WEEK 205----MBCC --Newbie Questions & Answers

MBCC 2023 is scheduled to happen again next May in Copenhagen--someone asked if it's worth the time, money & hassles of flying out from Asia to CPH just for a beer fest--while basing on past personal experiences of having been there a few times I would encourage newbies to attend for at least once---these are a few questions(among others) one should take into considerations before deciding:-

有新朋友问说明年五月的哥本哈根啤酒庆典（Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen简称MBCC）值得山长水远花一笔不菲的旅费去吗？

这问题要是放在好些年前的话，个人会毫不犹豫说 “绝对值得去”，不过几年后的现在答案不是不再肯定或有所犹豫，而是会觉得其实要看以下情况而定：-

1) Limited Hours (with too much to pick)

For the uninitiated---MBCC will be held on  Friday & Saturday--each day there will be a Morning session & Afternoon session---each session for 4 hours---you can go to any brewery's booth to get your choice of beer/mead---the only issue here is that there will be too many different breweries, different styles of beer/mead to pick from( easily over 400 assuming 100 breweries serving 4 different brews---chances are there's always more)--

there's no limits as to how many glasses of different beer/mead you get so long your alcohol tolerence level is holding up nicely.

With limited time(4 hours) and too many to choose from(no less than 400)---the one big question here is what to drink first--or rather what to give it a miss?  While everyone has got different alcohol tolerence level---fair to say it's basically mission impossible to properly taste ALL beer/mead on show during each session---one would probably looking at sampling something beween 50-100 a session--if going at more relax pace than likely under 50.

So the one question for newbie is ---are you  comfortable drinking within a limited time session where the choices available as well the whole festive mood can be so exciting it might turn your head to loosen up too much. 

1）限时品饮

一般来说，啤迷们平时的瓶子分享会就是啤酒庆典的非常迷你缩影，意思是可以在一个固定时间内喝到好些不同类型风格啤酒/蜜酒（也有同类型风格甚至是不同年份同款酒的垂直品饮分享），当然来到真正啤酒庆典无论是酒类风格或不同酿坊数量都不是一般瓶子分享会能比拟的，这样就产生了一个问题，那就是你可以在四小时内真正轻松自在的品饮/享受到多少款不同类型风格作品？（哥本哈根啤酒庆典分两天举行，每天各有早上和下午两个不同时段，每个时段四小时，所有场内啤酒/蜜酒任意领取）

身在啤酒庆典会场内，每个不同时段都要面对过百家酿坊几百款不同作品选择，要喝多喝少或者说喝快或慢慢喝当然是个人决定，个人临场经验来说，会场内氛围是很有感染力的，当然想要喝完场内所有作品基本是不可能的任务，大家都是选择性品饮，不过就算再怎么慢悠悠至少也会喝上二三十款，所以新朋友要问的是，自己是不是适合甚至说会不会排斥这样有一定时限然后氛围又可能让人无法自持的啤酒庆典。

2) To fly in on which day?

MBCC is a 2 days event---but the whole MBCC idea is much more than just those 2 days---in fact it's about 7-8days of beer heaven in town during that particular week---and for newbie flying out from Asia---we are easily looking at 12-13hours flight to get to Copenhagen---so to arrive on which day of the week is something newbie need to consider because starting from Sunday/Monday there will already be various Tap-Takeover/ New Releases/ Tasting events lining up at various bars in town---hence you would not want to just fly in for the 2 days event hours earlier.

If time permits---it's best to give yourself a whole week to really appreciate the vibe and enjoy what's being planned for that week in Copenhagen--or at least plan to arrive around Wednesday if a whole week of beer is too much.

2）哪一天到才值回旅费

MBCC是周五和周六两天举行，在那之前的礼拜天（或星期一）开始城内不同酒吧，特别是“米吧”相关酒吧就已安排好一系列活动，意思是这其实是为期七八天的不停顿啤酒庆典，城内不同酒吧每天都会出现不同酿坊首卖会或占领啤酒泵（tap takeover）活动，而且不少时候是亚洲甚至欧洲来说都难得一见的或盛名酿坊或新贵酿坊作品，对大老远飞去参与其盛的新朋友来说，首先要决定的就是要在那个星期的哪一天飞抵哥本哈根才对，因为到达当天或隔天基本就会是好几天不停顿品饮的开始。

对住在亚洲新朋友来说，虽然可以选择只是参与为期两天的啤酒庆典就好，不过要是时间许可，既已大老远飞来哥本哈根只是参与两天庆典好像有点浪费旅费，个人体会是尽量提早飞抵才更能够充分领略哥本哈根变身啤酒天堂那一周的美好。

3) To go single session or ALL IN?

