[转帖] [2011.12.17] Belgian beer: Brewed force 比利时啤酒酝酿实力

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http://www.ecocn.org/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=62045
Belgian beer
比利时啤酒

Brewed force
酝酿实力

How a small, unremarkable country came to dominate the world of beermaking
一个毫不起眼的小国，如何主导世界啤酒酿造业

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2011-12-29 07:39 上传
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Dec 17th 2011 | Leuven and Westvleteren | from the print edition

2011-12-28 16:37 上传
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THE Trappist Abbey of St Sixtus of Westvleteren has little to offer those wishing to gawp at ecclesiastical architecture. The 19th-century buildings—squat, brick and functional—sit on a quiet country lane amid flat farmland, close to Belgium’s border with France. Yet the vast visitors’ car park is a clue that some people nevertheless consider the abbey worth a trip. For beer lovers, St Sixtus is a place of pilgrimage.

对于那些只想要盯着宗教建筑的游客来说，位于威斯特佛兰德伦的特拉比斯特派[注1]圣西克斯塔修道院没有什么可看。该修道院位于离比利时和法国边境不远的一处平坦农地内的一条幽静乡间小道上，其砖砌建筑群都是建于19世纪，外型低矮，讲究实用。但是从院外巨大的访客停车场可以看出还是有人觉得该修道院值得一游。事实上，圣西克斯塔是啤酒爱好者的圣地。

The abbey and its most famous brew, Westvleteren 12—a dark, strong ale—have taken first or second place in an annual poll of beer enthusiasts’ favourite tipples by RateBeer.com, a widely trusted reviewing website, for the whole decade that the survey has been running. Yet exactly how the American drinkers who predominate on the site get to knock back a Westvleteren 12 is something of a mystery.

该修道院最著名的啤酒是威斯特佛兰德伦12啤酒，一种色深味浓的艾尔啤酒[注2]。RateBeer.com是一个在啤酒爱好者中口碑很好的啤酒品评网站，它从十年前开始一年一度举行排名活动，让啤酒爱好者给他们最爱的啤酒投票。自打该排名开始之后，圣西克斯塔修道院和它的威斯特佛兰德伦12每年在榜上不是第一，就是第二。但是该网站主要的使用者都是美国饮酒者，他们到底是怎么搞到一瓶威斯特佛兰德伦12痛饮的，这一点多少是个谜团。

Visit the abbey—no easy jaunt on public transport—and you can drink it to your heart’s content, or your head’s. But it is hard to buy elsewhere. The monks tightly ration takeaway sales of the tiny quantities they produce. The abbey’s website gives details of the brief windows when buyers may attempt to call with an order. If they are lucky and get through, they will be allotted a time to arrive at St Sixtus. They are then permitted to purchase two cases (four dozen 33cl bottles) in return for a solemn undertaking that the beer will not find its way to a third party.

亲自去修道院拜访（不过没有方便的公共交通可以使用），你可以喝到心满意足，或者头昏脑胀为止[注3]。但是要在别的地方买到就很难了。修道士们本身酿造的就不多，对于访客可以买走的量更是严格控制。首先买家要打该修道院的电话预约订单，接受电话预约的时间段非常短暂，其细节列在修道院的网站上。如果你运气好，电话打通了，修道院会分配给你一个特定时间前去拜访圣西克斯塔。然后你可以在离开时购买最多两箱（4打33厘升瓶装）啤酒，作为交换，你要承诺不会把这些啤酒售让给第三方。

Evidently some people are prepared to lie to a monk for the sake of beer. Cases of Westvleteren 12, on sale at