WEEK 167 --- Breaking up the BEER world

The fact is---everyone knows what BEER is--but say if we take the word apart?

把大众认知中的BEER字字拆开来看看另一个啤酒世界是什么样的。

Best & Bad

It was quite some  years ago--at a free flow party hosted by the Embassy of Belgium here in KL with some Belgian craft beers available for the day---friend of mine was handling the counter as part of his duty to introduce what's what to guests who are new or have no clues whatsoever about craft beer,  Along came a man who said ' give me your BEST beer".

几年前一个比利时大使馆活动上，一位来宾对站在吧台介绍当天几款不同类型啤酒的负责人说，“给我你最好的啤酒”（give me your best beer)，这话乍听没什么问题，因为消费者买东西有时也会说“给我最好的”，当天活有提供几款不同品牌/类型啤酒，有选择情况下要求最好的听起来合理。

同样一句话，听在有一定品饮经验啤迷耳里就不同了，在craft beer世界中，best beer是非常见仁见智的事，有啤迷会认同比如评酒网站的世界最佳啤酒排行榜，有的啤迷完全只根据自身喝过啤酒分高低，那位先生的“给我最好啤酒“要求听起来就只有一个感觉，说明了他对craft beer还没有基本概念。

That statement seems logical enough because that's how many consumers( be it buying daily items or say an expensive item) would say trying to get the BEST out of whatever they are looking to get---but in the world of craft beer--that statement is telling something very obvious---that this guy don't have a clue as to what craft beer is....

craft beer is about varieties and choices---BEST beer will always be a very subjective matter most likely ended up with no conclusion rather than anything confirmative--it's in a way easier for most geeks to agree that a particular beer is of better quality than the other(same styles brew)---much like food where the same item cooked be different chefs might taste vastly different in terms of deliciousness alone.

一定程度上来说，啤迷之间共识是，虽然很难确确的说哪一款哪一支啤酒是最好的，但可以确定的是不同类型风格啤酒中都有酿得非常好的顶级作品，然后同样类型啤酒中也有酿成难喝的作品，基本原理就像同样菜色，就算用同样食谱同样食材，就是有人会做的比别人好吃或难吃好多倍那样。

至于怎么界定什么是顶级作品什么是难喝啤酒，虽然有一些评酒网站数据或比如说像BJCP啤酒类型指南可供参考但其实也没有绝对权威的硬性鉴定规格，啤迷都是经历不同阶段性品饮经验累积开拓味蕾鉴赏力後才具备一定程度分辨能力。

It's not hard for most geeks to agree on what might be some obvious signs of a BAD beer(provided one has had a certain level of tasting experiences/ palate exploration) ---but it will be harder for geeks to agree in unison which will be the BEST beer as personal preference factors would come into play in a big way since personal exploring/ tasting experiences is the key to building one's tasting ability (though things like referring to BJCP beer styles guidelines/ others tasting notes at times do help).

Excellence & Expectation

Expectation(along with curiosity) is part of the main driving factors why geeks keep seeking for new tasting experiences-- particularly if a beer is highly expected---it's a fact that just like fashion or sports industry---there are star names in the craft beer industry--from a particular beer to brewers to breweries---some would somehow carry more expectation from geeks alike than the others--the main reason why some people would line up hours(or even the night before) for a beer/new release is because he/she has high expectation for a excellence brew (fuck you if re-selling profit is your only motive) 

有期待所以有动力，追求上佳酿品带来的味蕾享受是很多啤迷热衷的主因，在craft beer世界中的确存在明星品牌明星酿酒师或者说备受关注新贵现象，啤迷彻夜不眠排长龙只为买到限量发售的某款啤酒是特有的现象，出现这情况除了是由于酿坊以优质酿品为人知之外，另一个原因是啤迷对新发布酿品的期待度。

当然，啤迷对一款啤酒的期待并不等于说期待值一定能得到百分百甚至超越预期的回报，啤迷更多时候是在惊喜，平和或失望（或非常偶尔的惊吓）情况下不断品饮前行，举个例子，最近终于多年後第一次推出瓶装的美国酿坊Russian River经典盛名作品Pliny The Younger三倍印度淡陴(triple ipa)就让全球很多啤迷好奇期待，让人期待值满满的这款印度淡啤是不是就一定好喝到不行？喝过的啤迷之间答案并不一致，有人激赏有人觉得只是一般。

Of course not every beer with high expectation from geeks would satisfy or pleasantly surpass that expectation---take for examples the recently release for the first time ever Pliny The Younger from Russian River--some love it while some thought it's probably more hype than real.

