WEEK 63---Beer is nothing more than CHEAP-TASTELESS cold quick drink?

This is a back-dated piece--by no means trying to tell anyone that craft beer is expensive--or craft beer is so rare or hard to get---perhaps more of a reverse psychology piece? :)

At a craft beer bar in Tokyo city center, i was sitting next to a guy from the States--and started to talk:-

Mr.states "this place is quite pricey, i very seldom come"

and he went on "like this XXX beer and that XX beer--i could get it at much cheaper prices back home in the states..."

I replied(with a smile) "Maybe because Tokyo is an expensive city? and these beers do need air tickets or ferry tickets to arrive here at the bar?..."

"beer comes in a box like that? wow.."response from a newbie

这酒有点贵？

东京一家CRAFT BEER专卖吧，身旁坐着一位洋人。既然大家都一个人在喝，难免聊起来。

洋先生：“这间蛮贵的，我很少来。”

这家酒吧在东京以致撞意啤酒界蛮有名气，多年来以独家入口美国啤酒为主。

洋先生继续“像XX牌子，还有那个XXX牌子美国啤酒，我在家乡可以用便宜好多的价钱喝到。”

我说“可能因为东京租金比较贵？而且现在喝着的美国啤酒也是需要付机票或船票钱才能来到这里，比美国本地贵是没办法的吧？”

不只东京，在东南亚，港台等地，撇开各城市入口税务大不同造成的差价不说，只说价格的话，完全没听说过没喝过CRAFT BEER的消费者会觉得惊讶，怎么啤酒卖那么贵？

不同于普通大厂啤酒的产品单调划一，加上连年无休止的生产供应，CRAFT BEER的产量有限，然而，不同品牌类别啤酒却很多很多，基本概念是，如果大厂啤酒是一个集装箱的铅笔，那么CRAFT BEER就是一小盒颜色笔，数量不多，变化却可以很多。

全世界喜欢喝CRAFT BEER的朋友都面对着不同程度的供应/需求问题。这是没办法的，不是每个人都住在自己喜欢酿坊附近或方圆100公里以内。如果你喜欢的啤酒在几千或几万公里之外酿造，那就准备付啤酒的机票，船票钱吧。（当然还有税务，开销成本等）

how often does ASIA get to see this beauty?

The thing about craft beer is--not only in Tokyo where property prices is obviously very high( hence adding up to business costs such as rental and so on)--in fact the whole of Asia--if we were to ignore price difference caused by different taxes between various Asia countries---the TRUTH is ---some harder to get/highly regarded craft beer can be quite expensive--to the extent of shocking those who always think beer is just something you could always easily get from local super market for a few quid.

The fact is---if you do not live within a reasonable driving radius of your favourite breweries---then be prepared to pay for the air tickets/shipping cost and other associated business costs of a Beer.

*Question --would you rather spend the same amount of money drinking 24 bottles of boring one dimensional Macro commercial beer or say just drink 6 to maybe 10 bottles of craft beer where each would have different taste profile, giving your palate some new experiences?

some are willing to pay an arm or leg for these two...:)

啤酒也有炒卖的

跟其他酒类相比，啤酒价格显得很便宜，跟葡萄酒或威士忌的收藏投资（也有人说是炒卖）市场价格比起来，啤酒价格更微不足道，

那是一般大众认知中的啤酒。CRAFT BEER的世界，虽然绝大多数啤酒价格相宜，不过，也有价格不算便宜的酿品。

大家都听说过葡萄酒或威士忌可以卖上万美元到几十万美元这回事，也可能知道有收藏投资美酒这回事。

不过，如果说一瓶啤酒，要价几百到1000美元以上，是不是觉得不可思议？

是的，“收藏投资”这事情也在CRAFT BEER圈发生着，只是，对一些啤迷来说，这种行为更多被视为“炒卖”，就像房地产那样，炒。卖。

跟世上很多东西的经济原理一样，物以稀为贵。有人会问，付几百上千美元喝一支啤酒值得吗？这其实已不是价格问题，而是啤迷好奇心，欲望，厚利之间的追逐，有人觉得偏离撞意啤酒文化精神，也有人乐此不疲在买卖着。

这么说，CRAFT BEER是贵价的玩意？其实不是，只要不是在黑市极力追求那些大名鼎鼎稀有难找啤酒，一般情况下，很多时候买CRAFT BEER回家喝或在一些瓶子店专卖吧喝会比去夜店或高级餐厅喝单调普通大厂啤酒更便宜。

至于啤酒炒卖市场，就留给欲望玩家们自个热闹去吧。

a language perhaps the brewers don't use daily? what matters most is the content-- though name or packaging is part of the fun

We all know people "invest" in wine, whisky, bourbon and so on, in that part of the world---it is quite common to hear people  paying quite a lot of money( from few thousands to few hundred thousands USD) for a bottle of vintage.....

Well--the same scenario is happening in the world of craft beer--people trade--buy and sell--quite a varieties of harder to find beers--and it is not uncommon to see a bottle of beer changing hands for a few hundred USD....(or higher?)

trying to secure limited releases--that's part of the pain and fun for geeks

It is basic economics at work---limited supply of a certain beer met with the strong desire or curiosity of beer chaser....or in some cases--it's where the GREED of seller for a handsome premium is met with the overwhelming HUNGER to own of the buyer.

*the thing is----if you are not into chasing rare beers--big big name bottles--then craft beer is in fact something very affordable--it can be cheaper than drinking crappy Macro beers in popular restaurants or clubbing places in town.