WEEK 181---2020 beer matters

We all know how 2020 went---to many it was a year lost/stolen or much more than that---in beer terms personally--2020 was a year where some planned beer trips/visits were cancelled---as well local tasting sessions with the guys was almost close to non-existent with concerns over gatherings---it was kind of more losses than gains in terms of beer tasting/sharing opportunities but there was some light during those dark hours too-----here's how 2020 went:-

过去一年对很多人来说是被偷掉的一年，疫情肆虐下，很多理所当然的事情都变得不再轻易能行，比如啤酒节庆活动比如瓶子分享/啤迷聚会等都成为被迫取消一时半会做不了的事。

个人来说2020是有失有得的一年，旅游禁令不能出行让原本计划好的比利时和丹麦之行被迫取消，也错失了和東京啤迷朋友年度聚会以及去曼谷米吧出席活动的可能，一定程度上在本地跟几位固定啤迷朋友的不定期瓶子分享会也因疫情影响变得更少，比如每年一定聚首的圣诞节年度重点分享会也被迫取消。不过，失之余也有一些得，以下是个人年度啤酒事件记录：-

Europe trip which was cancelled

2020 was supposed to be an exciting year for the few of us here in Kl tasting group---i first went to Copenhagen for CBC(Copenhagen Beer Celebration) back in 2015---then 2 guys from the group joined up and the 3 of us went in 2016 for the newly named MBCC(Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen) and went again in 2018---last year was supposed to be the 4 of us from the group with the youngest member joining and going to a fest of such magnitude for the very first time---you could imagine the excitement when fest ticket /flight ticket/logistic were booked and plans were made---the thought of bars hopping during that crazy delicious 1 week or so in Copenhagen--sharing beers and meeting old and new friends/brewers--all these of course never happened with the fest forced to cancelled....

Personally--- i was planning to visit Brussels( and it's surrounding areas)--mainly for long overdue pilgrimage again to the land of Lambic---plans were made to visit during the time when Cantillon would be holding it's Quintessence with Russian River( and Alagash) joining hands---though i did not get the ticket to main event at Cantillon tasting room---some essential bars such as Moeder Lambic and such will be provided with delicious brews from the event----i was also wanting to visit places like Gebrande Winning, 3 Fonteinen taproom, Antidoot and Bokke (if permitted) among others---it would have been a long awaited visit coming to fruition---too bad--Covid decided that's not to be the case.

没去成的欧洲行

计划中，原定去年五月进行的哥本哈根啤酒庆典（MBCC20）会是年度重点活动，18年和两位本地啤迷朋友去过後19年没去，原本会有另一位从没去过的本地啤迷朋友一起组成四人团，期望在啤酒天堂渡过的精彩一周因为疫情成了泡影。

与此同时，哥本哈根庆典之前想先去布鲁塞尔周边大概十天左右拜访几家大师级天然发酵酸啤酿坊，去专卖吧/佩酒餐厅见见啤迷朋友的计划也只能取消。比利时之行时间点有对上Cantillon和美国大师级酿坊Russian River年度特别活动，虽然没买到在酿坊进行的活动门票，但主办方会给布鲁塞尔市内特定几家专卖吧提供一些酒款，让没能买到票的啤迷也有机会尝尝鲜，当然，这些都成了没能在去年实现的计划。

Asia trips which never took off

Bangkok and Tokyo are 2 Asia cities i like visiting whenever possible---personally these two always been on the forefront of craft scene here in Asia (though some other cities such as Shanghai-Hong Kong-Singapore as well Taiwan been catching up too)---craft beer aside--the food and logistic in and around Bangkok & Tokyo are the supporting reasons why they are my FAVs cities in Asia.

In Bangkok--there is no doubt that Mikkeller Bangkok has been on the front foot in terms of introducing First in Asia( at times only exclusive to BKK) kind of imported breweries since the first year they set up shop in a garden bungalow at Ekkamai---for examples in November they flown in Hill Farmstead---with taps as well some bottles available for drink in---and a week or so before that in Nov they had fresh cans of Other Half---not to mentioned earlier in the year they already had a 3 taps Hill Farmstead--some Finback & Grimm, Baghaven and so on.

