WEEK 189 --- April Bottle Share--a few nice as well peculiar ones

 

and so we are almost half way through 2021 with things pretty much the same as last where travelling or gathering "normally" is still far from normal--here in Malaysia--even though things are yet to calm down but at the very least small gathering for bottle sharing was made possible by the lifting of stricter movement control order not too long ago--making it possible for the few of us in KL Tasting Group to meet and share some privately sourced overseas beer mail--this session is the most recent one where a beer or two actually triggered some "commotion" due to peculiarity rather than deliciousness....

疫情延续影响下，不少亚洲啤迷某种程度上去年开始把找酒眼光瞄向欧美网购市场，一些平时已在买的更是因为开始出现以前不会网上卖的好酒而加大搜购力度，而酒一旦收得稍微多了难免要跟同好开喝分享。

好酒是要分享的，上周末和本地瓶子分享会几位固定啤迷成员聚首，重点当然是把各自不同时间从国外找来的不同类型风格私藏拿出来分享，以下是一些好喝或不算好喝但有趣有特点的瓶子：-

basically we don't do many bottles at one go--no vertical--but a mixture of different beer styles and usually do not surpass 15-16 bottles/cans per session so as not to waste beer with numbed taste buds towards later part of session.

here's a few nice/peculiar ones from recent session worth mentioning:-

Angry Chair---BA Cake Pop

this is probably the most pleasing imperial stouts i have had in recent time---even with first sip when it's relatively still cold---it was already showing how much chocolate/roasted coconut/sweet coconut forward this can be---nothing cloying--hints of vanilla and bourbon influence---so drinkable for a stout with thick yet silky smooth body/mouth feel--guys were surprised to see me pouring myself to add on small pour for a few times--for a guy who is not a big fan of anything pastry---that says a lot about how well made/pleasing it was.

personally--this felt like a sure fire hit song in the Karaoke--one can keep going.

"愤怒的椅子”是美国佛州芸芸高手酿坊中的一家，拿手类型是黑啤，比如这款第一口就让人满腔尽是黑巧克力椰香，顺滑的酒体带有香草味，也有波本酒桶余韵，虽然酒精度是11%，但美味易喝均衡程度几乎感受不到酒精影响，也忘了这是款喝之前可能让人先入为主觉得腻口的甜点黑啤类型，实际上因为可口好喝而很少有的小小添加了两次而被啤迷朋友惊呼说没想到说不怎么喜欢甜点黑啤的家伙竟然自动添酒了。

Toppling Goliath--Assassin Tequila Barrel

for guys who knows about the big stouts from TG--the Assassin series( along with KBBS - SR 71- Mornin Delights and the most recent Shadow Raptor) are big stouts which needs no introduction.

However-- i certainly have some doubts about how well Tequila barrel can complement/enhance  stouts--even if this is Assassin.

after sipping it initially as well when it's much warmer---i'm curious about how the base beer would be---for this tequila version--it was very obviously rough on the edges---there was no palate pleasing roundness--alcohol was obvious--but despite the lack of balance---this is undoubtedly a Big Stout--the rich base of the stouts dominated all things even in somewhat rougher manner.

对爱喝黑啤，也懂什么是过去多年来最被啤迷推崇追捧大黑啤清单的一定知道这家美国爱荷华州酿坊有几款盛名在外黑啤作品，包括被认为是黑啤金字塔顶端之一的KBBS，此外还有SR-71，Mornin Delight以及有着几款不同食材添加或桶陈处理分支的“杀手”系列。

这款是经过龙舌兰酒桶处理版本，整体来说并没有那种讨喜的浑圆饱满，相反的非常菱角外露，闻起来喝起来都能清楚感受到酒精感，但霸道的黑啤底蕴粉碎了被认为没酿好只是泛泛之流黑啤的可能性，虽不圆润也不均衡但确实是有实力的霸气大黑啤。

Antidoot L'Obscur Amaro

the one which caused a "commotion" with the guys immediately upon opening--the first guy who opened the bottle went "errr...smell very strange"--then 2nd guy smell and right away had this "horror look"--3rd guy took a smell and nothing good came out of his facial expressions as well---following comments were made after each smell and took initial sips:-

"yaks--like medicinal herbal tea"

"smell like newly dead body--if this were to be my first Antidoot--i will not seek for it anymore"

"with obvious dislike expression"--not my style of beer"

"with somewhat struggling expression"--i'm trying--give it some time and see how..."

