Reasons for the popularity of craft beer

The more bitter the craft beer is, the better it sells, which stems from the benign self-abuse psychology of human beings.

Beer is not only an energy-providing drink, but also a social drink, which is the carrier for you to express yourself and be accepted by society. If you can appreciate a very small thing, even in a masochistic way, then you will get a unique sense of satisfaction. This is why the more bitter the craft beer is, the more popular it is.

"PlinytheYounger" Pliny's Indian Aier beer is produced by a local Russian River brewery. The 2009 batch was sold out in a week. 20 10 these 40 barrels disappeared at the speed of 8 hours, so it became the first place in the BeerAdvocate list of craft beer lovers' website.

When the products of big brands such as Budweiser and Carlsberg are getting lighter and lighter, the craft beer industry is busy flying in the other direction. This kind of beer with many hops, high alcohol content and bitter taste is being praised by more and more people. The United States, Britain, Germany and other traditional beer countries are all like this, and even Asian countries such as China and Japan have such signs.

Some people are born with strange smells: stinky tofu, moldy cheese ... these incredible foods are not lacking in fans all over the world. However, people's love for sweetness and hatred for bitterness are the same. From the perspective of evolutionary chemistry, this makes sense. Many bitter things have no nutritional value, as long as they don't poison people, so this preference is actually protecting ourselves. As long as we put bitter things on our tongue, we will involuntarily spit them out, or secrete a lot of saliva to dilute them. If something harmless and bitter is injected directly into the stomach, most people will start to feel sick immediately.

From this point of view, drinking bitter beer is just like drinking black coffee, drinking lemon juice and eating Chili, which is a bit abnormal. No rational person will deliberately torture himself. So, why can we accept and even enjoy these unpleasant smells?

"The stronger the danger signal from the body, the greater the pleasure after safety."

For beer, its alcohol can make us excited, which is pleasant. Bitter and strong beer has a high alcohol content. For example, Pliny Jr., 1 1% alcohol content can be comparable to that of red wine. The pursuit of rich foam may be because it can soften those strong flavors. Similarly, the stimulation of caffeine is one of the reasons why tea and coffee attract us, just as people can tolerate the acridity of tobacco to nicotine.

Beer is also associated with another thing that animals like: carbohydrates. Professor Polka of monell Chemical Sensory Center in Philadelphia did an experiment: If rats were fed two different flavors, one of which was mixed with carbohydrates, they would soon like it. Even if those carbohydrates are injected directly into their intestines, they are not eaten at the same time as the fragrance. Bocha and his colleagues also found that if a person is not interested in iced tea, but takes a pill that can automatically release carbohydrates in his stomach when drinking iced tea, he will have a good impression on iced tea.

Bitter and thick beer usually contains more malt and can release a lot of sugar. Moreover, if we come into contact with something frequently, our goodwill towards it will increase, which psychologists call "pure exposure". In addition, hops not only bring bitterness, but also trigger some pleasant aromas: floral, pine and citrus. Some people even say that bitter beer has the aroma of marijuana-this makes sense, hops themselves belong to the cannabis family.

But Professor Luo Jin of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia believes that some deeper reasons have not been discovered. He pointed out that evolutionary history has been encouraging people to contact more new senses, although our hearts are mixed with curiosity and fear. An invisible berry may be a new food source or it may kill you. If we eat something suspiciously bitter and nothing happens, it means that we have made a new discovery, and excitement will replace fear.

Professor Luo Jin called this phenomenon "benign masochism". "It's like bungee jumping for excitement," he said. "The stronger the danger signal from the body, the greater the pleasure after safety." As far as our current knowledge is concerned, human beings are the only species that will be so masochistic for pleasure.

Belligi, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, also gave evidence. When humans have unpleasant feelings, even if that feeling comes from the tongue, the brain will quietly release a chemical similar to opium, which is the same as the brain reaction when humans are happy. In other words, "people's happiness system and pain system overlap, and once stimulated repeatedly, they will become more and more active." And suffering is just a stimulus. "Belligi explained.

So, those young people queue up to buy drinks early in the morning just to satisfy some primitive impulse of human beings? Maybe, but there must be a more urgent motive for bitter beer to become popular in such a short time.

"When they drink those expensive beers instead of staple food, they also convey a sense of superiority and extraordinary taste."

Shiruzo, the owner of Russian River Winery, is undoubtedly the first witness to this trend. In the 1990s, he began to brew a DoubleIPA, and few people were interested at that time. "I can tell you responsibly that most of those beers were drunk by ourselves." He recalled. Up to now, double Indian ale has become one of the fastest growing categories. In the eyes of beer connoisseurs, this kind of beer, once considered too bitter to eat, is now only an entry-level drink.

Speaking of "expert" and "layman", it involves another problem: beer is not only an energy-providing drink, but also a social drink, which is the carrier for you to express yourself and be accepted by society. According to Professor Thomalla of Stanford Business School, if you can appreciate a very small thing, even in a masochistic way, then you will get a unique sense of satisfaction.

In addition, bitter beer is more expensive, which is also one of the reasons. Professor Plasman of California Institute of Technology did research in 2007. People really believe that the same wine is more delicious when poured from a bottle with a price of 90 dollars than when put in a bottle with a price of 10 dollars. This is not only the subjective score of the tester, but also their brain activity through fMRI scanning. "When they drink those expensive beers instead of staple food, they also convey a sense of superiority and extraordinary taste." Plesmann said.

These advantages may explain why these limited-edition craft beers have developed so rapidly, although they still belong to a niche consumer product. Light and refreshing beer still occupies the main market-the public likes their easy-to-eat taste and advertisements full of beautiful women.

This also makes Loewis, a retired professor in the Department of Brewing Science at the University of California, worry that the craft beer industry will go to a dead end because of too much emphasis on niche. "I warned them not to make wine only for those freaks who only live for beer and write beer reviews on the website every day. God bless them, but this consumer group is too limited after all! "

Limited, this is natural, but this market also has infinite and lasting vitality. Bram spent six years in the bar of Russian River Winery Station, and lamented the charm of craft beer many times. Once a guest came here to try an unknown bitter beer under the repeated recommendation of a friend. "He wants to vomit at the first sip, and he can't help but order a cup every day." Bram recalled, "Two weeks later, he was hopelessly addicted to this beer."