WEEK 61--Craft-Running -KL-BKK-SG

It's almost another year passing by, what has changed or emerged during the past 12-18 months in terms of craft beer locally? or say nearby cities of Bangkok,Singapore...

KL

the craft movement started some 6 years ago with 1 Belgium craft beer restaurant--then the first ever 100% craft beer bar came along some 4 years ago, after which 1 bottle shop joined in.

since the last 12-18 months--there's an addition of :-

2 craft beer bar+1 bottle shop--making it the grand total of 3 bars+2 bottle shop....

that's all we have locally for 100% craft dedicated places..

前不久，有亚洲啤迷来吉隆坡，之后社交媒体留言，觉得“吉隆坡CRAFT BEER发展不怎么样，没其他城市精彩”。

本地啤迷看到上述留言，可能会不是滋味，也可能觉得，在马来西亚这样一个对入口酒类产品税务极度不合理的环境下仍有几家专卖吧/瓶子店，很不错了，怎能苛求？

换个角度看，平心而论，在推广撞意啤酒文化方面，吉隆坡的确还有很多功课要做，本地还是缺乏有心投入专卖吧/瓶子店的业者，过去一年，本地只增加1家专卖吧和1家瓶子店。（总数3家专卖吧，2间瓶子店）

关键是，不同啤酒类别，品牌选择方面，跟三四年前相比，虽有新品牌被引进，可是也有之前出现过品牌再没看到，一加一减，实际上市场还是处在被动状态，业者仍在适应，摸索着本地饮客口味选择，着重啤酒花苦韵冲击的IPA（印度淡啤）和口味较平和的PALE ALE无疑是主选。（其他类别啤酒选择有，可都需要质和量的提升）

lack of varieties or selection---due to limited supply--is what KL craft beer scene is facing, this is still very much a market where pale ale, IPA take up most tap or displaying area at the bar/shop.(And we are not talking about comparison with US or Europe)

If we were to compare with Bangkok up north or Singapore down south, the lack of varieties in beer styles is quite obvious.

Is KL a lousy place for craft beer? NOPE--certainly NOT--far from it--but if you are a beer geek who demand varieties and high quality beers--then you would be somewhat critical about the progress--or the seemingly very slow progress( or was it even regress?) so far...

BKK

The craft movement in and around Bangkok been quite interesting--there's new bars opening up in numbers for the past 12-18 months, some 100% dedicated bars, some a mix of craft and macro or craft and coffee place....

虽然泰国政府对入口酒类税务也并不友善，不过，这城市的撞意啤酒文化在蔓延着。

过去一年，新开撞意酒吧不少，引人注目的包括“HAIR OF THE DOG”，13个啤酒泵常有类别分布均衡的佳酿供选择，有以质取胜感觉。另一家开在产业展示厅的“WISHBEER”是由之前只提供网上订购兼送啤酒上门服务的虚拟瓶子店变身而成，另外，之前开业只有8个啤酒泵的CRAFT已大量增加到40个啤酒泵选择，大有以量取胜的企图。（最近也在曼谷另一地点开了20个啤酒泵分店）

谈到曼谷，“米吧”（MIKKELLER BANGKOK）仍然是指标，除了不定时举行占领啤酒泵（TAP TAKEOVER）活动或新品牌品酒会，最新动作是正式把啤酒结合美食，在现有旧式洋房阁楼打造一间小餐厅，由之前在美国芝加哥一家米其林2星餐厅担任副主厨的高手玩美食配啤酒

Among the newly opened bars--some noteworthy ones are bars such as :-

-the 13 taps Hair of the Dog with good selection and varieties of beer styles (yeah--some may wonder about the name---there's no HOTD beers on sale)

-the virtual store turned bar---Wishbeer which is housing it's bar at a property showroom at Ekamai

-the 8 taps turned 40 taps Craft(number game wise this could be the bar with the most taps in BKK for now)

and of course--Bangkok has got Mikkeller Bar which always would have something exciting for geeks and drinkers alike....latest development is a restaurant Upstairs--offering fine dine, tasting session and of course more beers...