Another decision to be made is to decide if you are only going for 1 particular session or 2 or going all out for all 4 sessions?

While a few breweries might repeat what they provided for 2 different sessions---majority of the breweries will be showcasing many different beer/mead for different session--meaning if you only choose to attend 1 or 2 single session then obviously be prepared to miss out on some nice ones (though unless one know what's wanted there's no question of missing out ).

For those who choose to go ALL IN for all 4 sessions---be prepared to go "work-like" at times, some kind of self-discipline is needed too, and of course make sure you have enough rest & food before going into the festive alcoholic "battlefield".

3）选择时段还是ALL IN? 

周五和周六的啤酒庆典分为早午四个不同时段，不同酿坊在不同时段绝大多时候都会上不同作品，这意味着不是买全票去完四个时段的人会错过一些好酒，当然选择每个时段都去还是每天只去一个时段甚至是两天只去一个时段都是个人决定没有对错，关键应该是怎么可以在个人酒精负担能力范围内比较自在的享受佳酿和整体庆典氛围，因为就算是庆典进行中的周五和周六时段城中一些酒吧还是会有不同酿坊活动，所以选择只参与单一时段的人还是有啤酒活动能参与，当然买全票的朋友也可以为了想去的酿坊酒吧活动而在早午时段“休战”空间赶去参与的。

Conclusion"-

All beer/mead already included in your ticket prices--meaning it's "FREE" beer/mead on pour--though it's only taster glasses size pour--there will be quite a lot of over 10%abv strong ipas/stouts/ barleywine/mead---the main thing is not to go crazy chasing as many glasses per session possible---because the last thing you want is to go flat during or after a session---there's no point drinking when one's palate and/or brain system is so fxxked up by alcohol one can't even figure out what's in a glass anymore.

小结

无论是全程参与七八天还是只选择性参与两三天或是个别庆典时段，重点都不会是拼命喝够本因为喝到趴隔天喝不了会更亏，在哥本哈根变身啤酒天堂的那一周关键词是选择，同时也意味着要有所舍弃，无论是庆典前几天不同酒吧同时段活动还是周五周六会场内那么多不同佳酿都要取舍，更重要的是当味蕾发麻意识逐渐不太清醒的话，喝再多下去也没什么意义了，因为那之后已不再是品饮，你也不会清楚知道自己到底喝了啥。

WEEK 204----Anything but DRINKING---slight agony of a geek

 

November 12th was "designated" as a special day for all of us within the #KLTastingGroup due to several reasons:-

1) it was the wedding reception/big day of Pete--the youngest member of the group .

2) Jeff of Superstition Meadery in Arizona was kind enough to agree to KL joining many other world wide locations celebrating Berry White Day 2022 which happened to be on the same day.

3) It's the day where all members of the group can gather for a sharing session after a year plus since one of the guys been out of the country for overseas posting--to be held in the evening at another location after wedding lunch reception.

刚过去的十一月十二号是本地瓶子分享会的特别日子，除了我们几位成员时隔年多之后终于因为最年轻成员的婚礼而全员重聚，也适逢吉隆坡和其他城市首次一起欢庆美国蜜酒高手酿坊年度庆典Berry White Day。

有点遗憾的是，这样的好日子却由于个人不久前动了小手术而不得不禁酒一个半月，就这样，原本可以跟啤迷朋友把杯欢庆品酒的时光变成了只能以旁观者角度闻香观色拍照的静态参与者。虽然当天滴酒不沾，看着啤迷朋友们开喝品酒一起聊聊天感觉上有点奇怪但毕竟几个星期後就可以解禁，这次没能喝到固然可惜，但有时喝酒也讲求时机缘份的。

No doubt i was looking forward to the session--but it was not meant to be this time around--was admitted to hospital roughly 2 weeks before 12th Nov to go under the surgeon's knife for removal of something hindering the better health of my body system--though there were bit of hiccup but overall the surgery went well---and i have had smooth recovery since---but having gone under the knife would automatically mean NO ALCOHOL for a certain period---in my case it was 6 weeks---meaning I can't drink--not even a sip during 12th Nov.

