Anyone who has been to Warpigs would know the place is known for 2 things:- BEER & American style BBQ meat indulgence.
Being a brewpub collaborated by Mikkeller & Three Floyds--it is only natural that there would be crazy tap takeover events from time to time or many other friendly brewers' beers on tap whenever one visit--some if not most were actually brewed inside the bar with Warpigs in-house brewers.
As part of the brewing area is in the open--where patrons can have a clear view of what's going on--it's a daily scene to see the brewers at work--be it the brewers from another brewery here for a collab or the 2 main in-house brewers of Warpigs--Kyle Walok and Lan-Xin.
酿吧(BREW PUB)，字面上意思指的是有现场酿制自家啤酒的酒吧。
在哥本哈根，众多不同CRAFT BEER吧中，WARPIGS酿吧是很多不同城市啤迷列为必须到访的一家。
刚在今年庆祝一周年，WARPIGS是由当世两大高手----丹麦MIKKELLER美国THREE FLOYDS联手打造的酿吧，除了美国特邀来的主厨打理美式烤肉，最让啤迷关注当然是啤酒。既是酿吧，除了内设酿酒设备，当然要有驻吧酿酒师，从开业至今，酿吧的两位主要酿酒师是来自美国的KYLE WALOK和来自新加坡的女酿酒师LAN-XIN。（是的，你没看错，是长堤另一边的新。加。坡。）
东南亚不同城市，自酿或小型酿造不是起步中就是受法律限制，换句话说只是萌芽阶段，这种情况下，赫赫有名的WARPIGS酿酒师之一来自东南亚不免让人有点好奇。
本期“顽啤主张”跟LAN-XIN聊聊她的酿酒路程。。(中文是精简版本）
It's interesting that Lan-Xin is from Singapore--where home brew or small brew is either outlawed in certain South East Asia countries(for examples Thailand and Malaysia)--or still very much a minority game--though the scene in Singapore is fairly active--it is still quite fascinating to find someone from this part of the world working as brewer at one of the most well known brewpub in Europe.
SO how is it possible that someone from South East Asia where craft-brewing is still very much in it's infancy became a brewer at Warpigs?
Let's have a chat with Lan-Xin :-
Q: To become a brewer
-- was it more of an ambition or sort of accidental path?
I was supposed to be
an engineer and actually enrolled in college as one. But my heart wasn't in it.
Food science/engineering was a compromise between my parents and I. It was a
blessing in disguise as that later became the foundation of my brewing
education.
Q: What triggers your
interest? Or rather what were maybe some of the important moments that shape
your interest on wanting to brew
The brewer I
apprenticed with had assembled his own distillation still but brewing beer was
his bread and butter. And I ended up enjoying the process of brewing more.
And when I first started drinking non-macro brewed beers the flavors were
incredible. Being a foodie too, that wasn’t something I could ignore.
Q：成为酿酒师是有意为之还是无心插柳？
我原本报读工程，可是志不在那，于是转读食品科学，实习期间接触到酿造，也开始喝到口感风味丰富CRAFT BEER，爱美食的同理让人不能抗拒，当时也逐渐对酿酒过程这件事倍感兴趣。
Q：从新加坡到哥本哈根，这中间是段什么样的路？
基本是这样的，食品科学实习期结束後回到新加坡并在城里一家卖啤酒自酿材料店打工，那一年内做了很多自酿，之后决定去德国柏林正式学酿酒，并在挪威一家酿坊实习一段时期，有一天来哥本哈根探朋友时被介绍去“米吧”，就那样，点点连成线，后来就变成在WARPIGS酿酒。
Q: From Singapore to
Europe --tell us what has it been so far. The road to being a brewer
It’s been a pretty
incredible journey. After my apprenticeship, I returned to Singapore to work
with Raymond Lee at iBrew. We brewed quite a lot on his home-brew set up. Most
of the time it was trying to perfect pale ales and such but from time to time,
we would try something crazy. Especially when his annual event, iBrew
challenge, approached. It was a lot of fun :) After a year or so with Raymond,
I made the choice to explore brewing as a career and moved to Berlin to attend
the brewing school there. I was in Copenhagen visiting friends and was
introduced to the Mikkeller bar on Viktorigade. And there’s been no turning
back since.
