WEEK 98---SIGNS you are IN TOO DEEP....

in whatever phase of life--we get obsessed/hooked with all kinds of desirable/undesirable things--diving into the black hole of craft beer/craft mead can have the same effect...

here's a few signs of definitely getting in too deep:-

啤迷从最初懵懵懂懂接触CRAFT BEER到逐步掉进黑洞，走向入魔之路，其实都有迹可循，比如以下几个（当然还有更多其他）：-

1) more than 50% of your social media post is all about CRAFT

unless you don't like the idea of social media--it's quite a natural process to see most social media post from those who indulge in the world of craft revolving around craft beer/mead, be it a pic of bottle with glass and some tasting note or a shared post about craft--in fact, a lot of your googling would likely be about finding out certain info about a certain beer/mead/beer style/brewing info/ trade info and such... 

1）超过50%的社交媒体Post/网络搜寻都是Craft 相关

无论是FB/ INSTA/ Tweeter等社交媒体，无论是"你在想什么"PO图文或是转发图文，占大多数的都是跟啤酒\蜜酒相关话题。同样的，在网络上无论是搜寻资料或是跟其他人聊得最多的，也是跟啤酒或蜜酒相关。

2) your new acquaintances are mainly from craft community

It might be mostly from social media--or actual "real people" that you meet in person at bar/craft events--i.e strangers in "real ife' becoming acquaintances- tasting group buddies- even real good friends--all because of shared values of craft culture.

2）认识新朋友绝大多数来自Craft 社区

Craft 社区当然只是个概念，指的是喜爱Craft级别啤酒或蜜酒，相信，参与，或自发推广Craft文化的人们。

因为对Craft有相同理念，啤迷从陌生人变成朋友是常有的事，有些是聊得来的网上朋友，也有不少是会见面分享的品酒会伙伴，一些甚至因为那样成为生活中定义的好朋友。

3) travelling has a new name now

gone are the days when you just travel for the sake or travelling or "get away"--most travelling now would be as closely related to craft events as possible--you plan your travelling around beer fest- or to visit a few bars/breweries, even for new release of particular beer --those days of just wondering around or go photo snap at tourists attractions has more or less regarded as "non-essentials".

Even on days when you travel on company expenses for work--no matter how--trying to seek out craft beer places would always be on "MUST do list".

3）出国不只为旅游

飞出国的原动力不再只为名胜地或漫无目的随便逛，而是会环绕着特定啤酒节庆日子，或为了某几家酒吧，甚至是为某支啤酒首卖日而飞。

对超级啤迷来说，就算有时候或因公干出国，无论日程安排多满，也会尽量想方设法去专卖吧或瓶子店坐坐看看买点自己城市找不到啤酒。

4) comparatively- you are tasting MORE but drinking LESS

those living in ASIA would probably have a better understanding of how this is happening--that comparing to the initial period when one started to indulge in the world of craft--the drinking volume was bigger or much bigger than say 3 or 4 years later when one's palate is more developed and quest for varieties/urge for tasting rather than keep drinking in quantity of the same old same old takes over. It's natural geeks would drink much lesser in volume gradually--and would move on to the phase of bottle sharing--tasting--essentially tasting MORE but drinking LESS.

4) 跟以前不认识Craft或最初喝Craft相比来说，喝的量少了

这是很多住在亚洲城市超级啤迷都了解的过程，因为对高质素啤酒要求的提升，亚洲无论哪个城市都没办法完全满足那种追求情况下，不少啤迷都会想办从欧美城市自己弄点心头好回来。在自己城市因为那样，更倾向于几个朋友分享瓶子品酒，不同类别风格啤酒/蜜酒尝味多了，量反而喝少了，是自然现象。

5) tasting group is a natural progression

with not 1 single city in ASIA(though personally i do think there's at least 1 bar which can live up to the demand) able to fulfill the demand for awesome varieties like those available in Europe/US- it's a natural progression geeks who seek to buy/beer mail/trade with those having access to beers/mead not available here --and the reality is when you "import" own beer/mead--you are paying foreign currency( if you are earning in Malaysia Ringgit- and need to pay USD--eat this- Ringgit to USD went from 3.3 : 1usd to now 4.5 for 1usd)--you need to pay logistic cost--then depending which ASIA city you live in--you might need to pay some silly taxes too.