For a geek who been looking forward to a share (it's been few and far in between through the year--hence the anticipation)--not being able to drink is probably the biggest issue--but a step necessary for better health--so I did went to the session knowing fully well i can't and won't be drinking anything on the table but just Kumbocha while taking photos--likely smelling too--but mainly "participate" as a bystander while the guys enjoying/describing/ discussing/commenting the opened bottles of beer/ mead.

How was it sitting at the sharing session knowing you can only watch-smell-take pictures of bottles/glasses after pour but cannot even go for a small sip? it was bearable though certainly not how joining a session should be--perhaps some agony but overall not that bad since i wanted and enjoyed the guys.company.

Overall it was a more mead heavy session than we would normal do---mainly because it was a session to celebrate Berry White Day KL---also--what better way to celebrate the sweet union of a newly married couple than some delicious mead?

整体来说这是有别于我们一贯分享会瓶子类型的一次---明显的蜜酒占了多数---其实也可以明白--除了因为是吉隆坡首次同时庆祝BERRY WHITE DAY之外--还有什么比蜜酒更适合庆祝一对新婚夫妇甜蜜结合的大日子？（更何况蜜酒是小两口的心头好）。

for the record here's the main bottles shared on 12thi Nov:-

以下是当天开喝重点瓶子（部分照片啤迷朋友Gareth提供）：-

** all pics from no.9 onwards courtesy of Gareth Davies as i have left for home around half way through.

1) 3Fonteinen Robijn (Oude Kriek)

2)Schramm's Amelia

3) Second City Meadery  Pineapple Angelic

4) Weldworks  Coconut Medianoche

5) Mills Saison Herllertau

6) Pips Black Currant Pancake

7) Side Project Bubble Wrap

8) Superstition Mango White

9) Superstition Strawberry White

10) Superstition Berry White

11) Half Acre Bone Valley

12) Superstition Cherry White

13) Missbeehavin Meads Same Old Jam

14) Second City Meadery Gin BA Fate

15) Hill Farmstead Wheat Blanc

16) Superstition Black Berry White

17) Anniversary Bourbon County Brand Stout

18) Superstition Blue Berry White

19) Schramm's The Statement

WEEK 203--- November Beer & Mead Scenario

 

It's November, a year is coming to a close with some exciting events happening( or just passed)in the month of Nov.

First up was MBCC 2023 with tickets going on sale as well annoucing a small line up--looking at the list of names announced one get the sense that after the "so so line up" of last edition--next year would see MBCC storming back to the level it should be.

11月是值得啤迷注意的日子，因为不少重点活动开始了，比如新一届哥本哈根啤酒庆典（MBCC 2023）一踏入11月就门票预售，从主办方同时官宣的参与酿坊预告小清单看来，明年盛会看来会有不少重量级或备受瞩目新贵酿坊参与。本地方面，11月对我们几位本地瓶子分享会成员也是有着一定意义，主要因为以下几个情况：-

Locally and internationally--November is a month i was very much looking forward to :-

1) First ever Berry White Day KL

Yes, all the way from Arizona to craft desert Kuala Lumpur---on the 12th of Nov---this town will see a mini version of Berry White Day celebrated with geeks from many other countries/cities/town over the globe thanks to the good people of Superstition Meadery as well our own will to make this possible.

In fact, 12th Nov is the big day for the youngest member of our very own tasting group-- since this will be a sweet sweet day of union--why not make it extra special since Berry White Day 2022 coincidentally happening on the same day-- spoke to Jeff of Superstition about the idea and it was a resounding yes.

For those familiar with White series---that's basically 4 bottles of white chocolate mead with 4 different types of berries--each with it's own taste profile and nuances--this year though 4 has became 6--with 2 new addition of Cherry and Mango respectively.

*very much looking forward to sampling the new variants once my 6 weeks prohibition period is over.