I sadly missed out on the initial nose upon opening as i was enjoying other glasses slowly and wanted to let this one warm bit more before pouring---from what i tasted its was sort of in between abshinte/herbal/ wood/ with hints of herbs & mints on the nose though it's likely neither--taste sourish brown ale with all the herbs/roots influence--certainly not a pleasing one--as well not an easy one but definitely not awful--far from it--this is a very polarizing one for sure---and perhaps thought provoking too.

分享会中最有趣的一款，一开瓶就引起一阵骚动，导因是最初开瓶後的酒体气味让啤迷朋友们都或皱眉或露出困惑或啼笑皆非的表情，说是好难闻好奇怪（个人因为慢啜之前其他酒迟倒入杯而错过了体会最初开瓶味道），朋友们刚喝都觉得味道不容易接受，有位朋友说如果第一次喝这家比利时新贵酿坊作品是这款的话，肯定会对这家酿坊水准打上大问号。

个人喝到时并没有感受到朋友们说的难闻怪味，气息酒味微酸涩草本加苦艾酒风味，绝对不是易喝讨喜类型但也绝对不难喝，是可以开拓味蕾感知的一款。

Hill Farmstead Civil Disobedience #28

another one which also caused a little commotion--this time mainly due to how this dark blended ale tasted---it was nothing close to what Hill's fans came to know of---there was nothing very recognizable about this blend ( if compare to CD 2020 which was had at same session)---it was tasting more to the direction of vinegar, wood, herbs. malts with sour tones---very unlike the mellow lemony easy drinking nature of CD 2020.

当天另一款让啤迷朋友们皱眉头的盛名酿坊作品，“公民起义”系列是酿坊每年都会出的混酒作品，而每年混合选酒都不尽相同，有趣的是每四年就一定会出一款黑色混酒作品，这款就是黑色版本，跟当天喝的同款2020年版本无论酒体颜色或口感风味完全南辕北辙，要是说2020版本是酿坊一贯美味易喝有层次的话，#28则是让人有点摸不着头脑的风味，微酸中带醋味，木桶，麦芽，草本，基本没有讨喜的味道，对期待酿坊一贯风味呈现的啤迷来说是很反差的味蕾体验。

Fallen Acorn   leave home with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it

2nd time drinking creation from this newly found UK brewery--this time also an easy drinking style of beer --basically wheat ale drowned in good company of orange blossom plants + orange blossom honey---very light body yet aromatic nose and mouth feel once it hits your palate---with lingering layers of honey, floral notes---awesome depth and layers for a seemingly easy light beer.

第二次喝这家英国新酿坊简单易喝型作品，这次是使用了橙花草本加橙花蜂蜜酿造的小麦啤酒，味道非常清香特出，是一闻一喝就立刻感觉很好喝，蜂蜜花香特出，酒体轻盈非常易喝但层次明显感受得到，余韵悠长带回甘，简单中尽见功力，不是高手绝对办不到。

The Veil   Never Calm3 Xtreme

a really heavily fruited Gose---but this is really more of a fruited juice bomb than anything else--such thick body and color with intense nose of guava /passion fruits/pineapples---no hints of alcohol at all---personally did not think i was drinking a beer but more of a concentrated fruit juice---the joke was if we were to mix this with some soda water/ sparkling water and give it to anyone---people will just drink this thinking it's fruit juice......

