德国啤酒

　　Pure, cheap and a bit dull

　　纯正、实惠、些许沉闷

　　Brash Americans plan to froth up Germany's staid brewing business

　　急性子的美国人正准备让德国古板的啤酒酿造业“冒泡”

　　Quality, quantity but not much variety

　　质量、数量，但没有太多的花样

　　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.

　　身穿传统连衣裙的女侍应，正为身穿皮短裤的慕尼黑啤酒节狂欢者们带来了巨型啤酒杯，而这独一无二的景象就像是在告诉大家，对于德国文化来说啤酒有多么地重要。全国酿酒商协会宣布，德国夺得了“欧冠”：去年，德国啤酒厂商共生产了94.4亿升产品，仅次于中国、美国和巴西。

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　　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.

　　然而，事实上却是德国人正逐渐抛弃自己国产的啤酒。在1990年两德统一之时，德国人均年啤酒消费量为148升；而去年该指标仅为107升。相应地，他们正把目光投向葡萄酒，而后者的地位要比前者高得多。酿酒业的行家们认为令销量下降的原因还有一个：大部分德国啤酒的口味都很平淡，让人无法区分开来。德国国内有许多微型啤酒厂商，产品仅在本地供应。一些像是弗朗克尼亚产区的班贝克烟熏啤酒，则是口味独特的代表。但大部分小型酿造商都只能胜任地生产大家所熟悉了解的，变化不多的口味。

　　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”.

　　身处柏林的爱尔兰啤酒专家Rory Lawton认为，德国所制订的啤酒酿造《纯净法》（Reinheitsgebot）有碍于行业创新。这部于1516年实施的法案意图让啤酒税的征收变得更加简单，其方法就是针对啤酒原料来征税。该法案明确规定厂商只允许用四种成分来酿造啤酒：麦芽、啤酒花、水，以及后来加入其中的酵母。几百年之后，啤酒厂商开始用《纯净法》作为市场推广的武器，来标榜自己产品的纯正和经典。如果一款在德国境内制造的啤酒加入了另外的原料，那么它不能被称为啤酒，只能贴上一个“酒精麦芽饮料”的标签。

　　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.

　　如今，走出德国酿酒产业圈外，我们可以发现啤酒品质与《纯净法》的关联似乎成了件怪事。由于国内行业对原料酿造实验的限制，德国已经很大程度上错过了美国厂商带领下风靡全球的“啤酒工艺”狂热。自2007年开始，德国啤酒出口量一直在下降，然而对各种风味的外国啤酒进口量则节节攀升。2013年，“味淡如水”的啤酒销量在美国处于下跌状态，但“精心酿制”的风味啤酒厂商则取得了17.2%的销售量上涨。德国人的两位邻居，比利时和丹麦，也同样地推出了令人惊讶的新风味啤酒。

　　Heiner Müller of Paulaner, the Munich-based maker of Germany's most popular Hefeweizen, 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.

　　来自普拉纳的Heiner Müller，是一位生产德国最受欢迎的小麦啤的厂商，其公司总部位于慕尼黑。他表示，《纯净法》的必要性在于，德国消费者希望喝到纯正的啤酒，而且该法案也不会必然阻碍着多样性：各式各样的啤酒花、麦芽、酵母，以及其他一些因素如温度等，都可以酿造出成千上万种啤酒。然而，一些传统风格很大程度上阻碍了德国厂商的脚步。例如，在德国很难看得到波特啤酒、烈性啤酒，或是“啤酒花苦味啤酒”，一款目前在美国西海岸十分流行的高酒精度啤酒。

　　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希望能改变这一切。他所拥有的Stone Brewing是美国排行第十的工艺啤酒厂商，去年的销售额达到了1亿3700万美元。该公司于7月19日表示，它将在柏林投入2500万美元以成立一家新的酿酒厂和新的餐厅，而这是首次在欧洲大陆出现了美国厂商拥有并运行一家酿酒厂。Stone公司能让德国人接受它“彰显自我的印度淡啤”吗？Koch先生说，与开发美国市场的战略相同，他在德国也不会进行任何市场调查，而对此他引用斯蒂夫乔布斯的一句话来解释：消费者们并不知道他们想要什么，直到你把产品呈现在大家眼前。

　　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.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Stone公司在德国取得成功，那这对于德国啤酒厂商来说并不是什么坏事。目前，德国厂商正面临着价格压力—啤酒往往比瓶装水还便宜。通过与高档餐厅合作，创新或许能让啤酒厂商将那些比较在意自身形象的中年酒友争取回来，并让他们为了新产品而进行更多的消费。许多美国餐厅，以及在欧洲其他国家的餐厅，他们菜单上啤酒的种类就与红酒一样多。要让德国人低头向周边国家以及美国人学习，肯定会显得很丢人。然而，这也许比翘首期盼着那份即将达到“500岁”的《纯净法》要好，它可不会永远支撑着德国啤酒业。