WEEK 191---Some recently had bottles.....

It's almost half a year---covid scenario is not looking good here in Asia with many places facing up surge in cases---Malaysia is one of those---while international travelling is still very much out of the question---thankfully overseas beer mails been coming in small batches (personal pack as well group guys various packs)---these are some which were either shared(when situation permitted) or cracked at home not long ago....

最近和本地瓶子分享会固定啤迷成员聊天谈到大约八九年前大家都在喝些什么，随着对craft beer的认知转变以及味蕾鉴赏力的提升，对酒质素要求也更高，自多年前自己从欧美市场找想喝的酒进来後就没改变过，去年至今大家更积极的向外找酒，疫情反复不定情况下，瓶子分享会没能开几次，但好酒还是会喝一些的，以下是几款值得一提瓶子，有分享会喝到也有在家小酌的。

Belgium Lambic

For the uninitiated---the term Lambic already in itself represent Belgium---just like champagne meaning those originated/produced from the region of Champagne in France---Lambic is that unique spontaneously fermented sour beer originated/produced in Belgium which sour beer geeks goes head over heels with.

Here's 2 which were had recently

3Fonteinen Aardbei Kriek Bio(1819)

A Lambic with strawberries & cherries--very obvious nose of unripe fruits with funk--sour berries notes on initial sips which gets more jammy as the beer warms up with profound strawberry notes--sourish with dry finishing.

比利时天然发酵酸啤 

喜爱比利时天然发酵酸啤的啤迷都知道这家大师级酿坊，除了基本款，也一定会有加入不同水果或食材然后通过不同酒类旧酒桶陈放提味的或常态款或限量版，这款加入草莓和樱桃的算是亚洲比较少见的果酸版本，喝起来水果风味显著，是出色作品。

Giradin Black Label Gueuze

Had this as well the White Label years ago--personally do think Lambic from Giradin is grossly under-rated though they are really good, as well one of few base lambic wort providers for the very sought after Bokke's blend.

Revisited this one after few years---still very much a lovely solid one--nice notes of wood-earthy-green apple-ish--pleasant sips after sips.

一家被低估或者说不太受注目的出色天然发酸啤酿坊，虽然作品不太多，最受酸啤迷认识的大概也就是黑白两部曲，基本出现在市场的量也不多，但确实是基本功非常扎实的出色作品，虽然相对低调但绝对不容忽视，几年後再喝仍然很喜欢。

Not Your Usual English Cider

Cider can be very straight forward of crushed apple juices with sugar---obviously not these 2 :-

英国非一般苹果酒

一般来说苹果酒被认为是很普通的，在英国更可以是家常酿制饮料，这两款当然不是家酿，也不是一般直截了当的苹果酒：-

Mills + Oliver's Foxbic Three

Mills is about natural fermentation beers--while Oliver's is about cider making---this one is a collab-blend of both styles---notes of tangerine with oak influence---dry though fruity--bit of clove but mostly fruits with funk.

Mills是英国酿坊新贵，玩的是天然发酵(spontaneous fermentation)酸啤或农场风格啤酒，这款是跟苹果酒作坊Oliver's合酿的混酒作品，结合两个不同类型酒风味，喝起来既不是酸啤也不是苹果酒，相当有特色。

Starvecrow Natural Cider Bourbon BA

sort of cross borders brew--with cider from different types of English apples thrown into used American Bourbon barrel to soaked on those bourbon goodness---light tartness with obvious barrel influence--easy sipping with undertone of bourbon--never one dimensional--a pleasant one with depth.

英美跨界结合的作品，把几款不同苹果酿制的苹果酒放进使用过的美国波本酒桶陈放提味，入口微酸回甘中很明显的带有旧木桶波本风味，虽易喝但有层次有特点。

Fruited/Adjuncts Sour--UK variants

throwing fruits/adjuncts into beer is not something new--it's been done years ago---but not until quite recently with trend of escalating the "throwing game" to a new level where the sheer volume of fruits/adjuncts being thrown into beer has gotten very very heavy handed.... such as this one:-

玩水果加料的英国酸啤

投放大量水果让原本风味比较纯粹的啤酒（比如德式酸啤Gose或柏林小麦啤Berliner Weisse）变得复杂，改头换面，甚至面目全非是近期趋势，以下是两款同样玩水果加料但手法成品不一的酸啤：-

Fallen Acorn Have You Got Any Samples

loads of black berries+raspberries+passion fruits as well marshmallow added--from color/body to how thick/murky the lacing looks--one can tell just by looking at the pic above that this is very obviously NOT your typical sour beer---in fact with the very smoothie like mouth feel---this one surely don't look or taste like beer at all....

