WEEK 226--Newbies Do & Don't

This was published in Sept--as the year is coming to a close--will try to catch up a little bit on some backlog articles already published--with new ones coming in too....

This was written after a casual chat with a newbie who was curious about what might be the do(s) & don't(s) when drinking craft beer--while generally speaking beer drinking is nothing but a way to chill or quence thirst for most people--in the world of craft beer--there are indeed a few "unspoken" do(s) & don't(s) especially among geeks--it's good if newbies could pick up a pointer or two early on to make the craft discovering process a smoother one....

和刚接触craft beer新朋友聊天继续，这期来聊聊新人比较好奇的Do & Don't (该做不该做），换句话说就是有什么需要注意的初入门准则之类。

或许喝啤酒用“准则”这样的字眼听起来有点过了，毕竟喝啤酒不就是放轻松享受一下嘛，哪来什么规矩需要遵循？话虽那样说，站在啤迷角度来看，喝craft beer是有基本概念需要了解的，这样可以让新人比较清楚一些基本状况而不至于走进误区不自知。

DO

learn to taste(not just drink) & train up palate appreciation ability

Every beer geeks started from somewhere--most probably started with MACRO BEER just like many newbies do--in another words--likely started from zero as far as beer palate appreciation ability is concern.

The first thing a newbie should understand is that there will be a certain time period of 'palate training days"(it might actually take years for some)needed before one can get to grips with what is what in the big vast world of craft beer with many different beer styles & flavours profile--this is only natural especially one been only drinking MACRO BEER before & thought that

1.beer to be drank COLD ONLY & Fast while its cold.

2.beer MUST be served with pre-chilled to dead glasses ONLY.

3.ice cube is a NICE WAY to compliment a beer...

Well--craft beer is of course also beer--can also be drank cold & fast if one wishes to do so--but if you want to better appreciate beer flavours profile then take it slow--let the beer slowly warm up is the way to go.

It's always good to just use a room temp clean glass when enjoying a craft beer--regardless of what beer styles--a clean glass is all the beer need.

Knowing some of these basics and then slowly build up one's palate appreciation ability concerning different beer styles/various flavours profile is the way to becoming more acquainted with the at times overwhelming choices available in the world of craft beer. It is only after one can slowly understand the characteristics of different beer styles & learn how to appreciate then will one's palate appreciation ability improve accordingly.

DO

慢啜细品--提升鉴赏力

凡事都会有过程，从craft beer小白晋阶到能品嚐出不同类型风格啤酒之间风味表现的啤迷是需要一些时间摸索和品饮经验累积而成的，新人朋友要明白的第一个基本概念就是味蕾是需要一段时间训练的，而且开始喝craft beer时要摒弃一些之前喝大厂啤酒(Macro Beer)的习惯做法，比如开瓶入杯後很快就趁冷大口大口喝完，比如觉得喝啤酒一定要用事先冷冻好的杯子，或比如喝啤酒要加冰块才够冷等等误区。

简单说一下为什么：-

craft beer确实也是啤酒，也可以大口喝，但更贴切的方式是慢啜细品以便更好的领略作品逐渐回温开展的风味呈现。

啤酒入杯後需要一些时间回温来带出更丰富饱满的风味变化所以不需要冷冻杯子更不需要加冰块，实际上冷冻过的杯子特别是出现结霜状态的杯子很大可能会自带不良风味或其他会影响啤酒原有风味的隐藏污垢，所以喝craft beer 只需干净室温杯子就可。

认识到上述基本概念後下一步就是学会如何慢啜细品不同类型风格啤酒之间风味区别，只有懂得如何品嚐个别特定类型风格啤酒风味表现後味蕾品鉴能力才会逐步提升。

DON'T

too quick to conclude

craft beer flavours profile can be very distinctively different from one's palate memory of drinking say a MACRO LAGER--in another word--a newbie's palate might be given a big shock when drinking say an IPA or a Stout or a Sour.

Just like when eating food--people tend to go with flavours he or she like--or at least familiar with--but in the world of craft beer there are chances where one might encounter a beer with a "strange" ,"unfamiliar" or "dislike" flavours profile--if so don't be too quick to conclude that "disgusting/awful", "craft beer is not for me".

For newbie who encountered a "strange beer" or a beer with flavours which is not to his/her liking--it's actually not so bad--take it as a new experience to yur beer palate--and the interesting part is that when palate appreciation level is up say 1 or 2 years fom now--that same "strange beer" might taste different/tasty. In another words--sometimes it's not the beer is strange or to a newbie's liking but it's about timing--meaning newbie's palate still cannot appreciate that particular beer now--but given time & elevation of appreciation ability--the same beer can be appreciated better.

A newbie might want to ask this question--" do i just want to keep drinking the same 1 or 2 beer styles or do i want to explore varieties of styles available?"--no doubt the biggest fun factor about craft beer is the varieties of beer styles with wide choices available--keeping to 1 or 2 favourite beer styles is understandable and no right or wrong though exploring further than that would make one's craft beer exploring journey that much more interesting.

DON'T 

别太快下定论

不同类型风格啤酒选择众多是喝craft beer的乐趣，就像美食那样，在啤酒风味中也能找到各种不同味道口感的呈现，对新朋友来说，要注意的是有时候自己喝到嘴里的啤酒风味呈现出来感觉很陌生，不是自己想象中或熟悉食物/食材味道时别当时就下定论说“不好喝”， “好难喝”或“这不适合我”。

确实，喝craft beer某方面来说跟吃东西一样，每个人都会有自己喜欢和不喜欢的味道倾向，也会有偏食挑食情况，所以一般来说人们都会选对正自己口味避开不喜欢的风味，这是完全可以理解的。 

不过，从啤迷角度来说，第一次喝到自己不习惯的啤酒风味，或是陌生奇怪觉得接受不来甚至感觉难以下咽啤酒时，新朋友其实可以问下自己是只想一直重复喝同一（或同二）口味的啤酒，还是说有想要探索更多啤酒中自己味蕾还未尝试过的风味？必须说的是在craft beer世界中有时候觉得酒不好喝或风味呈现感觉陌生或怪怪的并不是因为啤酒不好，更多时候可能是喝的时候自己味蕾鉴赏力还没有达到能有效鉴赏水平导致。在啤酒真的不是因为感染坏掉或运输等因素导致已走味前提下，有时候现在感觉不对味或喝不来的作品等过若干时日当味蕾鉴赏力有所提升後再喝时就能领略当时和现在喝到的风味感受差异之处。同样的，也别因为喝到某款自己喜欢的作品就觉得这是最好的，因为浩瀚啤海中很可能还有没遇到的更好作品，实际上现在觉得非常好的可以等一两年过去鉴赏力有所提升後再喝一次来判断是不是还感觉那么好。

小结

喝craft beer是有趣的，不过在能好好领略各类不同风格作品的风味特点之前确实有些基本概念/功课需要先做好，以上提及的DO & DON’T只是非常浅显的基本概念，当然还有好些其他需要注意的基本要点，篇幅所限就留待以后。