在曼谷或更外围的地方，一班泰国啤迷正发起一场渐成规模的自酿运动（跟本地一样，自酿在泰国法律上是被禁的，在新加坡是合法行为）。跟少数本地，新加坡啤迷一样，这些泰国啤迷不满足于只喝别人酿造的进口啤酒，所以自己动手。不一样的是，虽是地下活动，泰国啤迷会在社交媒体发放新酒发布会消息，就像歌手发片那样，当天会有啤迷来捧场，而且泰国自酿啤酒是讲究品牌包装的（不像本地或新加坡自酿只用空瓶子装），先不论酒质素，只论包装，泰国自酿瓶子无疑最抢眼。

If you are into home brew--the movement is getting quite interesting since it is legally NOT PERMITTED but it's moving none-the-less, there's even publicized events for new launches where drinkers, geeks and brewers get together.

SG

Singapore is kinda near to KL(it's about 4-5 hours drive on the highway on a normal traffic day).

以大马观点回看，隔一道长堤，吉隆坡和新加坡之间的撞意啤酒文化发展有好大一段距离，不单是业者数量，有一个现象是，很多吉隆坡喝到的啤酒，其实都是对岸供应商送过来的。

 不同啤迷对新加坡的撞意啤酒文化会有不同解读，实际上，要是曼谷没有“米吧”，以不同啤酒类别选择/供应来说，新加坡毫无悬念是三地之首。不单现有专卖吧/瓶子店多，自酿的话，每年都有供应商和啤迷联手打造自酿大赛，以一个面积比曼谷或吉隆坡都小蛮多的东南亚城市来说，新加坡的确领跑着。

It is a known fact that Singapore is quite a small city in terms of size--but in terms of craft beer supply--selection--importers--distributors--craft beer bar and bottle shop---there's no denying that Singapore is the best city among the 3 cities...and of course HOME BREW is Legally PERMITTED in Singapore--there's home brew equipment shop that you can buy most of what you need there....

如果以跑步来比喻东南亚三个城市的撞意啤酒市场发展，大致情况是，新加坡是领跑者，曼谷逐步发力，吉隆坡还在慢跑中。。。

To put it in perspective, maybe this is how it went for the past 12-18 months--if we could use running as examples:-

Singapore is Pace Setter

Bangkok is gaining pace and getting stronger

KL--is basically slow pacing itself to say the least

WEEK 60---BEER can be......

If you are very new to the craft beer scene, or still very much a commercial lager drinker....you might find what mentioned below surprising, amusing, or to certain extent "weird"...

BOTLLE-FIES

we all know what selfie/s is all about--or what a group-fies means.

it's the same theory---only this time the FOCUS is not on people--but bottles--yes--you heard it right--the beer bottles will always be the center of attention in any craft beer bar when geeks around.

if you see grown ups taking "very serious" photos of beer bottles in any given bar or bottle shop---welcome to the world of craft beer, you would sooner become one of these weird people....

拍瓶子

如果你是新人，在CRAFT BEER专卖吧看到有人对着酒瓶或配合杯子很认真的找角度拍照而感到困惑的话，毋庸置疑，作出那样举动的一定是啤迷。

对很多超级啤迷而言，用照片记录喝过啤酒是指定动作，啤迷大多是社交媒体用户或啤酒评分手机应用程式死忠粉丝，也有啤迷有自己BLOG，所以，不同类别啤酒瓶子照片是必须的

SHARING 1 GLASS/1 BOTTLE

yes-the experts are talking about China economy slowing down hence affecting the world economy....BUT--if you see a group of people sharing A GLASS of beer or A Bottle of beer in a craft beer bar---that's not because of bad economy--that's an act of sharing or likely a TASTING SESSION is going on....

In craft beer culture--sharing is common--"taste more drink less" in volume is also something geeks believe in...

一杯几人喝

如果你看到几个人在分享一瓶啤酒或互相递杯子喝着同一杯啤酒而疑惑，并不是因为经济不景气大家要省省喝，而是由于尝味才是撞意啤酒文化精神，与其大杯大杯各自喝，有时候啤迷更倾向于小口喝，尝尝味，交流下意见。

多尝试不同啤酒类别，不鼓吹大量喝或“不醉无归”，是撞意啤酒文化精神。

WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T SELLING HERE

sometimes you walk into a bar or a bottle shop--you see a group of people with some nice beers/bottles that you have not seen before locally and wonder if the bar/shop owner has secretly imported something new?

While that could be the case---in most cases--especially if you live in a city/town where craft beer varieties is not available-what you saw are very likely NOT for SALE---those bottles that you see are privately own bottles brought in by geeks through whatever help they could get from overseas....

