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。