1）首次跟全球蜜酒迷欢庆美国酿坊Superstition的年度重头庆典活动Berry White Day。

可以说是有点无心插柳情况下促成的美事，起因是其中最年轻的分享会成员问我说，既然时间点那么巧合，11月12日适逢他和也爱蜜酒准新娘的大喜婚宴日，让我能不能问问美国阿里桑拿蜜酒酿坊掌门人Jeff以小型私人分享会方式参与到Berry White Day全球庆典中？于是就这样，Jeff第一时间就肯定了这个想法，也非常欢迎吉隆坡终于可以同步参与全球蜜酒迷欢庆这个概念上类似Zwanze Day活动的年度蜜酒盛事。

简单来说，Berry White 系列是Superstition酿坊的年度重头作品，从第一代开始至近年的一系列四款基调是白巧克力和蜂蜜但以不同莓果带出区别，今年则是一变六，保留一路来四款莓果选择之余，带来了樱桃和芒果这两款新风味，重点是数周前就已安安稳稳的送到本地安放适当冷度藏酒柜中等待12日的到来。

2) Online sale of some wanted beer mail

Covid is bad but at the same time it kinda brought changes not seen before with some "elusive" bottles being made available for on line purchase----as most geeks who play the chasing games know best. 

This Nov has seen quite some big ones came and gone---Cantillon autumn pack---Side Project BBT pack--and this morning Pips meadery pancake pack.....

Whoever hit gold or bite the dust---it's all part of the game.

2）欧美特定酿坊限定啤酒首卖

新冠疫情来袭前，欧美酿坊不定期网上首卖是有的，无论啤酒类型风格区别，大多是需要会员制才有机会买到。在疫情干扰全世界後情况有所变化，比如比利时酸啤酿坊包括像是Cantillon，3Fonteinen等等之前极少或从未网上公开给全球酸啤迷抢购的机会出现了。

就在写稿当下，Cantillon刚刚宣布了11月2日会网售一套6支由四款不同风味Lambic组成成分的作品。

这个11月对推崇美国密苏里州绝对高手酿坊Side Project 啤迷来说，今年度BBT(Beer Barrel Time)首卖是最受瞩目的一次网售活动，这是酿坊备受啤迷追捧的大黑啤作品。（然后还有今天早上的PIPS蜜酒水果松饼系列首卖。）

3) Full attendance of the TastingGroup

for more than a year the group has never seen full attendance of all 5 members since one member is away on overseas attachement----come 12th Nov all will be in attendance---this has been a day i was very much looking forward to as plans been made to have private sharing session after wedding lunch party--though unfortunately i would have to just watch from the sideline this time around--it would still be a very nice sharing session no doubt.

3）久违的全员重聚分享会

过去有接近年多两年时间，我们几位没什么机会全体会合，特别是其中一位成员由于工作外派海外後更是难。

这次适逢最年轻成员婚宴日，计划是午宴後分享会成员汇聚一起，除了欢庆大马破天荒第一次Berry White Day，当然也要分享一些不同类型风格的啤酒，虽然暂时没列出瓶子清单，但肯定可以知道的是当天会有美国酿坊大黑啤，农场风格啤酒，比利时酸啤，也可能有新鲜飞进来的美国类果汁印度淡啤等等，久别重聚的瓶子分享会很可能是尽量不想浪费好酒原则下而在挑什么瓶子不当天开喝，可以预期当天各类型啤酒蜜酒瓶子选择数量会超乎能够合理品味欣赏的酒精承受范畴，所以取舍是必要的。

#虽然很不巧的个人因为不久前动手术必须禁酒6个星期而只能当旁观者，这一天的瓶子分享会还是会精彩的。

WEEK 202---Black Tuesday beer memories

Was informed by tasting group geek friend that KL craft market is seeing some bottles for sale from The Bruery--including the big one that is Black Tuesday. Upon hearing this---somehow triggered some memories of our own early encounters with The Bruery and in particular the then hard to seek in Asia Black Tuesday(there were some Bruery bottles available for sale in Japan market but never seen BT ) as well the other weekday bottles.

啤迷朋友通知说本地craft beer专卖店多年後终于出现美国酿坊The Bruery一些作品可买，其中包括大名鼎鼎的Black Tuesday，一定程度来说这是有着某种进程象征意义的，

在本地craft beer前前后后大概十年左右历程中能直接在本地店家买到的美国大黑啤/大酒并不多，实际上用凤毛麟角来形容一点也不为过。这其中自然跟国家政策对酒精类商品不友善，本地craft beer市场基本来说认知不够，进口商和专卖吧或瓶子店数量有限等等客观主观因素影响有关。

说起黑色星期二系列，犹记得多年前我们几位分享会啤迷成员第一次有幸在本地喝到当时来说亚洲市场基本一瓶难求盛名大黑啤时的味蕾震撼，看到如今喜爱黑啤的新朋友可以直接在本地店家买到，难免勾起一些当时记忆和感慨。

It was one fine day back in 2015---absolutely by chance/luck that i got wind of a total stranger from US is coming to town with 2 bags full of top notch beers ( the likes of The Breury- Russian River- The Alchemist & more )--so i got in touch with Shawn the stranger via Insta chat---and the rest was history( link :- 2015 stranger tasting with Shawn ). 