ADD all those in--it's needless to say the beer mail is COSTLY.

At this stage--it's normal most geeks would have a few tasting group buddies that meet regularly/off and on -- either for cost sharing bottle share or "bring your best bottles" tasting sessions. After all- craft is more fun when you share... 

5）品酒会伙伴是必须的

私人收藏是很多啤迷都有的。

啤迷收酒目的不外有三，一是想跟朋友品酒分享不同瓶子，二是收来跟其他啤迷交换各自想要瓶子，三是收来转卖或炒卖。

在亚洲，如果是通过欧美城市自己入手收集的啤酒/蜜酒，不只是要付外汇，更有运费/税务等，加起来肯定不便宜。因为那样，类型一的啤迷大都会有几个固定品酒伙伴，无论是分担酒钱还是各自拿出私人收藏无偿分享，都是一些啤迷会做的事，某些程度上，也只有那样水平分享会才能让超级啤迷对啤酒/蜜酒的高质要求有所释放。

6)you know WHEN "a beer is just a beer"--and WHEN "a beer is definitely not just a beer"

sounds confusing?

it's quite simple--we all love craft beer/mead for it's varieties, for choices available--so when someone ignorance or uninitiated think or says BEER(as in big factory commercial lager) is what craftbeer is--that's obviously NOT TRUE--BEER is certainly not just beer.

BUT--the varieties of craft beer/mead world can be confusing at times too--that because of curiosity of geeks over some highly hyped beer/mead--people are willing to succumb to the theory of "rare is good"/"rare is gold" and pay silly prices for a particular bottle to the tune of few hundreds/over 1K USD.

This is the time we take a back seat and says "hey-it's only beer".  

6）你了解啤酒只是啤酒，也了解啤酒不只是啤酒那么简单

听起来矛盾？

啤迷会掉进Craft的黑洞，为的是多不胜数不同啤酒类别风格，简单说，因为有很多不同味道层次选择。当有人以普通大厂啤酒标准来定义说"啤酒只是啤酒"，没什么特别的时候，啤酒当然不只是啤酒那么简单。

然而，在不同类别繁多的Craft Beer世界中，最基本的经济原理"物以稀为贵"还是通用的，意思是，一些啤酒因为实在很厉害，产量很少，加上被啤迷追捧，造成有人因利炒卖有人无论怎样都要满足好奇心喝到，导致出现离谱的高价黑市买卖。

虽然有钱/好奇没错，不过，盲目追逐盛名瓶子不是什么值得鼓励的事，这时候，还是应该退一步，跟自己说，啤酒只是啤酒，一支啤酒要用几百上千美金去买是不合理，也不是CRAFT文化乐见的现象。

WEEK 97--ROOSTER BEER LINGO

This is the year of Rooster according to Chinese Lunar Calendar, and here's a few rooster related Chinese sayings applicable to beer:-

进入鸡年，来说说几个跟鸡没什么直接关联的啤酒事

鸡群中总有鹤

Craft Beer最吸引之处是不同类别啤酒种类繁多，这是有时候让很多新朋友困惑的事情。

其实，不单只不同风格啤酒繁多，就算同一类别，分身也多不胜数。

比如强调啤酒花功能的IPA, 先不说不同品牌，就是同一家酿坊，分分钟就有数十种以上同一品牌但不同风味IPA。

原因很简单，啤酒花有很多不同风味特质，目前已知的不同风味啤酒花就超过百种，而酿造IPA除了可以不同啤酒花混合用(A+B, B+C+D, C+E+F+G, 反正是无限可能组合)，还有玩单一啤酒花系列的，所以，一家酿坊单一品牌但无数多不同IPA是常见事。

同样的，放在其他啤酒类别风格也一样，除了啤酒花，酿酒师可以通过不同麦芽，酵母，或是添加食材，桶陈方式把同一款啤酒玩出不同分身。

There's always Flamingo among chickens

The best thing about the world of craft beer is Choices--that's almost the single biggest reason why so many of us willingly dive into the black hole of craft.

take the most popular IPA for examples--the choices of different variants from 1 single brewery/brand can be so many a newbie will have his/her mind mess up..:)

But we all also know Choices basically means comparison--that a particular beer/mead is somehow better tasting than some others or rest of the pack.

