The title may look contradicting or perhaps a little confusing at first glance--these are part of the going on( and on going) with craft beer scene with regards to consumers behaviour especially if one have dived into the world of craft beer for a certain period of time.
不久前看到香港啤迷朋友转发一篇既抒发也有怀旧更是探讨的网络PO文，发文的是蜜酒界大师级人物，美国顶级酿坊 Schramm's创办人Ken
Schramm，文中对craft beer近年来一些消费风气习性提出了看法和疑问。
或许有人会觉得蜜酒和啤酒不是完全不同类型酒类吗？事实的确如此，mead和craft beer确是迥异的，但很多时候也关联在一起，最常见就是欧美craft beer庆典活动总会有蜜酒酿坊参与其中，某种程度来说，无论是酿坊酿酒师还是啤迷，当中很多都是认可蜜酒的参与或认可mead就是craft beer活动一份子。
Ken Schramm文中一开始就直指craft beer处在十字路口，因为 “craft beer 消费趋势的追新弃旧现象非常不利于行业发展”
If one wonder why Ken as a mead maker is writing about craft beer--while mead is an entirely different type of craft beverages from beer--those who know will know that mead is very closely link to the craft beer community--for examples there's always mead available at prominent craft beer festivals.
So what is not so right about craft beer consuming trend--and what are those chasing new ditching old or ticking or seeking deliciousness all about?
"Chasing New" can have 2 different meanings here:-
a) craft beer drinkers who will always seek out anything new or not tasted before regardless which breweries.
b) those who ONLY seek out something new from a few specific breweries (think band or idol chasing).
Ditching Old can have 2 different meaning too:-
a) a brewery is perceived as "past it"/ "no longer in trend" or "quality dropped"--hence not buying.
b) mainly due to ticking purposes--whatever already drank once or max twice will no longer want to drink again.
什么是追新弃旧？
追新有两个意思，其一是字面上那样有一群会一直不断追寻新作品的啤迷，另一是类似“追星” 那样紧跟当红酿坊或特定盛名作品而动的啤迷们。
弃旧也有两个意思，其一是啤迷觉得某家酿坊已过气或作品类型不再是现阶段想喝的所以放弃，其二是只要喝过一两次的作品就会被归类为已打卡/已试过所以不想再喝。
从开门做生意或经济效益角度来看，身为酿坊老板的Ken Schramm看法和顾虑是可以理解的，卖酒是批发/零售业，是需要消费者重复购买支持的，与此同时，身为资深喝酒人的Ken也举例了自身和一些资深啤迷朋友们至今还在固定喝几款喜欢的老牌酿坊作品.To some who are very new to the craft beer scene--you would likely remember the "where do i begin/what to choose" scenario when inside a tasting room or bottle shop for the first time--the choices can be overwhelming at times--but that's also why craft beer is so much more interesting because of such abundance of choices be it different breweries doing the same beer style or different beer styles available from thousands of small breweries all over the world.
And yes --the varieties of beer styles and choices can be qiute overwhelming to newbies--so to partly help out newbies and provide craft drinkers/ beer geeks an avenue to check out/record/refer to craft beer related info--website & apps were created--names like RATEBEER ( popular in yesteryears), Beer Advocate(earlier years tool) and Untappd( late comer but in trend) became something useful for not only newbies but lots of people in the craft beer scene including drinkers/bar or bottle shop owners/brewers where a reference point can be made or check with. However--just like any creation which bring good--there are side effects as well with these beer rating site/apps where badges were created/given to users--partly why ticking became something of a trend amongst some users--drink a bottle or can and check in--that's a tick. (Heck--sometimes not even a bottle or can but probably only a sip or two from someone's glasses.)
对不是很了解为什么会出现“追新弃旧”现象的新朋友，这里稍微说明下，首先要知道craft
beer众多不同类型风格作品是由世界上不同角落多如繁星或大或小或微型酿坊构成，那么多不同酿坊作品自然意味着啤迷有很多选择，喝什么怎么选其实也是新朋友一门功课。
不同类型风格啤酒作品选择众多是craft beer魅力乐趣所在，专门为craft beer而设以让大家或查询或记录或打卡的评酒网站或APP也应运而生，几款不同网站/APP中以早期的Rate Beer和后来居上的Untappd最受广泛使用，这些网络评酒/记录工具的出现间接带动了 “打卡”风气，简单说就是使用者会一直“打卡”记录不同酿坊新作品以获取虚拟勋章，无形中加剧了“追新弃旧“现象。
So do craft drinkers/beer geeks always only chasing new or a chance to add another tick? That's not true either--personally speaking--craft beer appreciation always need a process--which includes palate training by trying out different varieties of beer styles--that process would see something like drinking IPA or Stouts or Sour Beer from many different breweries even though they can technically be the same style of beer but might taste very different depending on brewers interpretation.
From personal point of view as well what some of my beer buddies prefer---while chasing new does happens along the way--there are certainly some old favourites that i would not hesitate to want a chance to crack again and again--these are a few which i would never say no to if available right in front of me---Saison from Hill Farmstead--Pliny the Elder from Russian River-- any fine Lambic from Belgium just to name a few....
“打卡”风气固然是追新弃旧诱因之一，不过并不是唯一理由，探寻craft beer过程中会有不同阶段，抛开单纯只为打卡原因，啤迷想探寻不同作品美味层次是个强有力动机，因为可以探寻的作品众多，就算不是单纯为了打卡，啤迷间是会出现喝过一两次就继续寻找下一个新作品的现象。
平心而论，啤迷也不是一定就只追新的，以个人还有所知的好些啤迷朋友选酒方向来说，只要是心目中认可好喝的，不管新品还是有年月的经典款都是想喝到的，个人来说就有诸如美国Hill Farmstead常态款农场风格作品，经典美式印度淡啤Russian River Pliny the Elder，当然少不了比利时天然发酵酸啤（Lambic），都是喝过不少次但会想一喝再喝的作品。
换个角度来看，craft beer是有点类似流行乐坛那样，有所谓近期大热或流行类型风格酒款，然后也有已过气酿坊/酒款这回事，当然也有永不过时经典酿坊/酒款。啤迷会“追新弃旧” 的一个主要诱因除了想尝鲜满足好奇心，想喝好或更好的是基本动机，但不管一款酒名气有多大或多么稀有难寻，没喝到口就只是未知数，所以喝了A之后会想喝B，C，D，E是可以理解的啤迷心态，实际上，如果作品真的很好，有时候不是啤迷不想再找来喝，真实情况是想找也未必一定能找的到。（懂的啤迷会心一（苦）笑就好）
To see things from another angle--perhaps craft beer scene is similar to Pop Music--you have the red hot new songs--some past it band or singer--as well the very classic never dies type of creations. The lure for craft drinkers/beer geeks to chase new- if we could put aside the purely "TICKING" factor--personally i would think the urge to seek for deliciousness is the main factor--curiosity can be the motivation here because no matter how HYPE or Unknown a beer is---the fact is one needs to drink to understand or at least try to understand it's taste profile and how it actually taste in one's palate.
The fact is--geeks who know will know that sometimes some beers cannot be revisited not because they don't want to but because those bottles are so hard to find or totally unavailable at reasonable cost(logistic-time-money...) at all.
