China’s craft brewing community refreshes your list. 中國精釀啤酒界為你的酒單帶來新氣象。
1. The IPA alternative / 除了IPA，還有棕色愛爾
Cider Republic釀酒師、釀酒諮詢師和國際啤酒評委Leon Mickelson提到棕色愛爾啤酒時說：「希望能看到更多人飲用傳統棕色愛爾啤酒。直至目前，棕色愛爾在精釀革命中都被大大忽略，因為IPA啤酒搶佔了所有的風頭。棕色愛爾充滿了濃鬱的烤棕色麥芽風味，酒體呈琥珀至棕色，還帶有複雜的麥芽甜味——餅乾、黑麵包和焦糖。它的口感真的非常飽滿。讓我印象最深刻的包括Baird憤怒男孩棕色愛爾（Craft Republic，177 2137 7151）、羅格榛子棕色愛爾啤酒（Top Shelf Asia， 020 2886 6688）以及卡爾施特勞斯愛爾蘭紅色愛爾（齊飲，021 6418 8400）。最後：還有一款酒我在中國並沒有找到，但卻是我嘗過最好的之一，那就是來自美國佛羅裡達州雪茄城酒廠的馬杜羅棕色愛爾。」
Leon Mickelson, brewer for Cider Republic, consultant brewer and international beer judge, namechecks brown ale: 「I would love to see more people drinking traditional brown ales. Up to this point these beers have largely been overlooked in the craft revolution because IPAs have dominated. Brown ales are full of full-bodied roasted brown malts, giving an amber to brown hue, delivering an intricate malt sweetness – biscuit, brown bread and caramel notes. The beer really fills the palate. The examples that have most impressed me include Baird Angry Boy Brown Ale (Craft Republic, 177 2137 7151), Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar Ale (Top Shelf Asia, 020 2886 6688) and Karl Strauss Irish Red Ale (Cheers In, 021 6418 8400). Finally: one I haven’t found in China – but one of the best I』ve ever tasted – is the Maduro Brown Ale by Cigar City Brewing from Florida, USA.」
2. Brews that taste of China / 中國風味的啤酒
北京大躍啤酒釀酒師Carl Setzer決心要讓中國為全球精釀運動出一份力：「我們想在自己釀的啤酒中加入本地風味。比如，我們賣得最好的甫子啤酒是以四川花椒浸漬，釀造過程中還加入了長城的蜂蜜。我們的招牌茶味啤酒——金色鐵觀音在發酵最後階段加入了烏龍茶。就連我們的周年啤酒三重門也是加了福建桂花茶釀製的。這些啤酒都很特別，擁有與眾不同的酒體和風味，但全都融合了獨特的中國原料。這使得它們自成一派，也為未來的本地市場樹起了榜樣。我很高興這樣的理念正在傳播，比如成都啤酒釀了一款四川愛爾，而京A Taproom的滿月農舍愛爾中加了桂花和四川花椒。人們很容易就陷入精釀啤酒唯IPA是論中，但我們希望看到中國啤酒發展出自己的特色。」
Carl Setzer, founder of Beijing’s Great Leap Brewing, is determined China contributes to the global craft movement: 「We are trying to develop our beers by drawing on local tastes. For example, our best-selling Honey Ma Gold is infused with Sichuan peppercorns and brewed with honey from the Great Wall. The Iron Buddha Blonde, our signature tea beer, has oolong added in the final stages of fermentation. Even our anniversary beer, the Three Door Tripel, is brewed with osmanthus tea from Fujian. These beers are all distinct, with completely different bodies and flavours – but all incorporate unique Chinese ingredients. In and of themselves, this makes them a style, and one that represents an incredibly important statement for the future of the local market. I’m happy to say this philosophy is spreading: among others, there’s a Sichuan Ale brewed by Chengdu Beer, while the Full Moon Farmhouse Ale from Jing-A is brewed with osmanthus and Sichuan pepper. It’s easy to fall into the belief that only IPAs matter in craft beer, but we』d like to see China develop its own identity.」
3. Beers that are actually dry / 真正的幹型啤酒