A bar or bottle shop don't sell or don't have those--but geeks privately do ?  yes--that's also the beauty of craft beer culture....

这酒这里没卖

是的，有时候你看到有人围在一起喝啤酒，瓶子看起来都比较陌生，这种情况应该是啤迷自己安排的品酒会，意思是说，你看到的啤酒很多时候未必是酒吧有卖或店家的私藏，更多时候是不同啤迷自己带来的外来货。

在撞意啤酒文化还在起步，不同品牌类别啤酒选择比较贫乏的城市，超级啤迷喝到某个程度就会向外看，向欧美不同城市寻找自己想喝瓶子。所以，在专卖吧看到“非卖品”的时候，不用惊讶，撞意啤酒好玩之处就是自己找惊喜。

CRAFT BEER IS ALL ABOUT VARIETIES

Someone asked " so craft beer is IPA?"

well---of course IPA is craft beer---BUT--it's only part of craft beer--so the answer is NO.

confusing?

not at all--the answer is plain and simple---craft beer is never about any single beer style---craft beer is about many many different beer styles.

VARIETIES--that's what make craft beer beautiful.

So--if any newbie or commercial beer drinker tells you that "i had a pale ale--or an IPA--so i already tasted craft beer--and it sucks--it's not my thing...."

The truth is--having 1 glass/1 bottle or even 5-6 glasses/bottles of pale ale or IPAs---DO NOT give you any rights to pass judgement on craft beer---because--let's take IPAs for examples---there are simply thousands of DIFFERENT breweries doing somewhat different IPAs out there---there will be a few that hits all the right notes for your palate...

So how can anyone say "its not my thing" after only 1 single style of beer?(or two or three...)

没有一种啤酒是代表全体的

有人说，IPA（印度淡啤）就是CRAFT BEER。

这样的说词，没错，因为的确是一份子。不过，也是偏离事实很远的说法。

在浩翰撞意啤酒世界中，IPA是很多新人开始认识撞意啤酒时，或者说入门开始喝时会接触到的啤酒类别。只不过，IPA只是众多不同啤酒类别中，比较普遍比较流行比较容易喝到的其中一种而已。

如果有人觉得喝了IPA之后就可下定论，认定撞意啤酒合不合适自己，那是绝对错误观念。只因为喝了不太对自己口味的IPA，然后从此就觉得CRAFT BEER不外如是，没什么好喝的，那是大错特错，因为，单单IPA这个类别就有至少几千家不同酿坊在酿造不同口感的IPA，肯定有好喝的，就算IPA不是你喜欢类型，浩翰啤海还有那么多不同类别啤酒等待发掘，怎能单凭一杯或一个啤酒类型就决定呢?

GEEKS generally likes SHARING Info/experiences/beers 

If you are new to craft beer bar/bottle shop--don't be surprised if the staff introduce someone(who is a customer) to you saying he/she can help you to choose beers....or say someone at the bar just offer help/advice on your next beer...or even extend his/her glass/es for you to have a taste.....

These are usually more experience drinkers---or Geeks who simply just love sharing ideas/experiences of beers he/she had...

To geeks--nothing beats the feeling of seeing another commercial lager drinker slowly becoming craft beer drinker.....

啤迷是乐于分享的一群

如果专卖吧员工介绍坐在附近的客人给你认识，说他/她知道的比较多，可以更好的推荐一些啤酒给你，不要惊讶，在撞意啤酒的世界里，分享是一种精神，也是很多资深啤迷朋友乐意做的事情。（当然，人有千姿百态，不是说所有资深啤迷就一定乐意这样做，至少绝大多数都是友善的）

在一些高级餐厅，有专门侍酒师负责为客人介绍适合配搭食物或比较倾向个人口味喜好的葡萄酒。在撞意啤酒文化中，也有类似角色，而且是可以通过专门考核认证取得资格的。不过，这里要说的不是专业认证，而是普遍来说，分享个人经验，推荐新朋友喝什么是很多啤迷都乐意的，对啤迷来说，多一个喜欢上喝精彩多变撞意啤酒的新朋友就是开心事，至少，从来不知道有那么一个美好啤酒世界存在的新朋友开窍了。

if you were to ask---What is craft beer?--the answer is simple--nothing technical--probably the single most fun part about craft beer is Varieties(in beer styles)--and you are free to choose--what or which you would rather drink....:)