那么多不同类别风格，最后成品当然会有高低之分，CRAFT BEER 文化起源最根本的重点就是不想喝水准不佳啤酒，基本来说，CRAFT BEER 是比一般大厂啤酒好喝，不过，一旦是不同酿坊品牌之间的同类型啤酒有比较，就会有鹤立鸡群的情况出现，意思是，总会有几家的啤酒水准高过其他酿坊。

怎样从鸡群中找出鹤？一般做法是参考诸如Ratebeer或Untappd网上评级，个人觉得只有自己尝味过再判断比较準，因为网上评级还是会有过誉或者是某酿坊太新太小太少人喝过所以评级拉低之类情况而误判。

So how do one pick out a flamingo among chickens?

some people would say just refer to whichever highly rated ones in Ratebeer/Untappd --that's a sign of where Flamingo could be found.

some would say trust your own taste--and pick out your own flamingo...

The choice is yours to make.

Chicken & Duck Talk

It's quite obvious both are talking different lingo.

In Asia--almost anyone who has worked in a craft beer place would have encountered this scenario:-

someone/a few walk into the bar--look at the menu--and pop the question" you don't sell XX brand beer?"

obviously that XX brand beer would not be a craft beer.

鸡同鸭讲很正常

CRAFT BEER 在亚洲很多城市都是小圈子玩意，虽然每个城市都会有一班人(可能是业者，更多时候是给钱喝酒的啤迷)尝试推广CRAFT文化，在大厂啤酒行销无处不在和速食文化包围市场情况下，只靠口碑，据点零零落落的CRAFT文化推动起来总是事倍功半。

亚洲任何一家CRAFT专卖吧工作人员都面对过这样的情况:-

"你们不是卖啤酒的吗？怎么会没有卖XX牌子的大厂啤酒"

"这个啤酒，什么来的？这样苦，那么涩，好难喝。。"

这是完全不了解什么是CRAFT的一般啤酒饮客反应，很正常。照说，只要是有喝过啤酒的任何人就有可能成为CRAFT DRINKER，不过，很可惜，很多时候这些饮客因为不了解，不敞开胸怀眼界，也不听人介绍，结果是懵懵懂懂的，喝了几口或几杯後，从此不再喝CRAFT，错开了真正认识浩瀚啤海的机会。

对于这些“啤酒爱好者”，就让他们继续开心喝着自己熟悉的大厂啤酒吧，反正有些人只是需要一点酒精冷饮感觉，又或是高谈阔论聚点，喝什么完全不是重点。

一直鸡同鸭讲，不如不讲，就由得它去吧。

It is the hope of any geeks to spread the love of craft--"converting" a commercial lager drinker to craft is seen as a natural act - BUT ( yes-there's always a but in life somehow)--it's also true that some are just too closed minded to open up to the idea of a whole new world of beer--there are those who would just act chicken and duck talking...

To those people--just leave them be--if they are happy just drinking loads of big factory beers--so be it.

There's many ways of making a Chicken delicious

Same for beer.--if you are into craft beer that is.

in the world of big factory beer--it's always only 1 chicken 1 taste( or no taste?)

“一鸡几吃”是CRAFT玩法

会煮菜的人都知道这是什么一回事。

说的是同一只鸡，可以煮成几个不同口味。

这在普通大厂啤酒的世界是完全不可能的事，因为那是一鸡一味，甚至是一鸡无味的世界。

CRAFT BEER玩的是各种想法创意，“一鸡几吃”很正常。

比如说一款STOUT，单只是原版就可以有咖啡，香草，烤麦芽香等基本味，要是酿酒师玩高兴了，同一支黑啤可以变成很多不同版本，比如加入辣椒版，加入水果版，加入巧克力版，加入花生酱板，加入甜甜圈版，变化可以无穷尽，更可以进一步玩不同风味木桶熟陈提味。

单只是稍微想想，大概都知道喝什么样的啤酒会比较爽吧？

Enter the world of craft beer/craft mead--you will discover the various way of making a chicken taste differently delicious--OK--i meant to say how a beer can taste so differently delicious--just think how many different possibilities there is for a Stout to taste vastly different by adding food items and the small matter of barrel aging....

Actually you just have to IMAGINE for a few seconds--you should know which beer world to enter--1 chicken 1 taste? or 1 chicken multiple taste?