認證啤酒侍酒師袁子能是北京啤酒釀造團隊牛啤堂的一員，同時也是chinabeergeek.com博主。他推薦了著名的幹型賽森啤酒：「這類啤酒展現出了如此的複雜度和藝術性。賽森啤酒使用比利時酵母，能產生帶有黴味、辣味和葡萄酒般特質的酚類化合物——就這些風味和香氣而言，賽森酵母的效果是最豐富的之一。強烈的酚類特質是發酵高溫的產物（最高32攝氏度，而大部分愛爾啤酒的發酵溫度是21至24攝氏度）；賽森酵母也非常耗糖，大部分糖分經過發酵，通常情況下（雖然不是一定）能釀製出極幹的啤酒。今天的賽森啤酒源自比利時南部瓦壟法語區釀造的低度農舍啤酒或勞工啤酒，當時是為了給勞工們解渴提神之用。在啤酒死忠圈內，許多賽森啤酒都開始回歸本源，甚至用野生酵母和細菌來增加想要的黴味或提高酸度，而有些就酸得很直接。最典型的賽森啤酒當屬Brasserie Dupont出品的Saison Dupont Vieille Provision（Merchant du Vin, 021 6268 3338）。美國大道出品的7號罐子啤酒（督威，021 6255 7919）沒有那麼幹，但帶有非常濃鬱的柑橘果味和熱帶風情，因為它用的是美國酒花品種。」
Certified Cicerone Xenon Yuan, from Beijing brewing team NBeer, and author of chinabeergeek.com, recommends the famed dry profiles of saison: 「These beers display such complexity and artistry. Saisons use Belgian yeasts that produce phenols – flavour compounds that cause funky, peppery and wine-like characteristics – and for these kinds of flavours and aromas, saison yeasts are some of the most prolific. The intense phenolics are the result of a high fermentation temperature (as high as 32C, compared to around 21-24C for most other ales); saison yeasts are also highly attenuative, fermenting most of the sugars available and – traditionally, but not always – resulting in a very dry beer. Today’s saisons descend from lower-strength farmhouse beers or table ales made for the refreshment of labourers in French-speaking Wallonia (southern Belgium). Within beergeek circles, many saisons are returning to this ancestry, even using wild yeasts and bacteria to increase a desired funkiness or extra acidity; some are outright sour. The archetype is Saison Dupont Vieille Provision, by Brasserie Dupont (Merchant du Vin, 021 6268 3338). Tank 7, from Boulevard (Duvel Moortgat, 021 6255 7919) is less dry, but also very citrus-y and tropical, with its use of American hop varieties.」
4. Or push it further: go sour / 或者更極端一些：酸啤酒
這種風格或許連那些對精釀啤酒很好奇的客人都難以接受，但北京京A首釀啤酒的Richard Ammerman鼓勵你面對酸啤酒千萬別退縮：「這些啤酒的獨特之處在於它們故意加入了細菌或野生酵母，通常是在木桶中，這使得釀酒師能夠營造出完全不一樣的風味——從直接的酸味，或是乙酸和乳酸等發酵副產品造成的葡萄酒般的特質，到酒香酵母細菌產生的所謂「農場味」。最著名的例子來自比利時：貴茲啤酒和法蘭德斯紅色愛爾啤酒。雖然林德曼的水果啤酒最為著名，但也會釀造純貴茲啤酒（萬多吉，010 5870 0535），它會讓你酸得齜牙咧嘴。如果想要更複雜的啤酒，我推薦勃艮第女公爵：這是一款法蘭德斯紅色愛爾啤酒，形象地說，它喝起來像是非常優質的義大利香醋，而櫻桃、李子和焦糖風味令口感更加柔和。美國釀酒廠也開始釀造酸啤酒，因為這一風格符合當下的酒飲思潮：本地的野生酵母從窗外飄進啤酒中，帶來一種真正的風土感。之前釀造啤酒時，人們可從來沒有這麼想過。」
This style may challenge even your most craft-curious customer, but Richard Ammerman, from Jing-A Brewing Co in Beijing, encourages you to wince over a sour: 「What sets these beers apart is they’re intentionally infected with bacteria or wild yeast, often in wooden barrels, which allows brewers to introduce totally different flavours – from the straight sourness, or wine-like qualities caused by fermentation by-products such as acetic and lactic acid, to the so-called 「barnyard funk」 imparted by the bacteria brettanomyces. The most famous examples are from Belgium: gueuze and Flanders red ale. Lindeman’s, although better known for fruit-blended beers, makes a straight-up gueuze (Vandergeeten, 010 5870 0535): mouth-puckeringly sour. For a more complex brew, I』d