As for Tokyo---it has seen even more new names being imported in recent months---when i last visited late 2019 there were already some Grimm on taps+bottles---as well names like Ale Apothecary, De Garde, Othe Half and so on----more recently breweries such as Trillium, Side Project, Cellador Ales as well Mills from the UK been popping up---very nice to note for geeks living in and around Tokyo,

Apart from the joy of visting bars/bottle shop---since 2018 Tokyo has somehow became a once a year (whenever possible) nice bottle sharing venue for me personally with some geeks/friends living in Tokyo showing warm hospitality.

Not sure if 2021 second half would see a return to some normalcy in terms of international travelling---but for sure Bangkok and Tokyo would be high on my list of cities to visit once normalcy return.

没能去的亚洲行

曼谷和東京是个人喜欢的亚洲craft beer城市，因为两个城市本身有非常好（有时候是亚洲首卖或独家）的啤酒类型和特定酿坊酒款选择。

今年在曼谷出现的酒单非常精彩，特别是多年来一直不定期有让人惊喜酒单出现的曼谷米吧11月就再次引进众多啤迷公认为绝对顶级酿坊Hill Farmstead的好多款不同类型啤酒，桶装之外也提供一些瓶子选择（当然都只能在酒吧开喝不能外带），而在这之前米吧则是把纽约盛名在外的类果汁印度淡啤/印度淡啤酿坊Other Half的多款作品空运进曼谷，尊崇啤酒花啤酒尽量新鲜喝的做法值得赞赏。此外，曼谷也出现了比如丹麦Baghaven，美国Finback, Grimm,Fifty Fifty，Superstition蜜酒等高手酿坊作品。

说到亚洲可能首次出现的高水平酿坊品牌作品不能不提東京，特别是近两年，東京出现了不少之前亚洲看不到的几家欧美小型酿坊作品，比如英国新贵酿坊Mills，美国高手酿坊包括Cellador，Grimm，Other Half以及Side Project等等都是啤迷乐见出现亚洲的酿坊品牌。在東京除了去专卖吧瓶子店之外还有一个让人期待的重头活动，那就是跟一些住東京外国啤迷朋友的瓶子分享会，因为大家都有一些不同的精彩酿坊作品可以分享，某种程度上有时候酒单会比去专卖吧喝更精彩。只是，疫情让很多国境关闭，哪都飞不了，曼谷和東京只能期待明年情况好转的话再去了。

Not all doom & gloom

Though generally 2020 was a year with lots of missed opportunities for what would have been a far more better year with many nice beer tasting sessions overseas and perhaps locally too---but it was in some way still a year to remember---personally i was struck down by a mosquito and had to be admitted to hospital because Dengue can be fatal though i was lucky to NOT feel any terrible sickness from this one---then came good news of automatic renewal for ANTIDOOT membership for another year to 2021---and then the biggest pleasant surprise has had to be this one---BOKKE XMAS PACK( where the inside joke of if you get 2 Giradin then your box get to filled with 10 Bokke originated from)---it was certainly a joyful moment to received the notice saying you are entitled to purchase A BOX.

( yes my box of Bokke is still in Belgium as i did not chose the DHL Express coz it sucks here to get DHL for beer mail since they insist one need to apply for an importing permit( which will take long time and energy to apply and pray that the authority approve---but who would complain knowing a box of Bokke would come home on a later date? I know for sure I WON'T)

还好有惊喜

疫情很大程度上让个人的2020年酒单显得相当贫瘠，没能出行特别是丹麦比利时意味着错失品嚐很多好酒机会，在本地和特定几位啤迷朋友的瓶子分享会也非常少，基本来说是乏善可陈的一年，除了个人或几位啤迷朋友近几个月偶尔从欧美找些好酒寄过来之外，今年最大的啤酒喜事大概就是得以继续更新比利时新贵Antidoot年度会员资格，还有最大惊喜就是自2016年第一次出现在哥本哈根啤酒庆典之后爆红的比利时酸啤作坊Bokke捎来的圣诞极少数限定“秘密配售”通知，因为这家基本不对啤迷个人开卖，几乎可说是钱没处买的情况下，10支Bokke加2支Giradin每人只限一箱的绝对惊喜让贫乏的一年有了意料之外的大大亮点