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Thursday, September 9, 2021

WEEK 193---The Good Buddies of Craft Beer

 

Mentioned the word Beer---first impression which comes to mind for many is that Beer is just Beer---it is something very simple which has no relations with other alcoholic beverages whatsoever.
That is of course not true-- in the other world of beer--that of craft beer where beer indeed has many layers of closer than thought relationship with many other alcoholic beverages---for examples when beer are being barrel-aged in all sorts of barrels--be it whisky-bourbon-port wine-red or white wine-brandy-tequila-cherry wine- mead and many more...
In simple words--beer is in many ways closer to other alcoholic beverages than many would have thought.

大众印象中,啤酒只是简单易喝解渴酒精饮料,一些人甚至觉得跟其他酒类相比的话喝啤酒感觉层次低,但那只是片面看法也不重要,实际上在另一个很多消费大众还不认识的啤酒世界中,craft beer有不少其他酒类好朋友。

 啤酒能跟其他不同酒类有什么关联呢?说来还真有些,比如craft beer通过桶陈熟成手法吸收其他酒类使用过酒桶味道气息精华来提升啤酒风味层次是常见做法(所以啤酒带有比如威士忌或白兰地或葡萄或波特酒等等旧木桶风味一点不出奇),此外也有少量加入其他类型酒混合而成的啤酒作品,又或是craft beer酿酒师也是某种其他酒类(比如波本酒或自然酒或日本清酒之类)酿造者等等。

以下是一些比较常见于craft beer好友圈的其他酒类:-

here are few examples of craft beer buddies though they are completely different alcoholic beverages which are not beer yet do coexist in the world of craft beer:-

Beer Wine Hybrid
It is hard to imagine for many that beer can actually work well/closely with the seemingly "higher class" wine---in fact besides using old red/white wine barrels for beer barrel aging purposes---there has been some beer wine hybrid emerging in the craft beer scene--perhaps in part due to the rise of Natural Wine where some natural wine makers could also 'double up" as beer maker(one such example  is Antidoot Wilde Fermenten from Belgium).
As for the question of---Is beer wine hybrid more of a wine in beer form or beer in wine form---personally i would say basing on the limited number of bottles i have had so far---beer wine hybrid is in a way skewed more towards sour beer direction---but that is not to say it will only be that--hoping to sample some other beer wine hybrid bottles which would bring out even more possibilities from best of both world in the future...

葡萄酒混合型啤酒
一直以来,印象中啤酒和葡萄酒是界线分明完全没有直接关联的两个酒世界,而且一般人印象中说起喝葡萄酒感觉上硬是会比喝啤酒高档。

当然,喝什么酒才算高档不是关注点,无论喝的是葡萄酒还是啤酒最重要始终是酒的素质高低,佳酿能带来的味蕾享受层次才是重点。

虽说啤酒和葡萄酒界线分明,但使用旧葡萄酒木桶陈放熟成啤酒在craft beer界中是常见手法,而近年随着自然酒(Natural Wine)的流行,craft beer界也开始出现一些混合啤酒/葡萄酒的作品,虽然感觉上倾向酸啤酒类型,但视乎酿酒师想法,混酒作品可以喝起来像是葡萄酒的啤酒,也可以是啤酒风味占比更重类型。



Cherry Wine
The name says it all--it's wine made from cherries--but of course not as simple as well since there are many different types of cherries available--as well a cherry wine maker can decide/enhance/tweak how the taste profile of a cherry wine can be by way of using different types of barrels/adding intended food items/spices and so on--in short a well made cherry wine can be much more than just the simple impression of sour or sweet cherries.
Though a stand alone alcoholic beverages on its own and has nothing to do with Beer---it is not surprising to see Cherry Wine popping up during craft beer festivals( think MBCC or even MBCT)--also there's been some cherry wine-beer collaboration over the years--including one stout by The Veil which was barrel-aged in a Fredikskal cherry barrel which was absolutely tasty.

樱桃酒

樱桃酒是独立的酒类,基本也跟啤酒没什么直接关系,根据酿坊手法和使用的樱桃类型,樱桃酒可以是甜味为主或是风味比较干涩类型,当然也有酸樱桃风味类型。

虽然听起来毫不相干,但樱桃酒在一些craft beer专卖吧或比如哥本哈根啤酒庆典级别的啤酒节出现是常有的事,craft beer使用其他酒类旧木桶添加水果包括樱桃浸泡啤酒陈放提味是惯见手法,樱桃酒桶也无例外的成为一些酿酒师桶陈选择,个人喝过最有印象黑啤中就有使用樱桃酒桶陈放版本,也在海外啤酒庆典和特定专卖吧中喝到美味的樱桃酒。


MEAD
Mead is another stand alone alcoholic beverages which pop up very often in craft beer festivals---primarily brewed with Honey & Water( wild yeast too at times---as well adding fruits/food items/spices/adjuncts depending on styles/what brewers wanted to achieve)
Though relatively still under the radar here in Asia craft beverages market--mead is quite popular among some beer geeks---it is not uncommon to see overseas geeks seeking to trade mead for certain beer---or vice versa. 
Of course---there's a "mead-beer hybrid" in the form of Braggot---where the use of malt and honey made it a sessionable mead-beer( or beer-mead).

蜜酒

蜜酒是蜂蜜酿造的酒,虽然蜜酒几个不同分类中包括半蜂蜜半麦芽酿造的蜂蜜啤酒,但大致上来说,MEAD是蜂蜜酿造为主轴的一个独立个体类型,跟啤酒直接关系不大。

话虽那样说,但蜜酒一直都跟craft beer界关系匪浅,在不少啤酒庆典中会看到蜜酒酿坊出现,喜欢蜜酒的有相当多都是啤迷,在海外二手交换/转卖市场中也会看到有啤迷以蜜酒寻求心目中想要的啤酒(或反过来以啤酒寻求换取蜜酒),至于蜜酒为什么跟craft beer界关联密切,原因或许很简单,除了蜜酒酿坊也是非常小型酿造之外,寻求能带给味蕾美味享受特质是啤迷会喜欢上高质素蜜酒作品主因。


Short Note
Apart from the above mentioned 3---there are of course other buddies of craft beer which are being seek/liked by beer geeks---one such is Cider--be it pure cider which may or may not be barrel-aged OR hybrid of beer/cider---the sight of cider popping up at craft beer fest/or bottle sharing sessions is common.
Another rather new emerging "buddy' of craft beer is Seltzer( or some called it Hard Seltzer)---this one can be quite opinion splitting because to those who don't look up for it Seltzer is just carbonated sugar/fruited water with alcohol--it's far from being a beer---BUT we have seen beer geeks willing to trade good bottles of beer for it--as well saying good things about it---so like it or not--Seltzer is here to stay( at least for the near future).

小结

上述3种不同酒类之外,近年出现在craft beer好友圈的包括CIDER(苹果酒)还有最近在craft beer圈子冒起的SELTZER(酒精气泡水)。在盛产苹果地区,把苹果酿成易喝苹果酒几乎是家常事,craft beer酿酒师通过放入其他酒类旧桶熟成或混合啤酒方式让这听起来家常的酒类发放异彩。至于酒精气泡水,有啤迷觉得只是汽水所以不屑一顾,但也有酿酒师通过添加水果或其他食材让听起来很不啤酒的气泡水变得不一样,从美国转卖/交换市场近期趋势看得出,确实有啤迷不惜以啤酒寻求换取气泡水。