[Craft Beer Blog] 精釀啤酒 - 台灣跨年飲啤酒 🍺 New Year Celebration with Beer 🍺

來到寶島，正常人會先看看當地有什麼景點、住宿。但作為一個稱職的Beer Geek，當然先看看城市裡有什麼啤酒吧、酒廠，新年到訪的花蓮和宜蘭都沒有令我失望。

When people are planning their trip, they would normally search for different tourist spots and accommodations. But as a beer geek, finding a brewery or beer bar is always my first step. Hualien and Yilan, Taiwan were not disappointing me.

比起台北，好山好水好風景的台灣東部確實沒有太多精釀的選擇，但該有的都能找到的。而在地大脈博的花蓮，不靠車胎出入是有難度的，但要飲酒當然不可以酒駕，幸好住宿不遠處有間新開的精釀酒吧 Yellow-夜樓Beer Bar，雖然沒有On Tap精釀，但Bottle的選擇很多，進口及本地的都有。

Comparing with Taipei, Taiwan eastern area possesses lots of beautiful natural landscapes instead of various awesome taprooms or breweries. But, the essentials are still satisfied. The Yellow Beer Bar, Haulien, is a new beer bar that serves different local and imported craft beer. They do not serve craft beer on taps but they got lots of selection of bottle beers.

學長生日快樂 Hopped Birthday是一支啤酒頭 啤酒頭 Taiwan Head Brewers Brewing Company與 Mikkeller Taiwan 米凱樂台灣的合作出品，專為上年米凱樂啤酒吧 Mikkeller Taipei 一周年出品的「壽酒」！作為一款Sour IPA，雖然不是嘗鮮，但美系啤酒花特性依然存在，中等柑橘、柚子、熱帶水果香氣伴隨如乳酪、果撻般的酸味出現，酸味雖然主導了其風味但依然感受到些許啤酒花帶來的甘苦平衡，口感輕盈乾爽沒有明顯苦澀感。於是，它就成了我2018年的第一支啤酒。

Hopped Birthday is a collaboration of Taiwan Head Brewers Brewing Company and Mikkeller Taiwan which was for celebrating the 1st anniversary of Mikkeller Taiwan in last summer. I did not taste the freshest one, but as a Sour IPA, the character of American hops was still able to detect. Medium citrus, grapefruit and tropical fruit aroma with moderately strong tart-liked and yogurt-liked sourness. Although sourness dominated a lot in this beer, the hop bitterness was still balancing in the aftertaste. Light bodied and dry finish without obvious astringency. It definitely was a good beer for my first beer in 2018.

再來是今季新到亞洲兼大有來頭的 Spencer Brewery啤酒。位於美國麻省的Saint Joseph's Abbey於2013年成立酒廠，是唯一一間歐洲地區以外的修道院啤酒廠（有關修道院啤酒的文章可看舊作：https://steemit.com/cn/@benng/craft-beer-blog）。除了地理特色外，Spencer Brewery致力釀造更多不同的啤酒類型，比起大多數傳統歐洲修道院只出產比利時風格啤酒（Belgian Ale），它更會出產IPA、Barrel Aged Imperial Stout或各式Lager如Pilsener、Festbier，傳統之上更多元化、更有創意！

Another beer was from Spencer Brewery and their beer has just been launched in Asia last year. In 2013, Saint Joseph's Abbey, Massachusetts, has established the first Trappist Brewery outside Europe. Apart from the geographical gimmick, Spencer Brewery also brews different beer styles like IPA and Barrel Aged Imperial Stout as well as Lager like Pilsner and Festbier rather than just brewing Belgian Ale like traditional European Trappist Breweries do. Therefore, I would describe Spencer Brewery is a creative and diverse Trappist Brewery basing on a traditional practice and culture!

但為了試一試Spencer Brewery的水準，同樣是Quadrupel風格的Spencer Monk's Reserve Ale便是首選。Quadrupel是修道院啤酒常見風格，一般而言都是深色酒體兼具持久泡沫，高酒精度（10%以上）並帶有強烈的麥芽、深色水果、香料風味的調性，是一種表現豐富但「危險」的啤酒類型！可能因為當晚杯具問題，除了酒帽沒有太持久及香味未有太濃烈的表現外，整體而言Spencer Monk's Reserve Ale都做到它應有的，而且絕不比歐洲傳統修道院出產的差。有機會一定要試一試其他出品！

In order to test the quality of their beer, Quadrupel style beer, Spencer Monk's Reserve Ale, is the first choice. Quadrupel is a common beer style that can be found in traditional European Trappist Brewery. Generally, it is dark color body with persistent and creamy foam. Strong and rich malty, dark fruit and spicy aroma and flavor with 10% alcohol strength is certainly a dangerous but complex and tasty beer! I am not sure that was it because the glassware that was not proper for Belgian Ale, the aroma was seem a bit less intense and the foam was fading out quickly. But overall, Spencer Monk's Reserve Ale did what it should do and it definitely was a high-quality beer as good as those traditional Trappist Beers. I look forwards to trying the other products soon!