WarPigs is an
incredible ride. I can't believe we just turned one, it seems like yesterday
when we opened the doors with a bang. But when I look back at how far we've
come, then maybe a year seems too short :)
I'm not going to lie,
I think an incredible series of events happened in order for me to be where I
am. How to get in...there's a very secret knock on a mysterious door :)
Q：WARPIGS常有很多不同品牌酿酒师来客串酿酒，这中间包括被誉为世界最佳酿坊，美国HILLFARMSTEAD的主创酿酒师SHAUN
HILL，是什么样的经验？
因为MIKKELLER和THREE FLYODS的关系，酿吧经常邀请很多不同品牌友好酿酒师来共同酿造啤酒，每个人都带来自身不同方式/酿法，可以跟业界高手们学习是美好的经验。至于SHAUN HILL，因为他的声望，酿酒前一天到正式当天都非常紧张，不过一旦开始酿酒後，发现有关他的传闻都只是源自SHAUN对酿造的高度热情投入，是难得的学习机会。
Q: there were many
collaboration brew--including the recent one with Shaun Hill -- tell us
something about that experience as well how was it like collaborating with some
other brewers/ craft beer brand out there
It's a great honor to
be the child of two very respected breweries. And as a result, we get to invite
many of their fantastic friends to WarPigs to create something together. I
think everyone has their unique methods of brewing so it's a wonderful learning
experience talking shop with some of the best in the industry.
You ask about
Shaun…there was much anticipation brewing with him because he has a reputation
for being great at what he does. I was really nervous and anxious the day
before and when brew day came, even more so. But as the day progressed, I
recognised that the intensity that people described, to me, is a side product
of his level of passion. It was exciting and very educational.
Q：说说你个人喜欢的啤酒风格选择
我喜欢较低度易喝啤酒（SESSION BEER）， 最近开始很“介意”啤酒和食物的配搭。
Q: What would be some
of your personal favorite beer styles? If any
I’m a sucker for
session beers :) And very recently, I find myself fascinated with fusing beer
with food.
Q: Any moments you
felt like needing to get away from beers or brewing for a while? What do
you do?
I definitely have
moments like that. Where I need to reset and return with a fresh eye and fresh
palate, if you will. Then I drink with
friends and anything goes!
Q：在亚洲一些不同城市，有不少啤迷在玩自酿，也有想当全职酿酒师的，说一下酿酒师的日常工作状况是怎样的？
虽说每个酿坊/酿吧状况不一，不过，酿酒师日常工作中一定有的就是酿造过程中避免不了的各种清理工作，这是我每天必须做到的，也包括像是酿酒，入桶，装瓶，清理酿造桶，或任何其他听起来不怎么罗曼蒂克的工作。。
Q: There's many people
expressing all sorts of comments online nowadays about beers they tasted--those
comments especially the not so nice ones--how do you treat them ?
Some of our beers fit
into categories quite easily and the more experimental and crazy ones do not
but we always have to find a 'home' for them. I think that's when things get
tricky because then I think the beers get misunderstood.
Q: Do you have someone
that's a role model in brewing? How has that influence what you do and perhaps
your brewing philosophy?
Oh man, at the risk of
sounding cheesy, once I discovered Mikkeller, I knew I had found where I wanted
to be. I really appreciate their approach to beers, attention to design and
packaging.
Mikkel's vision is
boundary challenging and being a part of that is very cool.
Q：酿出让人惊叹的啤酒—是关乎学识和不断试验，还是说只是个人天份所致？
这是个唬弄人的问题吗？ 我想是两者皆有，加上热情/投入。
Q: Tell us some of your “comfort drinks”?
I always default to
dry hoppy beers and sours, usually alternating if possible. Otherwise, it'd be
whiskey/whisky sours and gin and tonics.
Q: There are many
aspiring home brewers here in Asia—some just doing it for fun—some hope to make
something happen--tell us what is it like –the typical day/week of a full time
brewer?
I'm guessing this will
be different for different brewers...but the one guaranteed common ground is
that cleaning is something I'm doing every day :)
Otherwise anything and
everything is possible. Brewing, cleaning tanks, kegging, bottling, filling
barrels and some mundane/unromantic things that I'll leave out :)
Q: Brewing
awesome beer that geeks rave about---is it more about knowledge and
experimenting? Or it’s more of individual talent thing?
Is this a trick
question? ;) I think it is both. And
passion.
Q：对没喝过CRAFT BEER或很新人的话？
无论你的个人口味选择是什么，都可以在CRAFT BEER不同风格类别中找到，这正是它的美妙之处，
Q: Has Asia—Singapore
in particular—been calling you home? (for beer related projects)
I think home is always
on the horizon. That's where most of my family is. But for now, I'm really
enjoying where I am, on this fun and educational journey.
Q: In your own words--
explain to a newbie—what is craft beer—why should he or she give craft beer a
try?
No matter what your
taste preferences or mood, I think craft beer has something to offer everyone
and that's the great beauty of it.
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