German beer
德國(guó)啤酒
Pure, cheap and a bit dull
酒體純凈、價(jià)格低廉，口感單調(diào)
Brash Americans plan to froth up Germany’s staid brewing business
愛(ài)出風(fēng)頭的美國(guó)人打算讓德國(guó)保守的釀酒業(yè)冒沫
Jul 26th 2014 | BERLIN | From the print edition of The Economist
譯者：veep
Quality, quantity but not much variety
質(zhì)量好、分量足，品類不多
THE dirndl-clad waitress bringing huge mugs to Lederhosen-wearing revellers at Oktoberfest is an image that, like none other, shows how central beer is to German culture. The national brewers’ association declares Germany “European Champion”. It brewed 94.4m hectolitres last year, beaten only by China, America and Brazil.
慕尼黑啤酒節(jié)上，有一個(gè)畫(huà)面是其他地方見(jiàn)不到的，身著緊身裙的女服務(wù)員給穿著皮短褲來(lái)狂歡的人端上大杯啤酒，這說(shuō)明啤酒是德國(guó)文化的中心。德國(guó)釀酒商協(xié)會(huì)宣布德國(guó)奪得“歐洲冠軍”。去年德國(guó)釀造了九千四百四十萬(wàn)升啤酒，產(chǎn)量?jī)H在中國(guó)，美國(guó)、巴西之后。
But the truth is that Germans are going off their ale. At unification in 1990, annual consumption averaged 148 litres per head; last year it was just 107 litres. Instead, they are turning to wine, which has a higher status. Connoisseurs think there is another reason for falling sales: that so many German beers are bland and indistinguishable. The country has many tiny breweries whose ales can only be had locally. Some, like the smoked beers of Bamberg in Franconia, are distinctive. But many of the small fry competently but predictably turn out a narrow range of flavours.
事實(shí)上，德國(guó)人和自己的啤酒漸行漸遠(yuǎn)。1990年，國(guó)家統(tǒng)一，平均每人每年消耗啤酒148升，去年只有107升。他們正在轉(zhuǎn)向身價(jià)更高的的葡萄酒。鑒賞家們認(rèn)為銷量下滑還有一個(gè)原因：很多德國(guó)啤酒口味平淡，品嘗起來(lái)不易區(qū)分。德國(guó)小酒坊很多，它們的啤酒只供應(yīng)本地。弗蘭克尼亞的班貝克煙熏啤酒很有特色。這些小酒坊雖然有能力，但是它們的啤酒口味不多。
Rory Lawton, an Irish beer expert in Berlin, thinks Germany’s Reinheitsgebot, or beer-purity law, is discouraging innovation. The 1516 law was intended to make it easier to tax beer, through levies on its permitted ingredients: malted barley, hops, water and, later, yeast. Centuries on, brewers began using the Reinheitsgebot as a marketing tool to promote their products as pure and authentic. If anything else is put into a brew made in Germany it cannot be called Bier, but must be labelled “alcoholic malt drink”.
愛(ài)爾蘭籍的羅里·勞頓在柏林做啤酒出口生意，他認(rèn)為德國(guó)的《純凈法》阻礙創(chuàng)新。這部法律創(chuàng)制于1516年，目的是方便征收啤酒稅，向這部法律許可的原料課稅：麥芽、啤酒花、水，后來(lái)加上了酵母。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，釀造師們把《純凈法》作為市場(chǎng)工具，推動(dòng)產(chǎn)品了純凈度和可靠性。在德國(guó)，如果往釀造的啤酒里加入其他原料，那么它就不能被稱為Bier（德語(yǔ)：啤酒），必須給它貼上“酒精麥芽飲料”的標(biāo)簽。
Today, the link between quality and the purity law seems strange outside German brewing circles, since the restriction on experimenting with ingredients has meant that the country has largely missed out on the American-led “craft beer” craze. Germany’s beer exports have been flat since 2007, whereas imports of more varied foreign beers have climbed. In America, consumption of the watery swill that passes for beer is falling, but the trade body for craft brewers reckons their sales rose by 17.2% in 2013. Two of Germany’s small neighbours, Belgium and Denmark, are also turning out exciting new brews.
