WEEK 71---B for BEER

BEER BELLY

it's quite interesting that some people don't drink beers due to the belief that beer drinking would caused one's belly to balloon.

Is beer drinking that bad? is drinking beer the main reason or the ONLY reason one's belly would swell?

The fact is--we all know what causes a more than flat belly--it's all about the calories in-take--that if you consume much more calories than your body needs--it would become fat inside you--inevitably that fat would show around the waist...if you don't exercise much.

We all know the shape of body for everyone is different--the metabolism is different--the eating habits and so on is different--and we also know that there's many people who DO NOT DRINK BEER but having big belly( so is that a BEER BELLY? :)

To say beer drinking is the reason one would have a swell Beer Belly---that is just a Mis-judgement. 

BEER BELLY

据说一些人不爱喝啤酒的原因是，觉得喝啤酒了容易有啤酒肚。这是蛮有趣的“负面印象”，一些研究显示，喝啤酒并不会导致啤酒肚的催生。

人会发胖，肚子长赘肉，都是身体脂肪储存量过多表现，要硬说单凭喝啤酒这个动作就是罪魁祸首明显不合理。

我们都知道，无论是喝啤酒，葡萄酒或威士忌的人，一般都会有送酒菜或小吃之类的，这些配酒食物，才是导火线，算热量的话，食物的份量/热量，大多时候都高过一杯啤酒。

跟很多不喝酒可是肚腩也大大的人一样，除了个人体质不同这回事，适量摄取食物热量，适当做些运动才是力保腰间没有救生圈要诀。

喝啤酒就会有啤酒肚这回事，显然是误判。

BE A BREWER

The beauty of craft beer is--everyone--including those big name brewers that you drink their beers from--were once like you and me--drinking miserable Macro lagers.

And yes--if you think you could also become like those big name brewers--that you somehow has got the skill or gift to brew very nice beers--you are free to do so--in fact the craft beer world is so open that people share their brew recipe--or if you need some formal guidance?--there's actually courses to study in some Uni out there...

BE A BREWER
酿酒师是决定我们有什么酒喝的人---不过，在那之前，他们也跟我们一样，只能在市场上找其他酿酒师的作品来喝。Craft beer好玩之处是，你如果哪天觉得可能自己也能酿酒或玩得比别人好，可以试试玩自酿，或逐步迈向成为酿酒师。这是个开放的空间，没人会限制你说只能永远当饮客。你可以无师自通，需要的话，欧美一些大学有课程可以学习如何当酿酒师，反正，路是通的。

BEST BEFORE

General consensus is that--all beers which looks golden in color--drink them fresh as you may--the likes of hops centric IPAS, the pale ale, the lagers--these are not beers you want to keep or cellar before drinking.

Unless--if it's a similar color LAMBIC--those you can keep.

BEST BEFORE
像很多食物饮料那样，啤酒也有賞味期限—可以是一年半载或十多二十年，视乎啤酒类型而定。 基本来说，只要是不同程度强调啤酒花新鲜度的类型如IPA, Pale Ale, 或Plisner ---都是越新鲜喝越好， 这些金黄色啤酒都不是需要收藏陈年熟成的啤酒，所谓尝鲜，就是趁早喝掉意思。

BEST AFTER

Well--for every word there's always an opposite side--same for some beers--they are best kept or cellar for certain period of time( anything from months to few years generally speaking)--here we are talking about the Darker ones--the stouts, the Belgium strong ale, strong porter and so on---these are beers where the flavours, the body and overall beer taste would improve with proper storage.

Drinking some of these beers too YOUNG is almost a waste..:)

*for certain stout or porter that place importance on certain spices or food flavours--then it's probably best drank in shorter time than cellar for too long for fear of losing the main characteristics.

BEST AFTER 
有些啤酒，比如STOUT或PORTER之类的黑啤或比利时烈啤，或一些天然发酵果酸啤酒等，刚推出那年喝虽然没错，对一些要求比较苛刻啤迷来说有点浪费好料感觉，因为这些类型啤酒基本可以收起来熟成，隔个两三年甚至更久喝更能体会啤酒圆润丰富风味的酿品，时间和瓶内演化会发挥作用逐步影响酒体。

不过，也不是全部黑色啤酒都适合收藏熟成，一些强调某些食材特色的酿品还是比较适合一年内干掉。 另一个方式是，同一支啤酒，至少买2支，一支趁鲜喝，另一支收起陈年感受风味变化。

BOTTLE vs CAN

This is a question some newbie are a little puzzle with--even geeks too--there's opinion that prefer bottles only--and there's some who lean towards can, saying it's more convenient and protect the beer better....

