer form( just like eating good food) is important---the focus is never about downing lots of pints---the focus is about finding different flavours and what makes a beer taste delicious.

是的，新朋友需要做的第一件事就是了解自己在喝什么，craft beer就像美食，嚐的是味道，就像食物有咸酸苦辣甜等等非常多不同味道表现，啤酒也一样有不同味道呈现，了解自己在喝着什么类型风味啤酒是客观评估一支作品水准高低的关键。

一般人绝大多时候在点菜时已经知道要吃的是什么类型味道食物，比如说麻辣火锅香辣，清炖鸡汤鲜美，炸鸡外脆内嫩之类，什么菜色什么概念心里有底。可是来到craft beer世界不同类型啤酒该有什么味道呈现很多新朋友并不清楚，甚至一点概念都没有，换个角度来说，很多时候其实在“盲饮”。 

在酒的世界中，“盲饮”或英文BLIND TASTING是不少人认可的品酒方式，无论喝的是烈酒，葡萄酒或啤酒，盲饮可以让酒名称资料被遮蔽情况下避免喝酒人做出根据酿坊名气/风评或以往作品印象先入为主的评价。啤酒盲饮测试中，喝的人事先只知道酒的类型风格但不知道酿坊品牌资料，通过自己味蕾感受或品酒经验做评断，这种情况下，对craft beer众多不同类型风格啤酒没有基本认识很难做出客观公正评断。

Hence--knowing what you are drinking is really the first step to getting to know more things about why a beer is tasting delicious or otherwise---it's kinda like when eating a Sichuan Hot Pot we expect to experience spiciness/numbness---or when eating steak it should be meaty/beefy/juicy---in another word---most people would have known the expected flavours profile long before eating what he/she ordered.  However--the same cannot be said when it comes to craft beer drinking---many a times some newbies are simply "blind-drinking" not knowing what he/she is having even if they know the name of a beer style.

"Blind Tasting' is commonly accepted as a way to judge alcoholic drinks including craft beer---it's about concealing the brand name/ brewery name/materials used( e.g. hops/malt/yeast used) and such so as to give each and every beer being judged a fair chance of getting judge objectively---not letting the judges being influenced by bigger names/past reputation----but "blind-drinking" by newbies would almost always mean drinking blindly--not giving attentions to the taste profile/nuances of a beer---or don't even care if a beer is in good condition for consumption---some newbies would just drink for the sake of drinking as long as it's "craft-beer' with alcohol----that's definitely NOT what" blind-tasting" is about.

对新朋友来说，什么资料都不看的“日常盲饮”跟正确意义上的盲饮还是有很大不同的，因为什么都不知道情况下尝试craft beer或许是有趣的体会但也可能是会吓跑一些人的体会，有句话说快跑之前先学会怎么好好走，先了解自己喝的是什么才是培养味蕾鉴赏力的正确起步。

那要怎样才知道自己喝的是什么酒？很简单，喝之前或喝着时候看酒标资料就会有相当清楚资讯，有的酒标会有酿酒师说明酒会带来怎样的味道层次享受，要是碰到比较注重酒标设计感所以省略说明的可以上网查找资料了解这款酒是什么，最佳赏味期，用了什么类型麦芽酵母啤酒花，有没有加入什么其他食材比如水果蔬菜咖啡豆茶叶香料等等提味，又或是有没有混合其他不同风味啤酒或不同年份啤酒，是不是经过不同酒类旧酒桶浸泡熟成多久之类的资讯都有助于喝酒人进一步了解酒所该有的味道层次表现是什么，如果是入口啤酒也可以了解是不是运送过程或店家有照顾好酒的品质。

So what do newbies look for to know what he/she is drinking? The most convenient first step is look at label information--at times the info on bottle label/printed on can will be so detail one would know not only the hops/yeast/malts used---bottling/canning date--best before date and so on---but also tasting note from the brewer/s telling drinkers what flavours profile to expect when sipping/when warmer and when finishing....

If you have ordered a glass from the taps with only brewery name/ beer name---or have a bottle/can with very little info except with those two pieces of info---just go on a web search---99% of the time you will be able to find detail or at least basic info about the beer you just ordered...

画个角度看，因为不了解啤酒类型风味特质，只是一直凭着自己喝酒偏见去解读一款酒是不对的，也是很大可能贻笑大方的，经典例子是几年前一位只懂喝大厂啤酒的外国人去了比利时天然发酵果酸啤酒绝对大师级酿坊Cantillon後，在自己完全不懂喝到的是什么类型啤酒情况下，非常关切的在社交媒体上留下了让全世界所有天然发酵酸啤爱好者爆笑的留言 ”如果你爱啤酒，请离这家远远的”！！

另一个例子是一位喝酒人对某一款啤酒写喝後感受，其中一句是”没有什么啤酒花苦涩味道”。咋看之下或许会以为点评的是以啤酒花特色风味（包括苦涩）表现为主轴的啤酒，不过，被点评的那款啤酒特色重点完全不在于啤酒花苦涩味，在这款啤酒寻找啤酒花苦涩味打个比喻就像吃着红番茄芝士披萨然后说怎么不麻不辣的？

"Why do one has to know more about what he;she is drinking? " the answer to that is simple---because you do not want to post on your social media telling the world that the Hawaiian Pizza you had was NOT BEEFY or SPICY or  CREAMY enough---or saying the Vanilla Ice Cream you had does not smell CHOCOLATY---in another word---one should at least know what he/she is/was drinking before judging---above was a guy who went to Brasserie Cantillon and was totally clueless about Lambic but still posted this rather "famous" comment " AVOID this place if you LOVE BEER!"( he thought "it's not beer---it's vinegar!!"

了解自己喝的酒是什么是很简单的动作，也是重要的一步，通过这一步，新朋友可以逐步认识不同类型风格啤酒该有的味道层次表现，也是往后提升自己味蕾鉴赏力必须的基本功课之一。

That being quite a famous/ extreme examples of why knowing what you are drinking is very important apart----for newbies who are interested/keen to improve one's palate appreciation ability as well learn more about what to expect from various beer styles--this is the simple  yet essential first step---only by knowing what we are drinking then one can go on to explore more going forward--much like how we all learn to walk before running.....