跳到宜蘭，礁溪的溫泉絕對適合啤迷浸一浸，排一排毒，但知道要到訪酒廠而酒後不可隨便亂浸溫泉，所以早上浸了一輪後就出發去 吉姆老爹啤酒工場 Jim & Dad's Brewing Company！一到步，習慣了離撚譜香港地價的我，看到工場後確實比我想像中大得多，除了有釀酒工場區、品飲區、零售區，5樓更有360度觀景台（雖然景色平平），而廠外亦有一大片戶外休憩空間，絕對適合一家大細到訪而非只適合啤迷前來暢飲。相比起香港，空間大細決定了大多數發展因素，除了某幾間資金較充裕的大廠外，大多數本地酒廠仍處於工廈裡，發展空間及方向有限，所以，起跑線果然是大部分港人面對的問題。

After that, I went to Jiaoxi, Yilan, for few days. The hot spring there was so nice and it was absolutely a good opportunity to detoxify my liver haha. In Yilan, Jim & Dad's Brewing Company is the only bucket list. When I arrived there, I was so surprised about the scale of the brewery. Probably, I live in Hong Kong that fucking crazily expensive city for too long, the space of Jim & Dad's Brewing Company is so large from my perspective. There are a brewing station, tasting room, retail shop, garden and sightseeing platform with 360 degrees view on 5/F. It is not just a spot for beer geek, but also a good relax space for family trip as well. Maybe the scale of space is common and normal in other countries, but most of the breweries in Hong Kong are just located in a floor on an industrial building. Thanks for the fucking HK government and policy that limit our creativity and economic development.

傷春悲秋完，當然要一飲解千愁！非常幸運，到訪當天有「蘭陳計畫」的桶陳啤酒系列新出品Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Red Ale，豐富的麥芽焦糖、拖肥、香草、橡木、椰子、奶油主導香氣及風味，酒體厚實且順滑，12%的酒精度伴隨明顯的酒精感是合理的，同時亦暗示著其年輕的陳釀期，但相信樽裝的Bottle Condition能令這款Imperial Red Ale更上一層。當天亦試了新鮮On Tap的Juicy Pale Ale及比較有名的Hop Bomb IPA，前者熱帶水果香味明顯，估計Dry Hopping是酒譜重點，但果汁感在味道及口感上卻略為失色，未有太到題；而後者則酒如其名，美系、新世界啤酒花風味四散，松木、花香、熱情果、柑橘、蜜瓜等表現出色，確實是一顆炸彈！

After the anger, it is always a good time to cheer! I was so lucky that there was just a new beer release from Jim & Dad's. It was Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Red Ale and that was a one of the product from the serial of barrel aging program in Jim & Dad's. Very rich and complex malty, toffee, vanilla, oaky, coconut and creamy aroma and flavor dominated the beer. Full bodied with smooth mouthfeel. Reasonable 12% alcohol level presented by an obvious alcohol warmth in the palate and throat. But, I believe that the bottled version will be more amazing after the bottle aging and conditioning. Also, Juicy Pale Ale was quite fresh and fruity, but the juiciness might be a bit absence. Probably, it focused too much on the dry hopping but forgot the balance in the mouthfeel and flavor. Moreover, Hop Bomb IPA showed a strong aroma of piny, floral, passionfruit, citrus, apricot and melon characters. A typical hoppy double IPA that was very tasty!!!

而當天亦有一件趣事值得分享，事緣生肖屬大頭蝦的女友在酒廠玩足球機時將手機放在一旁，離開時卻忘記了，之後到附近的Kavalan酒廠參觀了足足2小時才發覺，急忙打電話到酒廠查找，友善助人的員工找到了亦幫忙代為保管，當然最後我們亦成功取回，十分感謝吉姆老爹啤酒工場的員工協助！果然，台灣寶島民風純樸，治安良好，人情味依然是最大賣點。

One funny story that I can also share with you. My lovely girlfriend is always like a gold fish that does not remember what she has done. when we were playing the table football, she just put her phone next to it. However, she forgot to pick it up when we left. 2 hours later when we were visiting the close-by Kavalan Distillery, she just told me that she lost her phone. Lucky that we remembered that she had put on the table football. We just called the Jim & Dad's Brewing Company immediately to help us to find out. And thanks god, the staff were super helpful and kind, they found it and we got it back finally. Again, it proved that Taiwan is safe and tourist friendly. Local folk and people are always the main point for us to visit again and again!

不知不覺寫了洋洋千字，新一年希望能繼續寫文，繼續貢獻精釀啤酒的世界。
So surprised that I have written that much. I hope I can keep writing and drinking more good craft beers that I can share those to all of you!

希望你會喜歡我的分享！如果你欣賞我的內容，歡迎upvote, resteem和follow @benng。飲杯！
Finally, I hope you like my sharing and lease upvote, resteem, and follow @benng. One last thing, Cheers!