( if you are interested to find out more about the professional views about the pro/cons of bottles vs can--there's info to be found via google....i shall not pretend to know more than i do here)

Whatever you preference of packaging maybe--ultimately--it's the brew inside a bottle or a can that really matters.

BOTTLE vs CAN
不少啤迷觉得困惑的包装问题。一路来都有不少争议--有人觉得只有瓶子才是正道--有人觉得铝罐轻便不失风味。（有兴趣深入了解的朋友，关于瓶装或铝罐的专门知识网上可以找到，这里就不扮专业了）
近年不少出名craft beer品牌都开始推出瓶子以外的铝罐选择---个人虽因为视觉效果比较倾向瓶子，不过，说到底无论是瓶子或铝罐，重点只在于内里装的啤酒素质是不是达到或超越期待值，那个最重要。

BOLD & BIG

Many drinkers tend to go for strong, big and bold styles of beers--such as the hop bomb style IPAS--the very rich and thick Stouts or strong ale--or even purposely look for higher ABV beers--to them beers kinda mean Must be Big in Taste profile, Must be Strong in Flavours...

Is that what craft beer is all about? there's no denying that those big and bold brew can be really tasty and well made--but craft beer is NEVER about being one direction only--it's kinda like Kungfu--it's not all about how many bricks you can break in one hit--there's also the subtly awesome part of Kungfu like Taichi..

THE TRUTH is --in the world of craft beer--the higher the ABV, the bigger the flavour DOES NOT mean it will be a better beer--could be far from it actually. 

BOLD & BIG

个性强烈，口感突出的啤酒是不少人心头好，比如高酒精度美国大黑啤，麦酒（BARLEY WINE）或是比利时烈啤（BELGIUM STRONG ALE），又或是强调浓郁啤酒花攻击力的Double或Triple IPA ---这些口感比较烈的啤酒的确有过人之处，不过，啤酒和武功一样，不是只有硬功夫最厉害，啤酒也讲究四两拨千斤的内敛，讲究平衡，完全没有酒精度越高，酒体越浓郁就是最好啤酒这回事。

在CRAFT BEER的世界里，没有绝对NO.1啤酒这回事，也不需要，让这个啤酒世界美好的主因在于繁多的不同啤酒类别/品牌，每个人总能找到至少几个心头好，而且很大可能是不一样选择。

The beauty of craft beer is that --we don't really need the world's number 1 beer or the world's best beer--because there's so many varieties of choices out there--everyone would eventually find his or her best beers--not 1 not 2 but at least a dozen....

WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEKEND--in Hong Kong particularly

Last weekend was quite a weekend for craft beer in Asia--from Bangkok to Singapore, from Hong Kong to Taiwan--there were events happening....

In BKK--there was a local Thai craft brew & food pairing event. In Singapore--the first ever Craft Singapore--a 100%craft beer only 3 days festival with inaugural Asian Beer Award was held. In Taiwan--there's a gathering dinner for those in the craft beer businesses.

And in Hong Kong--there was a gathering of "strangers" known via HK beer geeks FB public group for a beer dinner--organized by a few key figure of the public group-- a craft community gathering of sorts that's not initiated or organized by a craft beer business entity.

The fact that some guys within the HK beer geeks public group is taking own initiative and time off to organize a gathering of members who are likely to be strangers in each work circle or social life is quite amazing--especially in a city known to value time as money  :)

The fact that i was not there in HK to attend/witness first hand does not matter( though i was invited but could not fly in to HK for the gathering)---the reason for this short article is simple---the gathering--the dinner--the beers shared( of which some beers were individually imported by geek/s--those are beers not available in Hong Kong as the current importers do not bring in those beers( as yet?)--whatever made the event possible is only down to one source--the common love of craft beer--this is basically why craft beer culture is beautiful--that people willingly share, and people willingly invest time and efforts just to make the beer world a better place.....
*all photos courtesy of HK beer geeks public group--special thanks to Kenneth Ho

WEEK 70---BACK TO BASICS 102

we spoke about 101 in Week 68 --this is 102:-
Everyone starts from ZERO

The beauty of craft beer is --everyone--including those big name/ super star brewers which you drink their brew from--all started from drinking "shitty beers" once upon a time---that's kinda how lots of brewers came about--not happy with what's being offered in the market--and literally took matters into their own hands and started brewing....

