Tuesday, July 23, 2019

WEEK 151---Best Beer-Rare Beer-Beer that got away & Beer Hoarding

Craft community is in a way mini version of the society we live in, there are all sorts of characters/ behaviours all in the name of beer drinking---to some beer drinking is all about drinking so there's no need to be picky so long there is a beer in hand---while to some beer drinking is quite a serious matter relating to finding different flavours /deliciousness although at times rightly or wrongly, somehow the term "beer geeks" would be associated with a bunch of people who are focusing on trying to only drink the best beer/ rare or hyped beer---whichever side of the drinking preference you are at---below are some scenario about craft drinking:-
Craft Beer最大吸引力在于不同类型风味啤酒选择非常多,以新朋友比较先接触到的印度淡啤(IPA)为例来说就有非常非常多不同酿坊在酿造,无论是使用同样单一啤酒花或不同啤酒花组合的IPA选择可说多如牛毛,如何在众多相同款式啤酒中择优而喝是习题,放大到包含更多不同类型风味啤酒选择的craft beer世界,怎么选怎么喝更是新朋友和啤迷之间的恒常话题之一。

有那么多不管是同类型还是非常不同类型选择,也就免不了意味着会有比较,也衍生出以下话题:-
1) the BEST beer
Personally---there is NO such thing as best beer in the world.
though
to some there is such a thing as THE BEST beer in the world.
to some there are too many good ones to pick one definitively.
It is true that we have seen beer ratings website picking list of BEST in the world or Best in styles and so on---while some would argue that the list/chart is a reflection of the opinions of the majority and accept it as it is---to some it is still the opinions of a section of the drinkers---no one can say it definitively that A beer is the BEST in the world when compared to beer B or C of the same style let alone if we take into consideration the varieties of styles/taste profile available in the world of craft beer.
The other factor why a beer can't be definitively confirmed as THE BEST is due to the fact that personal taste ability/senses is different for us human being---there is not a set standard for drinker to say for examples scale out the sourness of a beer with machine precision---while A might think the same beer is of level 4 sourness B might think it's only 2.5 if for examples we can categorize sourness from level 1-5.
1)世上最好喝的啤酒
答案很直接,其实并没有。
哪一款酒是最好的? 我觉得这款是世上最好喝的酒!
这是经常会在craft beer圈中看到听到的对话,哪一家酿坊的哪一款酒是当今世上最好喝一直是个常会有人或问或提起或坚持己见的事,觉得某一款酒是最佳的人有时候是以评酒网站排行榜作为依据,也有人是参考大众意见加上自己认知觉得,实际上无论是评酒网站或啤酒达人/网红的意见说到底都还只是个人意见,没有绝对权威性去判定哪一家酿坊的某款酒就一定是世上最佳。
一定程度上来说,各个不同啤酒类型是有一定的风格准则依据,但啤酒其实就像美食,就算有基本的风格准则,但美味层次是很难用硬性规定方式去准确判断的,就算比如说以酸度15为标准来算,同一款酒可能A喝到是酸度4B喝到可能只有酸度2.5。至于评酒网站选出来的全球排行榜,某种角度来看是不错的动作但并不能让啤迷完全信服,当作参考是可以的,但不会是绝对权威指南。