recommend Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flanders red whose flavour might be described as really good balsamic vinegar, smoothed out with notes of cherries, plums and caramel. Breweries in the US have also been branching out to sours, I think because the style fits with the drinking zeitgeist: local, wild yeast floating through a window and into the beer gives a real sense of terroir. That was never previously thought about for beer.」
5. Seasonality / 季節性
拳擊貓啤酒屋和Liquid Laundry的釀酒師Michael Jordan目睹了自己的當季啤酒系列越來越受歡迎，並認為這股潮流會更加繁榮，因為客人們會更愛冒險：「我們的當季啤酒從春季的Brawlin』 Belgian Witbier直到冬季的Southpaw Winter Warmer，後者用橙皮、咖啡和八角茴香釀製。這些啤酒反映出了天氣變化，每一款都大不相同——天氣暖和時啤酒就清淡一些，天氣冷時啤酒就複雜些、酒精度高一些。我在北京大躍啤酒還釀造過帝國南瓜愛爾，效果很不錯。季節性啤酒還有一個優點，那就是可以搭配當季食物，給啤酒體驗增添新維度。」
Michael Jordan from Boxing Cat Brewery and Liquid Laundry has watched his seasonal beer rotation blossom, and expects that trend to grow as consumers become more adventurous: 「Our seasonal line-up has included Brawlin』 Belgian Witbier in spring all the way through to the Southpaw Winter Warmer, made with orange peel, coffee and star anise. These beers really reflect the weather, and every one is very different – lighter for the warmer months and more complex, higher alcohol beers for the cold. I』ve also had an Imperial Pumpkin Ale at Great Leap in Beijing, which was very good. An additional benefit is that seasonal brews can be paired with seasonal food, adding a new dimension to the beer experience.」
6. Put some smoke in it / 來點菸燻味
對青島強麥啤酒創始人John Herrington來說，燒柴的時候到了：「我是煙燻的粉絲，無論是燻肉、燻奶酪、燻魚，還是煙燻威士忌和愛爾啤酒，我都喜歡。煙燻啤酒指的是麥芽在發酵前經過煙燻，所以許多啤酒中都能見到它的蹤影，比如波特啤酒、愛爾啤酒、德國煙燻拉格啤酒，顏色從漆黑到淡。大約三年前，我們在強麥啤酒造了一個麥芽煙燻爐，試用不同的木頭來冷燻處理基礎麥芽。我們先打溼麥粒以附著煙味，然後進行約兩個小時的煙燻。接著，我們稍稍乾燥麥芽並儘快開始釀酒。我們每年冬天釀造的煙燻啤酒系列採用一樣的啤酒、一樣的煙燻過程，但每款啤酒都用不同的木頭煙燻。我們可以分辨出胡桃木、豆科灌木、山核桃木、山毛櫸和櫻桃木的不同之處。中國很難找到煙燻啤酒，但紐西蘭的Yeastie Boys出了一款泥煤煙燻啤酒，叫Rex Attitude (傑克的酒窩，138 1650 2260)，這是你能找到的煙燻味最濃的啤酒之一。」
For John Herrington, from Strong Ale Works, Qingdao, it’s time to burn some wood: 「I’m a smoke fan, from smoked meats and cheeses and fish to whisky and ale. Smoked beers are just beers that have had the malt smoked before fermentation, so you』ll find them across the spectrum: porters, ales, rauchbier smoked lagers from Germany, and varying from pitch black to pale. At Strong Ale Works we built a malt smoker about three years ago and began cold-smoking our base malt with different woods. Our process starts with wetting the grain to allow the smoke to stick, then smoking for about two hours. We dry the malt a little, then brew with it as soon as possible. Our smoked beer series, which we brew each winter, uses the same beer and the same smoking process but different types of wood for each beer. We』ve been able to see the difference using walnut, mesquite, hickory, beech and cherry woods. It’s hard to find smoked beer in China, but New Zealand’s Yeastie Boys has a peat-smoked beer called Rex Attitude (Jackie’s Beer, Nest 138 1650 2260), one of the most intense smoked beers you』ll find.」