So--if you've just started--just had your first IPA last night--fret not--you are not alone---there's nothing to worry about that you started later than everyone else--on the road to discovering more awesome beers--there's just no limitation where one could end up.--everyone started equally--the rest is up to you really...

大家都从零开始

可以这么说，几乎所有人，包括很出名的一些品牌主创酿酒师都是从喝普通大厂啤酒开始，换句话说，在CRAFTBEER的起跑点上，大家基本都是平行的。一个比较常见现象是，从最初的一般大厂啤酒到开始接触德国/比利时啤酒会是转折点开始，对喝惯普通大厂啤酒的饮客味蕾还是会带来新感受。

就像吃到好吃食物一样，人的味蕾是会有记忆的，一旦味蕾有了新的体会，就会有比较，一旦觉得没试过的啤酒比之前一直喝惯的大厂啤酒有趣好喝，寻找CRAFTBEER的路就自然开展。

Craft Beer is NOT ONLY about HOPS or IBU

it's probably quite cool for some of the newer friends to ask/joke or "challenge"other friends who are only into big factory commercial lagers with this question---" my bottle of IPA says the IBU is 60---what's on your bottle? what's the IBU? NOT printed? NONE?//"

But--be careful--don't fall into the trap of believing HOPS is king or IBU is the only criteria to determining the awesomeness of a beer.

That is certainly NOT THE CASE---craft beer is about varieties of beer styles--not just bitterness of a beer.

*IBU(international bitterness unit--the bigger the number--the bitter the beer)

不是只有苦才算CRAFTBEER

最初喝CAFTBEER时，很多新人最开始接触到的会是强调啤酒花苦味的美式PALE ALE或IPA，这是最容易找到，也是对比单调口味大厂啤酒最强的例子，有时候一些新人朋友会以国际苦味指标（IBU）来对大厂啤酒做比较（这支啤酒IBU指数有多高，你的大厂啤酒有说明多少IBU吗？--没有吧）。

不过，也有不少人因此有了错误观念，以为CRAFTBEER就是要越苦越强，啤酒花用的越多，IBU指数越高，就越是代表“好料”。

这是错的。苦味只是CRAFTBEER众多不同类别风格中的一个，不代表全部，苦味之外有更多不同有趣选择，只有逐步试试其他类别风格，让味蕾嗅觉有更多不同风味体验才是。

To GAIN is to LET GO

We all know, out of so many Chicken rice, Bakuteh, Wantonmee, Burger sellers out there--NOT EVERYONE taste as good as the other.

Same for Craft Beer---the fact that it is a craft beer does not automatically makes the beer tasty--there's quite a lot of below average--even shitty craft beer out there.

So--if you bump into a beer that taste way below expectation--what do you do?  I would suggest go do a "drain pour"--yeah--just pour it down the drain.

Yes--pouring away beer sounds kinda snobbish--and certainly not something most people would do--after all beer money is not that easy to earn(especially if you live in South East Asia with high import taxes imposed on alcoholic beverages)---but--if the beer is really a below average brew--instead of forcing yourself to drink something you totally don't enjoy--or to give it away to someone knowing it taste unpleasant--just pour it away---that simple action--in some way is another form of palate building process--just take it as a fee to pay on your way to drinking better ones next time...

有舍才有得

喝CRAFTBEER的其中一个重要认知是，不是所有冠上CRAFTBEER名称的啤酒都同样好喝的，就像不是所有云吞面/卤肉饭/肉骨茶/汉堡包都肯定好吃那样，有不少酿坊的啤酒其实是在水准以下，甚至很下的。

在尝味不同啤酒的路上，遇到一些水准差，很不对味的CRAFTBEER是正常现象，遇到这样的啤酒时，你会怎么做？

有些朋友会觉得既然都给钱买了，或许可以把酒分给身旁人喝，或不如勉为其难自己把酒喝完，这也没错，啤酒钱不容易赚。不过，要是可以的话，建议直接把酒倒掉算了，这动作有个名词叫DRAIN POUR（倒水沟）---是的，如果遇到这样水准的啤酒，与其勉强喝，不如倒掉，也算是品味修炼过程必经之路。

MIX it up

with so many different styles of beers--each with varying taste profile--why not try blending some beers sometimes--especially if you are with a few friends in a bar--or having a tasting session.

It's kinda like beer cocktails--just mix a small portion of beer A with B or ABC together and see how it changes in flavors and taste--there's no rules really--just have fun mixing them--sometimes the mix can be wonderful--sometimes the result is a failure--but that's all cool--the more you mix--the more surprises could be awaiting...

a 3beer mix--with Boon foeder #120 in the mix

Blending can be of same styles( stout+stout) or totally different styles--it's up to you.

