Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [99]
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ZALTITIS BALTIC PORTER
A unique tradition of strong lagered porters is slowly finding its way into the American brewing culture. Smooth, lagered, caramel-like with cocoa notes, this porter is rich and creamy in texture. It is a hybrid of Baltic tradition and the provocatively floral character of certain varieties of American hops. The recipe can be found in About the Recipes.
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Now there is a second thaw brought to the Baltic nations by a very special kind of global warming. It promises much hope for the reemergence of a very proud beer culture.
Wagging the Tail in China
IN 1999 there were more than 600 breweries in China. That number has more than likely shrunk dramatically, while at the same time Chinese beer production has grown from 30 million barrels in 1996 to over 200 million barrels by the year 2000. Small, dysfunctional breweries are disappearing as the transportation infrastructure improves and companies consolidate their resources to increase efficiency and profits. But at what expense?
Despite the decline of small breweries, we enjoyed beers at several brewpubs encountered on our 1999 trip through China.
Eight of us, with beer on our minds, had just finished an intensive 12-day tour of China. Our adventure had begun with a visit to the Zhongce Bejiing Beer Company, a joint venture between Japanese giant Asahi Brewing Company and the Chinese government. Vice General Manager Shuji Fukushima (speaking Japanese), Chief Engineer Youan Yan Fang (speaking Chinese) and our group (speaking English) endeavored an early-morning three-way translated discussion less than 24 hours after we had arrived from America. The experience seemed to typify the extreme and sometimes bewildering nature of our tour.
In 1999, China was on the verge of becoming the world’s largest producer of beer in the world (which it has since done), yet the complexity of our experience could be likened to an intricate quest, trying to unravel and make sense of dozens of conflicting logics and traditions of language, politics, economics and the culture of food and beverage. We had all been enjoying Chinese beer in our hotel lobby upon our arrival the day before. Jamie Johnson, our delegate from Denver, observed, “All of us had sampled the brewery’s products the previous evening and we agreed it was an excellent beer (considering we’re discussing Chinese lagers).” We enjoyed many beers! We learned two truths: (1) A multinational love of beer was quickly developing in China, and (2) the more we spent time with the Chinese and enjoyed their beer, the easier it was to unravel the emerging Chinese passion for beer. But we had to enjoy a lot of beer just to begin unraveling.
During the trip, our group met with brewers from all over China. We learned about their world and told them about ours.
There is currently a mad dash in China—a gold rush, if you will, though the gold is beer rather than metal. Most of the huge European, North American, Asian and African multinational brewing companies are there trying to carve out their own piece of the market and profits. The statistics are all there, ranking who is the largest and who has captured market share: Anheuser-Busch, Heineken, Carlsberg, Fosters, Pabst, Interbrew, Asahi, Bass, South African Breweries, San Miguel, etc.
But, alas, all these numbers take on another meaning when you discover that the average price of beer in China is 16 cents per 650-millileter (20 oz.) bottle. That doesn’t leave much room for profit and success—in the short term. The complexity of the marketplace is mind-boggling. China is not one country with a single regulating government. It is a country of regions and a great variety of people, languages and cultures.
To overcome these vast differences, the large multinational beer companies have