It inevitable that when it comes to a beer---some might disappoint and some might even give you an unpleasant "scar" in the mouth---but whatever the outcome might be---no matter if expectation meet it's match with excellence---geeks would carry on exploring.

Exclusivity & Easy to Get

It's a fact that sometimes(if not all the time) some people would go in search of a particular beer/releases---either to drink OR to resell for handsome profits( you heard me earlier already) OR to show-off ( because i can?)---whatever the motivation might be--it's true that some beer are much much more hyped/rarer than the others and that's a fact.

千方百计寻找限量难寻啤酒是craft beer世界常态，虽然找酒的人不一定是想真心嚐味的啤迷（可能有只想首卖原价抢到後几百甚至过千美金转卖牟利的人，或只想炫耀所以盲目高价买入的土豪），但限量难买啤酒的确奇货可居，也是不少啤迷“梦想啤酒清单”中想试味的瓶子。
好些被啤迷认同为高质酿坊的啤酒会限量难寻并不是像一些其他行业名牌产品那样“故意”做成限量以显示稀有度，而是因为酿坊产量真的小（又或是酿酒食材供应有限），所以能酿出来装瓶的啤酒很有限，有的酿坊实行会员制，有的需要抽签决定谁能买到，种种客观条件限制让限量难寻但确实美味好喝的啤酒成为追逐目标，也让一些嘲笑的声音出现，说其实会觉得一些盛名难寻啤酒那么好喝是因为稀有度和虚荣心作祟，要是这些限量啤酒突然有一天到处能买到的话，啤迷还是不是会那么热捧追逐觉得好喝到不得了？

Unlike some other industry where limited version with small production/quantity available for sale is a form of manipulated marketing strategy just to get on the "rare is gold" kinda mantra---in the world of craft beer---some breweries/a particular beer are/is really too limited in production quantity that one need to either be a member to be able to buy--get in luck with lottery system to qualify or simply line up hours to get one.
Hence it's quite legit for some people to ask the question " if one day a particularly hyped/rare/very very limited brew is now easily available at your local bottle shop/bar---would it still taste special?

Recipe & Recreate
Brewing a beer is in some ways similar to cooking or say baking--it's all about the process of making something happen from base materials---though the world of craft beer encourages innovation and creativity---there are actually some boundaries pertaining to what constitute a particular style of beer---but brewers do at times like to recreate---for examples "traditional" IPA is essentially about the use of hops and mainly about bitter or bitter-sweet flavours----there are actually sour ipas/ barrel aged ipas and so on.. 

酿酒和烹饪或烘培在一定程度上有相似之处，啤酒的美味是通过酿造过程（又或再加桶陈熟成时间工序）完成，虽然craft beer世界崇尚自由发挥，但众多不同类型风格啤酒其实都有一定规则轨迹可循，除了个别类型啤酒有一定的范畴规范，不少酿坊酿酒师并不介意公开一些自家酿酒“配方”，在原有基础规范上，不少酿坊酿酒师都会玩再创造，比如说让意义上强调啤酒花苦涩甘香特质的IPA出现酸味版本，或是说让基本具备咖啡烤麦香黑巧克力特质的黑啤玩出各种不同风味等等。

Freedom to create/recreate is what makes craft beer so much more interesting that just being a BEER---though at times certain beer can go way off the mark because brewer/s tried too hard or had some " wicked thoughts" while creating it---it can be embraced at times as part of the fun ---though if the same brewery/brewer keep fxxxking things up perhaps for lack of basic/benchmark understanding then that will be another matter altogether.

可以这么说，不一定要死守既定规则是让craft beer变得好玩有趣美味多样化的主因，虽然像美食那样有些食物还是既有的比过度创新或Fusion混合式的来的好，酿酒师有时会把一款既有类型啤酒玩过头，比如说把基本注重清爽但有层次变化的农场风格啤酒（saison)玩到什么都不像，但在既有啤酒类型风格范畴中玩再创造还是个让craft beer变得有趣更多元的必要过程，所以就算偶尔喝到四不像的莫名其妙玩过火作品还是可以原谅的。