Oh--if you are face with a Drain Pour situation--maybe the beer could be saved by mixing with other beers--you never know--it could just work...

玩下混合

CRAFTBEER不同口味风格类别那么多，有时候可以试玩一下混合（BLENDING），特别是跟朋友一起试不同啤酒时。玩啤酒混合没有一定方程式，可以根据自己喜好或当时感觉随意。个人经验，混合不同品牌的同类别或不同类别啤酒（比如黑啤混黑啤，比如IPA混SAISON，比如STOUT混SCOTTISH ALE等等）可以有互补，甚至负负得正的效果，当然不是每次都有惊喜，不过，偶尔玩一下也不错，偶尔如果遇到有想“倒水沟”的啤酒，可以尝试看看混合其他啤酒是不是能够补救。

SOUR beers--can drink ah?

there's quite some sour beers out there--like GOSE. BERLINER WEISSE, SOUR ALE or the most sought after LAMBIC.

it is true that most drinkers who are new to sour beers can't fathom the idea of beer being sour--especially if they have started and accustomed to the Cirtusy/Grassy influences of IPA/APA or the coffee/chocolaty/richer flavors of STOUT/PORTER--most first time drinkers would find/think very Negatively about sour beers.

However--one thing is for sure--there's always excellent brew in each and every beer styles--and if you don't like certain beer style--sometimes it's not just your palate issue--it could be a case where what you had is a below average brew of that style.

In simple words--you have just have to find a better brew from that particular style the next time you decided to give it another go....

酸啤酒能喝吗？

酸味啤酒比如GOSE 比如BEILINER WEISSE比如SOUR ALE，或备受推崇的LAMBIC，喝惯PALE ALE和IPA啤酒花香或黑啤惯有咖啡巧克力味的朋友初次接触会感觉怪怪或难喝死了。（有时候，第一次接触的啤酒让你觉得难喝，不是因为那个啤酒类别不适合你或类别本身有问题—所有不同啤酒类别都有绝对好喝的，问题可能是你喝到了一支水准以下的酿品而已）

的确，酸啤酒不是每个人都会喜欢的类型，不过，一旦克服了最初的“味蕾震撼”後，你会发现，开拓自己熟悉范围之外的啤酒类别是有趣的事。（个人经验来说，接受或喜欢上酸啤酒後，对提升鉴赏力蛮有帮助，可以更客观细腻的赏味各类别啤酒---当然这只是个别感觉，别人未必认同）

It is true that SOUR beers are not for everyone--but it's also true that once you have overcome that initial "palate shock"--you will realize that stepping out of your usual comfort beer zone can be so much more fun....( personally i found sour beers help to enhance one's palate/ability to savor/appreciate even better other beer styles once your palate is used to the sour influences--but of course--this is just personal view point)

WEEK 69--When beer is no longer just BEER

we heard of/have had food & wine pairing dinner/lunches--or for that matter--whisky( or other hard liquor) food pairing session..

Beer & food pairing? the general perception of beer being nothing more than just cold quick thirst quencher certainly don't help. That Beer can be a very delicious/complimenting/enhancing component of the whole food experience is almost Unheard of....

葡萄酒配搭食物是大家都知道，觉得理所当然的，喜欢美食或葡萄酒的朋友或多或少都试过上餐厅或自己在家做过WINE PAIRING这回事。

不过，绝少人会想到用啤酒搭配食物。（这是可以理解的，说到底，大厂啤酒的广告行销和四处可买到影响让很多人觉得啤酒只是一般解渴单调饮料，说不上什么配搭美食功能）

啤酒跟搭配食物扯不上关系？这是错误刻板印象。如果了解CRAFT BEER各类不同风格/类别的千变万化，肯定改观。

The truth is--with that many different styles of beers available--beer and food pairing can be so much fun--because of the varieties of taste profile available--the pairing choices available for beers are just amazing...