7. Embrace Germany’s variety… / 擁抱德國啤酒的多樣性……
人們眼中的德國啤酒總是局限於比爾森、鄧克爾和小麥啤酒。它們當然是最早進入現代中國的精釀啤酒，但傑克的酒窩創立者Jackie Zhou鼓勵我們拓寬視野，關注博克啤酒：「這是一種強勁的拉格啤酒，涵蓋許多風格，從邁博克到小麥雙博克。酒勁足，味道甜而不膩，還帶點苦味，入口清新。另外還有冰博克，啤酒經過冰凍，去除水分以增加酒精度——如果你找得到的話，就選擇施耐德吧。埃因貝克（Dega, 021 6345 7719） 是最可信賴的博克啤酒釀造商之一，它們自1378年就在埃因貝克鎮開始經營，其風格更可追溯到13世紀。」
Too often German beer gets reduced to pilsners, dunkels and hefeweizens. Certainly these beers were the first craft beers in modern China, but Jackie Zhou, founder of supplier Jackie’s Beer Nest, encourages broadening out to bocks: 「This is a style of strong lager and comes in many sub-styles, from mai bocks to wheat doppel bocks. As well as strong, they are sweet, but not cloying, and only slightly bitter, but still with a refreshing finish. There’s also an eisbock, where the beer is frozen so water can be removed in order to drive up the alcohol level – if you can find it, grab the one from Schneider. Einbecker (Dega, 021 6345 7719) is one of bock’s most authentic producers, with operations dating back to at least 1378 in the town of Einbeck, where the style originated in the 13th century.」
8. …Including a bridge from commercial lager / ……包括一座和商業拉格啤酒非常像的橋梁
深圳百優啤酒的Joe Finkenbinder說，科隆啤酒在他的酒吧裡供不應求：「這一風格基本上使用了比爾森啤酒的基礎麥芽，可能加一點淡水晶或小麥麥芽，增加泡沫的持久性。它被視為一款德國愛爾啤酒，因為它用的是上層發酵的愛爾酵母，而不是比爾森酵母。但它發酵後就和比爾森啤酒一樣，低溫長期存放以增加清新感——因為酵母菌會隨著時間推移而沉澱，這點和拉格啤酒一樣。幾乎無論在哪裡，這款酒都很棒，但在深圳這樣燥熱的地方更是大受歡迎，因為它入口輕盈爽脆。科隆啤酒也是和商業拉格啤酒最為類似的一款酒，所以是引導人們體驗精釀啤酒的絕佳橋梁。因為它很清淡，你可以往裡面加東西，我們的基礎科隆啤酒叫Special K，但我們也會往裡面加其他風味，比如荔枝或是清淡的茶——但不能加太多。」
Joe Finkenbinder says kolsch is in high demand at his Bionic Brew brewpub in Shenzhen: 「This style generally uses a pilsner base malt, maybe with a little bit of light crystal malt or wheat malt to give better head retention. It’s considered to be a German ale, in that it’s made with a top-fermenting ale yeast, not a pilsner yeast. But like a pilsner, it’s then stored for a longer time at a lower temp to get a better crispness to it – because the yeast falls out like it does with a lager. It’s a great beer for almost anywhere, but particularly places where it’s hot like Shenzhen, because it’s light and crisp. Kolsch is also the closest thing to a commercial lager, so it’s a great option for bridging people over to craft beer. And then, because it’s light, you can add things in. Our base kolsch is called Special K, but we have also made others flavoured with lychee or lighter types of tea – you just can’t add too much.」
9. Beers aged like wine / 像葡萄酒一樣陳釀的啤酒
上海比利時啤酒先鋒開巴創始人Rudy Wimmer推薦了木桶陳釀：「我覺得木桶陳釀啤酒最適合中國市場，一是因為穩定，可以儲存很久，二是因為風味和整體口感，它們往往具有出色的複雜度，甘苦之間的平衡感很不錯。特別是在品鑑陳釀司陶特時，你經常能發現來自木桶的熟悉滋味——波本威士忌、特其拉甚或雪莉酒。陳釀啤酒和中國大部分人嘗過的拉格或比爾森啤酒完全不一樣，而且讓客人有機會品嘗一下奢侈的滋味。兩款最愛的比利時啤酒：羅登巴赫尊貴啤酒，發酵後存入大橡木桶中陳釀兩年——挺酸的，風味狂野；以及用夜聖喬治木桶陳釀的Bush Prestige de Nuits，它展露出更多水果和青草味（兩款啤酒均在萬多吉有售，010 5870 0535）。最近我也嘗試了美妙的Yule Maelk帝國司陶特，它來自丹麥釀酒廠To Ol，在比利時釀造，以雪莉酒桶和幹邑桶陳釀（Love Chocolate, 021 5899 3857）。」