今天，在德國(guó)釀酒行業(yè)之外，質(zhì)量和《純凈法》的關(guān)系似乎很奇怪，因?yàn)橄拗剖褂迷?，德?guó)在很大程度上錯(cuò)過(guò)了美國(guó)主導(dǎo)的“精釀啤酒”時(shí)尚。自2007年以來(lái)，德國(guó)啤酒出口一直不景氣，然而進(jìn)口的啤酒品類多樣，銷量攀升。在美國(guó)，口味淡如水的啤酒銷量降低，但是精釀啤酒的貿(mào)易商認(rèn)為2013年他們的銷售額增長(zhǎng)了17.3%。臨近德國(guó)的兩個(gè)小國(guó)，比利時(shí)和丹麥也在生產(chǎn)喚起人們激情的新型啤酒。
Heiner Müller of Paulaner, the Munich-based maker of Germany’s most popular Hefeweizen (cloudy, wheaty beer), argues that the Reinheitsgebot is needed because German consumers expect it. It need not be an obstacle to diversity: the varieties of hops, malt, yeast and other factors like temperature could produce over a billion beers, he says. But German brewers have largely stuck to a few traditional styles. For instance, it is hard to find porters and stouts, or the hoppy, high-alcohol brews now popular on America’s west coast.
柏龍位于慕尼黑，生產(chǎn)德國(guó)最受歡迎的酵母小麥啤酒，這家公司的員工海納·穆勒認(rèn)為《純凈法》是有必要的，它是德國(guó)消費(fèi)者的期望。他說(shuō)，《純凈法》不應(yīng)該是啤酒品類多樣化的障礙：各種啤酒花、麥芽、酵母和其他如溫度之類的因素組合起來(lái)可以制作出上百萬(wàn)種啤酒，但是，德國(guó)的啤酒釀造師大部分固守著幾樣傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)格。比如，現(xiàn)在流行于美國(guó)西海岸的波特啤酒、烈性黑啤酒、霍啤還有酒精度高的啤酒在德國(guó)很難見(jiàn)到。
Greg Koch hopes to change all this. His Stone Brewing is America’s tenth-biggest craft brewer, with sales last year of $137m. On July 19th it said it will invest $25m in a new brewery and restaurant in Berlin—the first brewery in Europe to be owned and run by an American craft brewer. Can Stone convince German palates to adapt to flavours like its Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA? Mr Koch says he did the same amount of market research he had done previously in America: “Zero.” He quotes Steve Jobs, Apple’s late boss, to the effect that customers do not know what they want until you show it to them.
Greg Koch希望改變這一切。他的石頭啤酒廠在美國(guó)的精釀啤酒廠中排行第十位，去年的銷售額為一億三千七百萬(wàn)美元。7月19日，這家公司宣布將在柏林的一家新的啤酒廠和飯店投資兩千五百萬(wàn)美元。這是歐洲第一個(gè)所有權(quán)和經(jīng)營(yíng)權(quán)歸歸美國(guó)精釀啤酒制造商的啤酒廠。石頭啤酒廠能讓德國(guó)人的口感適應(yīng)它的Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA嗎？Koch說(shuō)，之前他在美國(guó)也沒(méi)有做市場(chǎng)調(diào)查，他引用蘋果公司已故老板史蒂夫·喬布斯的話：客戶并不知道自己想要什么，而是需要你去展示給他們看。
If Stone succeeds, it may be no bad thing for the German brewers. They are under price pressure—beer is often cheaper than bottled water. (In January five big brewers were fined for trying to boost prices with a cartel.) Innovation could tempt back middle-aged, status-conscious drinkers, and get them to pay more for something new, through a link to fine dining. Many American restaurants, and ones elsewhere in Europe, have as many beers as wines on their menus. For Germans to learn lessons about beer from their neighbours and the Americans will be galling. But it might be better than hoping that the Reinheitsgebot, soon to turn 500 years old, will prop up German beer sales forever.
如果石頭啤酒廠取得成功，對(duì)德國(guó)啤酒廠來(lái)說(shuō)可能不是壞事。他們面臨價(jià)格壓力——啤酒經(jīng)常比瓶裝水便宜。（元月份五家大啤酒廠因?yàn)槁?lián)合起來(lái)試圖提價(jià)而遭到罰款。）革新能夠把注重身份的中年酒徒吸引回來(lái)，通過(guò)美食，使他們?cè)谛聳|西上花更多的錢。很多美國(guó)飯店，還有歐洲其他地方的飯店，在它們的菜單上，啤酒的品類和葡萄酒同樣多。對(duì)于德國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，從鄰國(guó)和美國(guó)人那里獲取教益會(huì)讓他們難堪。但是這要比指望著即將500歲高齡的《純凈法》會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)支持德國(guó)啤酒銷售好一點(diǎn)。
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