WEEK 241--Essentials to Beer Fest Enjoyment

 

End of October will see Beijing hosting for the very first time Asia version of the Copenhagen based craft beer event MBCC- with the likes of Hill Farmstead, Pulpit Rock & 3Fonteinen appearing in the initial list with 30 plus other breweries--this is no doubt 1 event to look out for especially for those living in Asia

十月底北京将首次举办丹麦啤酒庆典（MBCC）亚洲精简版活动，至今已公布参与酿坊阵容中引人瞩目的有美国顶尖酿坊Hill Farmstead， 黑啤高手酿坊Pulpit Rock， 比利时天然发酵酸啤中不可或缺的酿坊3Fonteinen以及其他30多家来自欧美亚洲太平洋等地不同酿坊。

还没去过类似规模活动的新朋友问起北京这次活动是不是值得一去，去的话有什么需要注意的，还有就是北京和哥本哈根原版活动的区别有哪些之类的，实际上每次活动都会有不同处但也有一些类似经验可以分享， 以下是一些个人意见，是不是有所助益，各自消化，没有绝对。

A newbie was curious and asked a few questions about the up coming event including what might be the differences between the 1 in Copenhagen and the small scale Asia edition--here's a few observations from previous trips to Copenhagen and the maiden Asia edition in Tokyo(MBCT2018)-digest as you would-could be useful or otherwise.

Arrive Earlier

The fest itself is usually or always being held on Friday & Saturday--and few days prior to the fest--in Copenhagen there will be a whole week( or 8-9days) of various tap takeover/ first release / meet the brewers/ beer food pairing events going on at selected bars/ bottle shop/ restaurants--in another word for that MBCC week the city of Copenhagen is essentially turned into craft beer(and some mead too) heaven.

While it's not expected the same would be happening here in Asia albeit on a lesser/smaller scale--it's always good to arrive earlier in another city to get some feel-acclimatize if you will-with the place-food/drinking water logistic and so on-hit the local bars-even better if there's pre-organized events by fest participating breweries.

1）早几天到

MBCC啤酒庆典一般都是星期五和星期六两天各有早午场两个场次，两天共有四个不同场次，而在周五周六两天庆典活会场动之前的五六天前城里参与啤酒庆典活动的专卖吧/瓶子店/特定餐厅等等都会有各自不同的占领啤酒泵（Tap Takeover）或特邀酿坊首卖会等活动，意思是在周末正式会场活动开始之前，整个星期都有已安排好等待啤迷前来的不同酿坊活动。

稍微不同于哥本哈根，北京这次啤酒庆典活动周五一个场次，周六有早午场次，一共三个场次，相对来说是比哥本哈根少了一个场次。至于配合周末正式会场活动之前有什么地方会有什么酿坊的各自不同活动则至今仍未有公开讯息，一般来说会有的所以稍后多留意官方活网页公告就可以得知有什么， 就算万一只有周五和周六两天会场活动的话，对住亚洲啤迷来说也很不错了，三个场次可以品尝到的不同酿坊作品有很多是亚洲正式进口商市场仍没有或不会有的酿坊作品。

虽说住亚洲的话北京不会有欧亚那种六七个小时的时差问题，不过早一两天到的话，吃吃北京烤鸭养养神适应一下北京水土後再去开喝也是不错的。

 

Stay Vigilant

Nope--not meaning to say "watch your back" or anything like that--just a playful way of saying going to a big beer fest at times can be like going on a mission or even "work" like--in Copenhagen for examples--if you arrive on a Sunday--and waiting to attend fest on FRI/SAT--thats a whole week of daily drinking--with pre-fest events coming left right center( 3-4 events a day -minimum 2 to choose from)--that's a lot of beer(mead) to handle--hence it's absolutely important to keep in good condition through out the whole week--make sure to rest well/eat proper meals--and NEVER drink empty stomach--personally this is the sure formula to go face down--unless you have super natural ability to handle alcohol or something like that--otherwise==no matter if you are of small body frame or huge one--drinking empty stomach is a sure way for unpleasant experience of drunkenness--and the bad way to stop you craft drinking pleasure for the next day at least.

2）保持状态

这样说可能会被认为是在“嗮命”， 不过之前实际去到哥本哈根啤酒庆典而且是连续七八天都在跑专卖吧/瓶子店，以及两天四个场次的会场活动後的每一次感受是这其实跟在“工作”或“做任务”的情况不无相似之处，是需要保持状态体力和自律专注的，其中最重要的是睡眠要足够，更要确保每次开喝前已吃饱，个人一直强调的是，不管体型大小，除非天赋异禀或有特异功能，空腹喝酒是大忌，会让人很快享受不了美酒佳肴或直接趴下，换句话说，这会是个让人接下来喝不了更多好酒也让自己难受的事，一定要避免发生。

Drink less Taste more

Conservative estimation --say each brewery woujld pour 2 different beers per session in Beijing--with about 40 participating breweries--that 80 different styles of beer each session--meaning you have 4 hours to drink all that--bearing in mind 2 each brewery is only very conservative assumption becuase in truth majority if not all will have more than 2 to pour--and those would surely include high ABV ones like Big Stout- Barley Wine- Triple IPA-as well Mead-so managing how fast or slow you drink--as well how much volume wise is something to consider--indeed the taster glass for fest is relatively small--and usually brewer/helpers would not pour a full glass--with so many to drink from--perhaps drink less( in volume) taste more( various breweris/various styles) is a way to make the experience enjoyable.

Another thing is --while everyone would have 1 or more personal favourite beer styles to enjoy--it would be slightly wasteful to just focus on 1 or 2 beer styles when there are many other styles to sample from--going out of the comfort zone during a fest of this level is not going to hurt--you might just find something unfamiliar with but tasty and enjoyable.

3）喝少尝多

北京这次啤酒庆典，至今已知的是会有40家酿坊参与，以最保守每家每场次提供两款不同作品估算（当然不会只有两款），意味着每个场次啤迷们都有机会喝上不少过80款不同类型风格的啤酒，这其中不乏高酒精度作品如黑啤(stout)，大麦酒(barley wine)，三倍印度淡啤(triple ipa)，或是蜜酒（mead）等等，在特定时间内（4个小时）要喝数量不少的作品，虽说庆典杯子本身是小容量，一般来说领酒时酿酒师或工作人员也不会倒满，但累计喝下来还是需要注意个人酒精承受能力，建议喝少尝多，意思是一小杯可以跟同行朋友或是周边陌生人分着喝，这样比较可以做到品尝更多不同作品但相对来说摄取量比较少的喝法。

另外就是，个人接受度比较高的话，可以换着不同类型风格啤酒作品喝，避免独沽一味，毕竟这样的啤酒庆典就是各式不同类型风格作品都有，欢迎大家开放心态尽量尝试自己最熟悉最喜欢类型风格以外的其他作品风味。