加入大量黑梅，覆盆子和百香果，之后再融入棉花糖，从外观颜色到酒体浓稠度到满满水果味道的风味呈现，加上应该是特意保留的颗粒感，类似沙冰口感喝起来完全没有让人觉得这是啤酒的可能性。

Neon Raptor Hydra Fight

in total contrast to the one above---this "imperial lassi gose" does look and feel like a beer---even though it was added with lots of mango-passion fruits & pineapples---nothing murky or hazy about the looks but taste wise fruits influences is very obvious while still maintaining how a gose would taste with adequate sour/saltiness--a nice slow sipper.

酒体颜色看起来都”很正常”的德式咸酸啤，加入芒果百香果凤梨，虽然看起来一点不浓稠浑浊，但投放水果带来的风味影响很明显，也有这类型啤酒应该出现的咸酸风味，是适合也需要慢嚐的作品。

American Farmhouse ale + Stouts

美国农村风格啤+黑啤

Hillfarmstead Florence

A saison/farmstead ale from Hillfarmstead--that in itself already sounded like a no-brainer--though "only" a regular variant--it's already a real pleasant easy sipper---aroma of lime/orange peels/citrusy yet with hints of malts--light tart light salty--nice.

美国顶级酿坊的易喝型农场风格常态款，青柠清香橘皮风味还有麦芽气息，微酸中有那么一点点微咸，简单易喝但有时简单才是难以做得出色的。

 

Prairie Holiday Weekend

though now is the age of pastry stouts--and the fact that perhaps the "branch out"America Solera stouts is more in trend than Prairie's ---still nice to have this early days 'wow" factor stouts( think Bomb) maker's dark brew---notes of cinnamon/dark chocolate/dark fruits--a little 'old-school" but nothing wrong with that.

较早期喝到美国黑啤中很出色的一家，多年後再喝酿坊作品，虽然已被新一代甜点黑啤（Pastry Stout）风潮淹没，但扎实基本功还是会说话，喝起来以肉桂黑巧克力黑色果实风味为主轴的“旧派”黑啤喝起来还是很不错。

WEEK 190---What is drinking craft beer all about?

*a back dated post--written earlier in the year.

i was asked by someone who is not a craft drinker--"what is it about that some of you craft beer geeks are so serious about beer drinking?"

有不熟悉craft beer是什么的朋友问说为什么一些啤迷看起来对喝craft beer这件事好像非常认真，不就是喝啤酒吗，到底有什么需要那么认真的？

一年刚开始不久，就来重新审视下喝craft beer对不同人来说可能会是怎么一回事。

let's try to find out why:-

The Serious Drinkers

Indeed there are some beer geeks who are dead serious when it comes to craft beer drinking--why so is simple--because these geeks view beer drinking as a process of discovering flavours in a beer---seeking out well made/ delicious/ interesting beers is the aim---simply put--beer drinking has gone above and beyond the basic/general idea of simply drinking alcoholic beverages---it has become a sort of "gourmet drinking"---like foodies trying to find the best available delicacies--beer geeks are( sort of ) on a mission to seek out the best possible beers one can get--with the aim of finding out awesome flavours available in a beer.

认真喝

朋友问的没错，众多不同喝craft beer群体中确实有一批啤迷对喝啤酒这件事抱持着比较认真心态，对这些啤迷而言，探寻啤酒中能找到的不同类型风味层次是乐趣，找到喝到心目中佳酿是目标，没期待情况下喝到好喝的惊喜更是可以成为不断往前探索的原动力。

简单来说，喝酒对这些啤迷来说很大程度上已经超越了一般朋友聚会单纯吃吃喝喝的意义，虽然啤迷瓶子分享会看起来也离不开喝喝吃吃，但跟一般笑谈吃喝聚会不同的是，啤迷最关心的是为了什么样的酒而聚在一起分享，换句话说，聚在一起固然很不错但前提是当天大家能拿出手的是什么质素的不同类型啤酒，只有大家认同认可了可以摆上台面分享的啤酒类型“够资格”之后，分享会才能成型，对啤迷来说，瓶子分享会最基本不成文规则是，酒的质素一定要优质而且对称，虽然怎么判定什么就是A级水平并没有简易统一方法，但能聚在一起分享的啤迷之间会有一定默契和鉴赏水平，什么是够资格的什么是摆不上台面的，大家心中基本都有一条线，目光一致的都以喝好酒为出发点和最终目标，认真的理由其实很单纯，就是想喝到高水平佳酿。

因为那样，啤迷为了啤酒节庆又或是为了找酒而出国是正常不过的事，不同于一般人出国旅游的关注点，啤迷出国最主要“景点”一定离不开专卖吧瓶子店以及啤酒节庆会场，这种为了啤酒而飛的举动看在一般喝酒人眼里是有点让人摸不着头脑的，毕竟啤酒哪里不能喝非要花钱花时间飞到国外去喝？