近期大热的“不像啤酒”类型作品，超重手水果投放让人怀疑到底是喝浓郁果酱汁还是德式酸咸啤，无论从酒体颜色浓度都不是啤酒”应该有”的模式，味道口感是很香浓的青色番石榴味道中带百香果和凤梨，酸甜果味中喝不出任何酒精味，朋友说如果加入气泡水稀释调和大概所有人都会自然的觉得就是果汁，完全不会想到竟是啤酒。

WEEK 188---What or How beer should taste like?

someone who is fairly new to craft beer recently had a heavily fruited berliner weisse---his first reaction "is this beer?"--followed with "feel strange, this don't seem like beer, more like sweet sour cordial, never thought beer can be like this..."

indeed beer can be like that---specifically speaking craft beer---this is the world of beer where traditional ways of brewing is very much respected but at the same time freehand /unorthodox are very much embraced---meaning beer can be anything a brewer intended it to be--beer can be very beer like--or beer can be very very un-beer-like.

前不久有新朋友喝了一款“感觉完全不像啤酒”的水果浸泡德式酸啤，根据他的说法是，“好奇怪，又酸又甜的像是在喝果汁，想像不到啤酒可以是这样的味道表现”。

在尊崇传统酿法同时也极力鼓励创意发挥跳脱固有框框的craft beer世界里，啤酒的确是可以那样，而且是可以更多变化更多样性的，换个角度看的话，可以说跟比如时尚界那样，变与不变，经典和新风格一直是并存的，craft beer界每隔一段时间也有所谓的流行风潮出现，意思是某个类型风格的酒款会爆红会当时得令，一时之间很多不同酿坊都会推出自己版本的同类型酿品，好像不那样做就跟不上市场脚步。

In some ways the craft beer world is quite similar to for examples the world of fashion where there is this cliche thing about InTrend--about being Trendy--over recent years the craft beer scene has seen some emerging new trends where a particular beer style became HOT ITEM and suddenly many breweries are onto the bandwagon brewing each's version of that same style of beer(with or without the somewhat "obligatory" twist or tweak). One of the most obvious trend in recent times is that somehow many breweries were into brews which either "DON'T taste like beer or Totally Don't taste like beer at all".....

当然也不是所有酿坊会跟风，craft beer世界之所以有趣就是因为不同类型风格啤酒选择非常多，而且，在市场出现被追捧爆款啤酒类型时，总有好些酿坊完全不为所动的只是专注于酿造自己绝对拿手专长的酒款。

近几年流行趋势显示，更多时候酿坊都倾向于酿造<喝起来比较不像/或根本不像啤酒>的类型风格，比如说：-

here's some of the recent HOT ITEMS which somewhat made beer taste not so beer :-( and yeah i don't even included the popular SELTZER)

Heavily Fruited Beer

throwing all kind of fruits into a beer to either soak it or mash it in order to make beer more flavourful is nothing new---not until brewers started throwing at times ridiculous amount of fruits into the tank---or sort of making fruits/puree the center of attractions rather than usual ways of using fruits as supplementing item---the idea is to make a beer much more closer to either a fruity slushie or fruity cordial--and turned these into NOT your typical beer like beer be it color/ body /thickness / taste and so on..

Heavily Fruited Beer (重手水果啤酒）

在啤酒中投放水果或使用水果浸泡提味是常见的手法，从农场风格啤酒到黑啤到不同类型酸啤都有，但近期有不少酿坊把投放水果这件事成倍放大，基本概念是把啤酒变成类似水果沙冰或浓缩果汁那样，无论酒体或颜色或口感都不会是那种大家认知中的啤酒。

NEIPA

long before this "mostly sweet/cloying fruit juices" version of IPA came a calling and swept the craft beer world away----IPA has always been( and likely very much still is to the hardcore) the glorious Bitter King of beer---especially if you are the heavy West Coast IPA type---but everything we thought we knew about IPA was sort of turned upside down with the popularity of NEIPA--the fruit juice like version of IPA is so popular some newbies don't even know there's such a thing as old school bitter ipas though technically speaking NEIPA is still very much hops centric brew where the differences is more on twist and tweak on the technic /timing /amount of hops thrown in as well use of supporting brewing materials for examples use of oats....