If you live in ASIA--there's obviously not many(or almost NONE) restaurant that promote food/beer pairing--hence it's very nice to know that if you were to be in Bangkok--you could go here to sample some gourmet food with beer pairing:-

in fact--- there's even an up coming event on food and beer pairing lining up nearby Bangkok in March

CRAFT BEER在本地以致亚洲还处于起步发展阶段，很少有人办啤酒配搭美食活动，不过，吃饭是人人需要的事，如果你住的城市没有可以参与的活动，可以在家自己试试配搭，或跟几个朋友一起凑钱找个餐厅玩配搭。

要怎么配搭才对？

其实啤酒配搭食物没有绝对方程式，一般来说，食物配搭可以用对比法（浓郁对清淡），或并行法（浓对浓，淡对淡，有点“以毒攻毒”的意味）。

比如说，有咸鱼腊肠鸡肉和浓郁酱油香味的瓦煲鸡饭可以配搭比较清淡的蔬果味SAISON农场风格啤酒，或麦芽味比较多些的PALE ALE，喜欢啤酒花香味/苦味多些的也可以配搭IPA之类的，反正没有一定方式。（喜欢浓对浓的朋友也可以考虑直接配搭黑啤）。

So--is there any rules or formula to food and beer pairing?the general consensus is that when it comes to food pairing--you either do Complementing( for example a sweet stout for chocolate dessert) OR a Contrasting( heavy food with light beer like saison or pale ale or lager) pairing...

又或者，喜欢蓝莓芝士的朋友可以考虑配搭不同口味的黑啤类，比如PORTER, STOUTS，或比利时STRONG ALE。

喜欢海鲜的朋友可以考虑配搭天然发酵果酸啤酒（LAMBIC），农场风格啤酒（SAISON）或者各式PILSNER， PALE ALE，喜欢麦芽甜味比较浓啤酒的可考虑德国风格WEISSBIER。

甜品类也可以配搭啤酒，比如浓郁巧克力类的可以直接“以毒攻毒”，配浓郁大黑啤就对，水果类的比如草莓蓝莓的可以配搭比利时浓啤或SAISON农场风格啤。

以上说的，只是些个人试吃经验，不是什么必跟方程式。

If you are a believer of what others say--then perhaps it's good to check out what's suggested for food-beer pairing on BEER ADVOCATE(along with some other website focusing on food pairing)--there will be some suggestions on which beers might go well with certain type of food/dessert --for examples--just salad alone--there's suggestion of 21 different styles of beers that could go well( or not so well?) with the salad. 

喜欢网上建议的，可以看看独立评酒网站BEER ADVOCATE的啤酒配搭食物建议栏，这是一个像是问答栏的页面，网站已经设好一些食物选项，只要选好食物，建议的啤酒类别就会出现。比如，选“猪肉”一项，可以配搭的啤酒类别就有15种，选“鱼类”的话，建议配搭的啤酒类别有23种，就连“沙拉”一项也有21种不同啤酒可以配搭。

However --with craft beer --one could just play around a little with one's own whims and fancies--just try to pair any beer you like with any food or dessert you like--sometimes they work out well--sometimes they don't--the fun part is you get to try and play mix master...

Personally--i have tried quite some different pairing of beers with food, for examples:-

- pork lark steam Crab with a Gueuze( with the bubbly sour lambic not just cutting down the fat but complimenting nicely the Umami of the crab)--of course you can also pair with some other styles of beers of your choices

-if you find a certain Belgium strong ale is slightly too sweet or strong for your palate--try eating some fresh fruits like strawberry or plum--the fresh fruits would help to ease off the beer--in a contrasting yet complimenting way...

有朋友说，当人们都视葡萄酒配搭美食为理所当然选择时，很多人没有注意到的是，CRAFT BEER各类不同风格啤酒可以天马行空的用不同蔬果，食材入酒，还可以把不同啤酒放入不同类别烈酒/葡萄酒桶内陈年增加风味变化。葡萄酒由始至终只是用着一样原材料--不同类别葡萄。所以说CRAFT BEER是更有趣好玩的食物配搭选择完全不为过。

在美国和欧洲一些城市，侍酒师这个名词不再只是单一指向葡萄酒侍酒师，近年发展已令不少原本只是注重葡萄酒配搭食物的餐厅注意到CRAFT BEER的多元化和趣味性，怎么建议啤酒配搭美食已经成为新的一门功课，啤酒，不再单纯只是拿来快快干杯的冷饮了。

The fact is--Craft beer is certainly NOT the MACRO BEER that you used to know all your life--it's so much more fun and exciting--and food pairing( or in a more casual or playful way of self-experimenting at home) definitely would add more fun..

With so many different styles you could ever imagine( if you are very new or never heard of craft beer)--just explore a little bit more with food--don't worry if you got it right or wrong--the fun part is all about exploring and trying out new pairings....

BEER as you have long known it to be---is NO LONGER only just beer--if you still think BEER is only BEER--welcome to the whole new world of craft beer...