认真的啤迷除了瓶子分享会，为酒而飞，或通过自己努力从国外找所住地方完全没机会找到的啤酒之外，不少人也会考取比如认证啤酒裁判（BJCP）或侍酒师（CICERONE）的课程认证资格，而且很多时候出发点也不是为了个人职业规划，更多的是因为兴趣或想提升对啤酒的认识又或者是为了可以从比较专业的角度看待啤酒有关的认知，可以更正确的分享craft文化等等因为对craft beer有热情所以自动自发的想要更好。

here's a few things about serious drinkers/geeks :-

1) bottle sharing session is vital--and always treated seriously where liked minded people /"equal standards/ and or perceived/accepted bottle standards is crucial to a high quality session. In simple words--one cannot bring a  B or C level bottle to a share when it is clearly an A or A+ level sharing session---as for the question of how do one determine what is A,B,C level bottle---the thing is geeks generally has got a way of agreeing or disagreeing what is which level---so long it is agreeable then it's all good. *(if one is clueless then obviously don't belong).

2) sourcing for own bottles when local market cannot satisfy the kind of demand where likely geeks has out grown the local market supply chain in terms of the need for varieties/beer styles or specific breweries bottles/cans. 

3) travelling overseas for beers--where daily schedule is solely or mainly to craft beer bars/ bottle shops or breweries tasting rooms or particular beer festival related venue/s

4)   taking beer related courses/exams such as BJCP or Cicerone out of personal interests and not necessarily for beer related jobs.

The Casual Drinkers

it is largely acknowledge that casual beer drinkers are the much bigger consumers group than serious drinkers---this is very understandable especially when MACRO BEER has long been seen as very easy thirst quenching cheap alcoholic beverages---things don't really change that much when it comes to craft beer drinking since many only drink casually---for examples drink in large volume is common among some craft beer drinkers---downing 6-7-8 of the same bottle in one go is not uncommon (which serious drinkers will never do)---most of the time casual drinkers are more like drinking according to mood/occasion rather than specifically seeking for varieties of flavours in beers. To some casual drinkers--the manner in which serious drinkers go about a tasting session is too rigid/laughable/pretentious even...

随意喝

在喝craft beer的群体中，虽然没有正式数据不过可以说相比占少数对喝啤酒保持比较认真心态的啤迷们，随意喝的群体其实是占大多数的。

情况或许有点类似吃东西，大多数人都喜欢吃自己觉得对口味或者说感觉好吃的东西，但绝大多数人是不会想要比较认真“研究”一些相关资讯的，反正东西好吃就可以，吃完了就是，没什么必要知道更多，这其实也没什么可以诟病的，放在喝craft beer角度来看，不少已经知道并在喝着craft beer的喝酒人其实并不会像那些比较认真啤迷那样为了喝啤酒去做一些特定的事情，更多时候随意喝的人们只想按照自己的心情/渴望度/或是当时的环境决定怎么喝，认真啤迷们那些对瓶子分享会的门当户对讲究或花钱花时间国外找酒进来的举动听在耳中是有点侨情可笑的，感觉喝啤酒喝到那样好像没什么意思，因为好像已经失去了朋友相聚吃吃喝喝聊聊的最基本喝酒乐趣，那些所谓认真的瓶子分享会听起来就像是设了一定门槛才能参与的什么学术研究班那样，喝酒喝成那样，能有趣吗?

In the End

there is absolutely no right or wrong for anyone to be very casual or being serious about craft beer drinking---it is of course all about personal preferences---perhaps to brewers/ bars/bottle shop owners---serious drinkers/geeks are the ones who can better appreciate a brew( but could also be a bunch of demanding picky assholes)--while casual drinkers are definitely a much needed market supporters/consumers to be reckoned with--in a way both are important to the craft beer industry.

As for the question of which type of drinker one wanted to be--the serious one or the casual one--in fact one would see/figure out a direction for him/herself after drinking craft for a while.

小结

craft beer到底喝的是什么，应该怎么喝这问题没有绝对标准答案，一切都看个人意向而定，认真的啤迷们觉得应该要讲究酒的质素整体表现等等，喜欢比较随意的喝酒人们也有自己的看法喝法，虽然道不同但也没有什么大问题，或许对酿酒师还有craft beer店家经营者们来说，认真啤迷们可能是比较看重和珍惜佳酿的一群（但反过来也可能是吹毛求疵的讨厌鬼），但比较随意的喝酒人是不能或缺的销售支撑力量，两者缺一不可，该怎么喝到底喝什么，是要走认真啤迷路线还是随意喝喝就可以，喝着喝着一段时间心中会有大概方向的。