以黑色星期二为主的系列黑啤（包括Grey Monday， Mocha Wednesday，Chocolate Rain等等）无疑是The Bruery最为啤迷称道作品，那时候的亚洲市场应该只有日本能找到The Bruery一些其他类型瓶子（但基本找不到黑色星期二系列大酒），2015年因为机缘巧合我们几位本地啤迷第一次能在吉隆坡两天内开喝由一位陌生美国啤迷带来分享的好几款The Bruery系列大酒是件相当于开了个亚洲以致欧美来说都是顶级水平的私人啤酒庆典那样的大事。(链接在上）

7-8 years ago, the #KLtastinggroup was still very much in it's early forming period--there were and still are 5 of us in the group--back then the way forward was to seek help from US/Europe geek friends to sent in beer mails--and obviously US brew was the focus in particular dark brew/big hitters from the likes of Alesmith--Cigar City--Three Floyds--The Bruery, as well as hops & saison / sours from the likes of Hill Farmstead--Russian River--The Alchemist and so on were the main seek ).

Among the US dark brew/big hitters we have tasted then--obviously The Bruery did shook some of our early years palate---and not only just Black Tuesday or Mocha Wednesday or Grey Monday or Chocolate Rain--but also others from The Bruery--in particular their anniversary brew from 2014 Sucre(one of the tasting group guys mentioned this as the one big beer which changed/shaped his idea about what beer can be)& 2015 Cuivre---as well as Smoking Wood bourbon  & rye whiskey variants--just to name a few.

七八年前我们几位的分享会还处在萌芽期，通过美国啤迷朋友帮忙自己找酒运来本地以满足亚洲市场找不到想要瓶子的缺憾，当时来说The Bruery是绝对重点对象（其他重点目标包括诸如Alesmith，Cigar City，Three Floyds，Russian River，The Alchemist还有Hill Farmstead等盛名美国酿坊特定作品）。

虽说黑色星期二系列是重点目标也是早期帮助我们几位打下鉴赏大黑啤基础的美国大酒（之一二三。。），不过这并不意味着值得一提的The Bruery作品就只那样，分享会成员当时喝到并留下一定印象的包括酿坊2014周年纪念作Sucre，2015周年作Cuivre以及充满烟熏和波本旧桶风味的桶陈黑啤Smoking Wood等等。

Fast forward to 2022--we know how craft beer is at times very trend dominated--just look at how NEIPAs has swept the market--as well how Pastry Stouts is the in-thing in recent times-- the in trend situation would mean certain breweries/beers are much more sought after than the rest--even names like The Breury is no exception to the in trend game where Black Tuesday is still very much a solid big dark brew but it is no longer the gone by the seconds sort of "hyped"/"most sought after FOMO" beer it probably was years ago.

随着时间推移加上craft beer潮流关系，近几年甜点黑啤（pastry stouts）大行其道意味着一些被啤迷追捧新贵酿坊的冒起，强者如The Bruery的风头自然也无可避免的被掩盖，或许对我们几位来说黑色星期二系列已成为啤酒探寻过程中的经典作品（这样说并不带贬义），黑色星期二系列作品依然是实力派大酒，虽然因为酒精度偏很高（17-18度是小事，超过20度也常有）对我们几位已再没有开始那么吸引，不过对新人来说The Bruery大黑啤作品仍是可提升味蕾鉴赏力的习题，还没试过的新人们可以小酌细味试试，更何况如今的黑色星期二已不限于750毫升瓶装而是有了更小容量的罐装可供选择，更适合了解喝少嚐多乐趣的新朋友。

To see some Bruery's bottles including Black Tuesday being made available for sale here in KL is quite a mark for the local scene--for the past 10 years or so--to put it quite bluntly--the local craft market has seen really few big hitters from the US being imported for sale here--hence to see Black Tuesday 2021 available locally both in bottle & can is quite a moment.  Though personally and tasting group wise Black Tuesday( in part due to it's high abv) is no longer what we seek for -- it is still a big dark brew that newbies should try out-- still very much a proper palate training big beer imho.