MBCC 2024 was held mid of May this year--of course I was not there to participate--in fact it's been quite a long while since i last set foot in Copenhagen --since 2018 to be precise.
刚过去不久的五月第二个周末丹麦迎来了全球不同地区啤谜集聚在哥本哈根共同度过为期一周有多的MBCC 2024啤酒庆典。
身在吉隆坡的我这次当然没参与其盛，实际上自2020年原计划和之前一起去过两次的本地瓶子分享会成员再加一位还没去过年轻成员组成吉隆坡四人团的哥本哈根啤酒庆典之旅被新冠肺炎疫情按下停键後，虽然啤酒庆典自2022年开始已复办三次，但感觉好像时机已过，我们几位对再次启动2020计划没有了那时候的动力。
In 2020, there was a plan with 3 of the KL tasting group guys to go MBCC again--but as we all know the plan was put into an abrupt halt as Covid paused the world into various stages of lockdown. And somehow since then the urge to revisit MBCC has sort of died down among the few of us.
这样是不是说MBCC参与酿坊阵容水平有所下跌所以不再有吸引力？其实除了2022年(更正-应该是20/21年）那次酒单和酿坊阵容有明显期待水准以下之外，以今年阵容来说参与酿坊无论是成名已久还是后起之秀可说都是顶尖或高水平级别，所以并没有参与酿坊阵容薄弱问题。实际上，动力不再的因素有几个，个人时间财力心态等排除不说的话，疫情导致的全世界当时封锁停摆然后突然某个时间点开始网上有机会能买到一些之前可说几乎不可能网购到的欧美顶尖酿坊作品一定程度上舒缓了身在亚洲啤迷难以买到欧美顶尖酿坊作品的渴望，换句话说就是因为有时候很想喝到的好酒可以欧美直送到本地安坐分享，再考虑到飞去欧洲的旅费开支时差，还有就是在哥本哈根那一周的密集式（有时感觉像愉快开工那样需要赶场）的啤酒庆典氛围喝法等客观因素，加上本身自2015第一次去已参与过三次，有幸参与见证了比如美国顶尖酿坊Hill Farmstead主创人Shaun Hill在2016年不仅出现在节庆日两天四场活动亲自为啤迷倒酒，还带了很多好酒包括绝对限量瓶子的ANN/ART在Warpigs酒吧办了场至今仍被啤迷津津乐道的占领酒吧活动，还有就是同一年第一次参与庆典活动後人气更涨的比利时天然发酵酸啤小作坊BOKKE（当时还用着旧名称Bokkereyder），也是除了参与庆典日的两天四场也在另一家米吧旗下专攻酸啤/农场风格啤酒类型的酒吧做了一次很小型占领啤酒泵推介活动。去了三次当然还有其他让人很有印象的节庆日或之前周边活动喝到的其他酿坊作品，新旧啤迷朋友，整个活动周期散发的啤酒天堂氛围等等都是让人享受和怀念的。或许也因为有幸参与了一些顶级酿坊活动所以2020年那次去不成後慢慢的好像就能放轻松觉得再不去也可以了。
As to why the urge is no longer there--was it due to any drastic drop in breweries standards or line up ? The answer is no--except maybe for MBCC 20/21 which was delayed and held in October 2021 which somehow saw an overall drop in standards/line up--the subsequent MBCC have seen high standards line up attending, so line up is not the reason why personally speaking I have kind of rule MBCC out of the picture for beer travelling--mainly due to these factors:-
1) During Covid time--somehow some breweries which usually unavailable online for non-members (or those not staying in say USA) have "miracurously" appeared online and let geeks living in Asia a chance to try and buy something--also when master brewery like Cantillon also made occasional online sale(though it's still very hard to get a chance to buy a pack)--things has somehow changed for the better for geeks like us who live in KL where top notch selections are basically not available in the market. With the help of geek friends who managed to secure some long wanted bottles/cans--the need to fly out for beer has somehow reduced. It's true that when one can enjoy some really nice brew directly flown in from overseas with fellow geek friends locally--hence all the factors/costs involve when flying out for MBCC will become something to ponder.
2) Personally speaking--to be at Copenhagen for a week--with it's all actions--almost non-stop activities lining up during the 7-8-9days right up to the 2 days 4 sessions fest on Friday & Saturday itself--it's really hectic and at times felt almost like "working"( of course a very pleasurable one)--try ask those who already lining up for First Day First Session before 9am and you will see what i meant by that. Personally I guess I might not be enjoying as much those hectic schedule as i did back in 2015-2016 or 2018 when there.
3) Yes i did went to Copenhagen 3 times purely because of beer--2015 was my first trip--back then it was still being called CBC(Copenhagen Beer Celebration)--later on renamed as MBCC to better reflect who's running the show. Having been there 3 times--I was happy to have been there when Hill Farmstead took over entire Warpigs bar + outside additional taps for a never before( and perhaps never will be?) epic event--also was there when Bokke was still using the name Bokkereyder and did a really mini tap takeover at Koelschip & also joined the fest for the first time--both events happened in year 2016.
虽然不久前有提起过说因为啤酒庆典主办方Mikkeller丹麦本部出售20%股权给也是丹麦的C品牌商业啤酒大公司以借助对方销售渠道力量提高Mikkeller啤酒销售量的消息让包括个人在内的一些啤迷觉得这是很有讽刺意味的商业决定，也感觉可能会对这次MBCC带来不好影响比如一些原已计划参与的酿坊退出，不过从最终参与酿坊名单来看上述猜想并没有发生，好些盛名欧美酿坊都参与，商业决定没有让不少啤迷不想看到的局面发生，会这样说是因为那些年来无论是参与酿坊阵容，一周中不同酿坊占领啤酒泵或瓶子首卖活动，再到周末为期两天共四个场次的庆典日，从酒单到氛围哥本哈根啤酒庆典的的确确是craft beer界非常重要的顶尖啤酒节庆。
I did posted my opinions on social media when Mikkeller annouced their decision to joined hands with CARLSBERG that this business decision would see some participating breweries pulling out of MBCC2024--that did not happened and honestly im quite pleased it stayed intact because business decisoin aside MBCC ( or CBC when i first participated) is a fest that played a vital role in my craft beer journey--it really played a part in opening up my eyes/ears/palate appreciation level--though the bars activities during that particular 7-8-9 days too played an important role but to put it shortly--if it wasnt the fest--i would not have travelled so far out to CPH.
从个人对哥本哈根啤酒庆典的经历和感受角度来说，抛开上述商业决定不说的话，这个汇集了主要来自欧美盛名在外顶尖酿坊和后起之秀的啤酒节庆是很难得的一个活动，能在一周内聚集了那么多高质量啤酒/蜜酒于一个城市空间确实是平时难得一见的.
至于以后个人是不是会在啤酒庆典期间再回到哥本哈根其实并不重要，重点是只要参与酿坊阵容继续保持高水平，那还是非常鼓励没去过的新朋友们去一次，特别是如果住在亚洲某个城镇然后没太多机会喝到高水平欧美顶尖酿坊作品的话，哥本哈根啤酒庆典是能让人打开眼界和提升味蕾水平的一次高水平体验。
Personally--it is not important at all if I would have the chance to visit Copenhagen again during future MBCC week--but I would say that it's a fest very much worth all the hassles/costs to travel for if you are a geek and yet to visit during MBCC week--it's a fest that could raise level of appreciation especially for newer friends who are seeking to elevate his/her appreciation level.
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