Rudy Wimmer, founder of Shanghai Belgian beer pioneer Kaiba, puts forward barrel-ageing: 「I think that barrel-aged beers are perfect for the Chinese market: one for their stability and good long life; and second, regarding the flavour and general mouthfeel, they tend to have a high level of complexity and a good balance between bitterness and sweetness. Specifically, when sampling barrel-aged stouts, you are often able to taste familiar tastes from the barrels – of bourbon, tequila or even sherry. They represent something vastly different to the lagers and pilsners that most people have experienced in China, and give guests the opportunity to drink something quite extravagant. Two favourites from Belgium: the Rodenback Grand Cru, fermented then aged for two years in huge oak barrels – quite sour, a wild ride; and Bush Prestige de Nuits, aged in Nuits St Georges wine barrels – showing more fruit and grass notes (both Vandergeeten, 010 5870 0535). Recently I』ve also tried the fantastic Yule Maelk imperial stout from Danish brewer To Ol, made at a brewery in Belgium and aged in sherry and cognac casks (Love Chocolate, 021 5899 3857).」
10. Finally – Ok, not a beer…but cider / 最後——不是一款啤酒，而是西打
我們在上期雜誌中熱烈慶祝了啤酒的蘋果表親，現在是時候請深圳Craft Head啤酒坊創始人Nick Clark上場了，畢竟西打是他們家賣得最好的酒：「我們的西打賣得比我釀的所有啤酒都要好。我選擇了山東的五種蘋果來打造我想要的複雜度，同時平衡酸度、單寧和甜度，然後使用香檳酵母來創造純淨爽脆的風格。我也用莓果釀西打，包括華北的藍莓，並且試著釀造高酒精度的渾濁蘋果烈酒風格。西打在中國的發展因高進口稅遭到打擊，和2006年前的葡萄酒處於同等水平。但現在中國和許多國家籤署了自由貿易協定，比如我的家鄉紐西蘭，你將會看到更多瓶裝西打被進口，包括一種名叫Kune Kune的紐西蘭西打，它會於明年登陸中國。有意思的是，我聽說中國葡萄酒巨頭張裕最近也開始生產西打飲料，用的也是山東蘋果。來自同一地區，但釀出來的酒卻完全不同——這就是Cider Republic（Liquid Solutions, 139 1724 4685 ）。它的精釀西打在上海和北京都可以買到。所以，西打市場大有可為。」
We celebrated beer’s apple-y cousin in the last issue, and now Nick Clark, founder of the Craft Head tap house in Shenzhen, joins in: cider is, after all, his best seller: 「Our cider outsells every beer I make. I use five apple varieties from Shandong to get the complexity you need and that balance between acid, tannin and sweetness, then use a champagne yeast to create a clean, crisp style. I have also made a cider made with berries too, including blueberries from northern China, and tried a higher alcohol, cloudy scrumpy style too. Cider’s growth has also been hampered in China by high import taxes, the same as pre-2006 wine levels. But now with countries such as New Zealand, where I’m from, signing up to free trade treaties, you are going to see a lot more bottled cider coming in, including one called Kune Kune out of NZ hitting China next year. Interestingly I heard that Chinese wine giant Changyu has also recently started making a cider drink, again using apples from Shandong. From the same region, but a totally different product, is Cider Republic (Liquid Solutions, 139 1724 4685) whose draft cider is now available in Shanghai and Beijing. So there’s real interest coming.」
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