NEIPA (类果汁印度淡啤)

在类果汁味道口感变奏版出现之前，印度淡啤（IPA）一直都是苦味啤酒象征，特别是美国西岸印度淡啤（West Coast IPA)更加让一些人觉得只有大喇喇的”苦不堪言”才是“好料”，不过类果汁印度淡啤的出现完全改变了这些观点，虽然有争论说NEIPA并不是一路来认知中的印度淡啤所以应该把这类啤酒排除在IPA类型之外，但事实是酿酒师用的主料的确是啤酒花（HOPS），而且是大量投放，啤酒味道口感酒体颜色浑浊或清澈之所以跟传统认知的印度淡陴很不一样是在手法和佐料上做了调整。

Pastry Stouts

similarly--using adjuncts in a stouts has long been the way brewers adds intended taste/aroma/flavours to a stout---but the emergence of Pastry Stouts would mean brewers are throwing much bigger quantities of food items/spices/adjuncts---the idea is to make a stout as close possible to or even way more decadent than actual dessert or pastry items---though at times most would think of pastry stouts as too sweet/cloying/thick/lower drinkability but not all are like that--there are nice and balance tasty ones out there to be found.

Pastry Stouts (甜点黑啤)

同样的，黑啤中添加食材蔬果香料是一直都有的，但甜点黑啤通过重手投放食材“大力加料”的做法，把酿酒师想呈现的黑啤风味更暴烈直白的加倍体现出来，虽然有批评觉得这类型黑啤很多时候倾向过甜过腻过于厚重，但也不是所有都一样，还是可以找到有不同口感味道表现的重手甜点黑啤。

should a beer always taste beer-like is something not every geeks or brewers would agree upon---for examples this is what Shaun Hill of Hillfarmstead said not long ago to Seven Days( a local weekly in Vermont)--click for full interview here:-Shaun's interview

"I think that to some extent beer can be prized and analyzed — but at the same time it is getting further away from itself.

On one side (perhaps the "negative" side), some brewers have gone beyond the beverage formerly known as "beer" to adding oddities such as hamburgers and French fries, Oreos, cereal brands and just about any other food product into their mash tun or fermenter. 

Brewers are now fermenting water and dextrose (100 percent GMO corn sugar), calling it seltzer, and falling under the umbrella license of beer manufacturing. 

啤酒是不是喝起来一定要有“啤酒味道”这件事（跟一般大众认知的大厂啤酒味道完全无关），不同啤迷有不同看法，不同酿酒师也有不同认知，比如公认为当今世上最佳酿坊Hill Farmstead的主创酿酒师Shaun Hill不久前接受酿坊所在美国Vermont当地周刊Seven Days访问时说，“某种程度来说，的确出现了偏离啤酒现象，比如会有些人把汉堡，薯条，奥利饼或其他奇怪食材丢进酿酒桶，又或是近期出现的利用啤酒酿造执照把玉米糖浆加水酿造成酒精气泡水（Seltzer)的情况。”

那么，对绝对顶级酿坊大师来说，什么才是追求目标？“酿造有质感让人愉悦易喝啤酒”。

so what is beer to a master brewer like Shaun? "many of us do love beer that is still beer. Beer-flavored beer. "

"I set out to create beer that possessed a formerly unexplored quality of mouthfeel and that was pleasant to drink. Simple."

啤酒应该是什么样的酒体颜色厚薄口感味道尾韵，不同人一定有不同个人喜好，很大程度上这也是craft beer让人着迷因素之一，不管喜欢的是高质简单易喝啤酒还是复杂度高甚至花样百出的酿品，懂得喝啤酒一定要选喝高质有层次craft beer会是唯一不变的道理。

It is obvious not everyone would agree on how  a beer should taste like or even look like---and that's perfectly fine--in fact that's part of the fun of craft beer--the diversity of beer styles/flavours is the reason why craft beer is fascinating and worth exploring---though personally i would think one thing is for sure---that regardless if one like very beer like beer or very un-beer-like beer---those who knows will certainly choose to drink well made tasty craft beer.( not that this whole discussion has anything to do with MACRO BEER anyway.....)