WEEK 192---Easy Drinking ( & delicious) Types of craft beer

For the first time since this blog started some years ago there's been almost 3 month gap of no posting since May though bi-weekly articles for newspaper column still on going---anyway--here's first of the backlog catching up post--in no particular order with regards to posting date of newspaper column.

开BLOG 以来--第一次“偷懒”--距离上一篇已接近三个月才上BLOG--虽然期间每双周的报纸专栏照常写着--这是积压了好几期的第一篇， 可能也不会全部上完，就随性选择好了。。。

here we go:-

it's been said many times over--most people can be picky when it comes to choosing delicious food or in another word knows how to pick and choose---but sadly NOT the same when it comes to drinking beer---most people would not know that they can indeed find deliciousness in the form of beer--or more specifically craft beer.

This is understandable especially in Asia where craft beer culture is still relatively young or very much unheard of to majority consumers--couple that with human nature where people tend to shy away from unfamiliar items---it's no wonder when ti comes to beer drinking most people only know and prefer Macro BEER.

选择好吃食物是不少人都会做的事，这是满足味蕾需求必要动作，但如果说到喝啤酒，很多人并不知道其实啤酒也有“液态美食”选择，craft beer就是能提供不同类型风味多样化“液态美食“选择的啤酒世界。

遗憾的是，由于普罗大众长期以来形成对啤酒的刻板错误印象，认为啤酒就仅仅只限于一般酒吧咖啡店超市便利店能买到的货色，啤酒可以是开发味蕾“液态美食”的概念不曾占据一般人认知中，这是为什么不少懂得追求美食人们喝啤酒时选择的都只是品质非常一般或拙劣的大众化商品，跟平时追求美食心态呈现巨大反差（而不自知）。

出现上述现象一定程度上跟craft beer文化不普及（特别是亚洲城市）有很大关系，如何打破大家对啤酒既有刻板印象是有难度的一关，大多数时候在craft beer专卖吧或瓶子店会听到新人朋友重复问同一问题，“有没有风味口感接近XX牌子（大厂啤酒）的易喝型啤酒？”，这是可以理解但也相对可悲的现象，很大程度上说明一直以来对啤酒的错误刻板印象让很多人对接触陌生的craft beer世界持有怀疑/抗拒甚至否定态度，这让不少人错失了接触进而开拓一个真正美味啤酒世界的可能性。

As well it's very commonly heard in a craft beer bar/bottle shop when newbies step in and asked for beer which taste profile similar to XX brand Macro BEER---which basically meaning Macro Lager style beer---all too familiar a process to geeks who been there and seen it but a true reflection of the need to guide newbies to the truly wonderful but at this stage still very strange new world of craft....

第一次或刚接触craft beer新朋友想找接近大厂啤酒风味的LAGER（拉格）类型口感啤酒是可以理解的，毕竟人们一般来说都抗拒陌生未知新事物，喝啤酒也不例外。但啤酒世界不只是有LAGER风格，适合新朋友的易喝类型风格craft beer不少，比如以下几款：-

Here's a very simplistic guide for newbies who are looking for EASY TO DRINK beer styles( Other than LAGER) :-

Biere de Garde

sometimes being referred to as the relatives of Saison---an easy drinking farmhouse beer style with origin from the French/Belgium side but obviously no more limited to those area but being brewed by many brewers all over the world---it is thought that biere de garde is essentially the one with a more malt-ful flavours over it's close relative Saison which often are more towards a dry and slightly sourish tone.

酒名是法语，但这类型酒的酿造在craft beer是无国界的，不少酿坊都有自己版本的“农场风格可收存啤酒”（历史来源+直译），起源于法国比利时交界地区，也有人把Biere De Garde称作Saison的远方亲戚或是表兄弟来显示两个不同类型酒款之间亲密度。一般来说Biere De Garde酒体风味更倾向甘香，麦芽风味更明显，而Saison则更注重蔬果酵母之间火花，酒体较干爽中带酸回甘韵味。

Table Beer

If we were to divide beer into 2--i.e. Big Beer and small beer--then this one is the perfect example of a small beer---with low abv of 3% or below( though there are also variants with 4%(+-) --easy sipping with malty/bread-y tone--though seemingly very light ( some IPA lover dismissed it as  just "water")--try a good table beer --you will be surprised how flavourful/nice a seemingly thin beer can be.

如果说啤酒可分为大酒和小酒，Table Beer就是很有代表性的小酒类型，顾名思义这是一款很久以前就适合端上欧洲人一家大小餐桌的啤酒，低酒精度（1%-3%）带麦芽面包气息清爽易喝是特点，虽然发展至今已有酒精度4%版本但无损这类啤酒易喝特质，至于如果觉得低度啤酒可能淡如水没什么风味的话，可以找一些欧美高手酿坊作品试试，喝过就知道啤酒风味或可口程度其实跟酒精度高低没有绝对直接影响。

Grisette

Also referred to as "mini saison" by some--which kind of explained itself from the French connection point of view--as well the farmhouse influence it gets on flavours--basically easy drinking with farm crops influence/bread-y/ light body/crisp--though depending on how it was treated by various brewers you do get some which are more fruity-sourish types these days.

有人把Grisette称为迷你版本Saison，或许其中一个原因是因为以前来说两者都起源/常见于比利时/法国/法语地区，是蕴含诸如面包蔬果风味的低度轻盈干爽易喝型啤酒，视乎不同酿坊作品，走到今天也会出现带微果酸风味作品。

Saison

The one where the name came from a French word--originally a farmhouse ale brewed in colder season for drinking in summer time---today there are various version of farmhouse ale--some keeping to the origin--some are much more twisted--as for what is a truly saison beer---perhaps a better way is to sample a classic Belgian Saison like Dupont--and then try another one from the US brewers --say maybe Hillfarmstead......

酒名起源于法语<季节>，以前是农场冷天酿好夏天喝的清爽中带麦芽蔬果香料矿物质风味解渴易喝型啤酒，发展至今特别在美国也以FARMHOUSE ALE为名，是世上很多不同酿酒师都有各自版本的酒款，变奏版不少之余也出现一些“特性模糊”啤酒自称为Saison，让一些Saison高手如HILL FARMSTEAD主创酿酒师忍不住说“不要随便把一款酒定向为Saison。”。至于什么才是正宗Saison风味，那要看喝的是美国作品还是欧洲作品，两者之间有较明显不同风味展现，比如喝比利时经典名作SAISON DUPONT後再喝美国名作HILL FARMSTEAD作品就能体会个中差异。

In Short

Of course there are many more easy drinking choices available in the wonderful world of craft beer--in fact if a beer is at 5% abv or lower(well if you so prefer--nothing wrong to pick anything around 6% too) then it can be a low abv easy drinking beer---from the very German influenced Helles- Marzen-Kolsch to the very popular Pale Ale-Session IPA-Session Sour or even low abv stouts/porter---the choices are quite limitless---remember---there are plenty of easy drinking nice beers out there---world of easy drinking beer is NOT only just about Lager( or Plisner).

小结

在craft beer世界里，低度易喝的“液态美食”选择很多，除了上述几款，基本来说任何酒精度不超过5%的都是低度酒（如果想提高到不超过6%也可以），可选择的不同类型酒款很多，比如单只是德式风格就有Helles，Marzen，Kolsch及其他，比如更盛行的Pale Ale，Session IPA，Session Sour甚至低度Stouts或Porter等等，不同类型风格啤酒繁多，所以说，不要再认为世上啤酒只有LAGER（或PILSNER），今天开始也请探寻探寻‘液态美食‘吧。