2) Rare or Hyped Beer
This is obviously a term commonly associated with craft beer---there are those who are very FOMO about missing out on certain beers---while there are also some who don't give a fxxk about chasing after these highly in demand beers...
In a way---the rare/hyped factor of craft beer is similar to limited releases of some fashion items/sneakers and so on---theoretically a beer would become rare/hyped because it is in very limited supply and supposedly very high quality brew--though to certain extent it is fair to assume these are good beers---but how good it can be to warrant such hype/the sometimes over-the-top chasing by some people(which includes paying crazy reselling prices) is something questionable at times.
The fact is---rareness-hyped of a beer does not automatically meaning the beer will be so heavenly it's worth every effort chasing one or worse by paying silly prices just to satisfy one's curiousity.
2)稀有难寻度不代表好喝度
稀有难寻啤酒(hyped / rare beer)一直是craft beer社区的话题,有人对追寻稀有酒趋之若鹜,有人觉得只是羊群心理不屑一顾,也有人质疑是不是真的稀有难寻就一定好喝到不得了?因为一些酒非常限量酿造限量发售,或需要会员制才能买入,甚至需要抽签筛选才有机会买到等等现象意味着有钱不一定能以首发价格买到心目中好酒,因为那样某种程度上提高了期望值,觉得稀有等同好喝保证。事情是不是那样,以实际例子来说,不少稀有酿品的确是好酒,但很明显的稀有程度并不等同于美味程度,特别是如果你是通过转卖市场以高过原价乘以倍数高价买到的话,付出高价满足味蕾好奇心(土豪炫耀心理的话就不值得一提)是不被鼓励但可以理解的事,问题是有时候付出那么多是不是那么美味是不是值得每一分钱,只能说如人饮水冷暖自知。

3) there will always be beer which Got Away
This is a fact even the most FOMO drinkers would have to face.
The fun part about drinking craft beer is the varieties of styles/ taste profile/ choices we get as drinkers/geeks---the fact that the whole craft community is made up of tens of thousands of different breweries which are all over the world would always mean that unless you live nearby a certain brewery or has got supply of that particular brewery's beers---there is a high chance that you won't be able to get a taste of their beers even though we live in a world with webshop/ international deliveries services due limited supply and so on....
No matter if you are experienced geeks or newly into craft drinking--the one thing we all need to learn is that there will always be beers that we  won't get to taste--no matter how much we wish to ......
3)总会有喝不到的酒
这是不少啤迷都经历过都知道也不得不接受的事。
一般人观念中啤酒是随时随地想喝就喝得到的酒精冷饮,但放在craft beer世界绝对不适用,在这个不同风味类型啤酒选择多如繁星的啤酒世界里,很多时候都可能会发生喝不到自己很想喝的酒那样让人感觉不爽的事,但这就是这个另类啤酒世界的游戏规则,因为不同酿坊分布世界各地,因为比如说很多欧美啤酒不要说出口到亚洲,很多时候就连同一个国家的不同州/不同区都没有正式发行所以很难买或根本买不到,这种情况下,啤迷有时候或者说很多时候知道有某某酿坊出了某某款好酒但就是没办法买到,只能隔着电脑或手机屏幕看图或读着有喝过啤迷的形容词凭空想象。。。

4) Beer Collecting/Hoarding
Almost every decent beer geeks would have some sort of personal collection of beers(as well some mead too)---it is quite common to notice geeks living in US/ EUROPE who have access to many breweries releases at original prices would easily have collection of few hundreds bottles---having said that it is also not uncommon to know that some geeks living in Asia are collecting in big numbers too.
As to why geeks collects beers---some because certain beers do need time to make it even tastier---while some bottles are so precious that people don't want to easily pop it----whichever the reasons might be--the one thing which would always be welcome by fellow geeks would be sharing out some bottles sometimes/ at at appropriate time instead of just keeping them as part of statistic.
4)收起来的酒最珍贵?
啤迷之间有时会听到有人半认真半开玩笑的说不用去什么酒吧,去谁谁谁的家喝就好,他的精彩藏酒那么多。

是的,很多啤迷都有私人藏酒,一般来说,因为比较接近众多酿坊,欧美啤迷藏酒数量有几百到上千瓶不是什么稀罕事,当然在亚洲也有不少啤迷拥有数量可观藏酒。

啤迷会收酒这件事算是自然动作,有些酒的确需要收几年後喝才更显现美味层次,而有些酒则因为稀有难寻啤迷舍不得轻易开来喝,就那样,有些啤迷的藏酒会越收越多。
不过,不同人有不同看法,其中一个观点是,收起来不喝不分享的酒只是统计数字,要是同一款酒收好多支的话,无形中意味着减低了其他人一嚐美味的机会,独乐乐虽没什么不对,适当时候众乐乐会是更受啤迷欢迎的分享方式。

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