調(diào)“啤”的美國(guó)大叔Ben

□ 文/本刊記者 賀煜

□ Article/Journalist He Yu Translator/Xue Xiaohong

Ben Brown 美國(guó)明尼蘇達(dá)州人，西雅圖大學(xué)MBA畢業(yè)，現(xiàn)定居重慶，笨精釀啤酒創(chuàng)始人、釀造師。

1.8米的個(gè)頭，戴著印有“ST.John’s”的紅色鴨舌帽，用流利的中文和店員交流工作。在重慶鵝嶺貳廠文創(chuàng)園，記者見(jiàn)到了這個(gè)在重慶小有名氣的老外Ben Brown（本·布朗），中文名叫河邊，朋友、同事都親切地稱他Ben。

“我來(lái)自美國(guó)明尼蘇達(dá)州，ST.John’s（圣約翰大學(xué)）是我的大學(xué)”。Ben指著自己的帽子介紹，他曾在重慶留學(xué)、工作過(guò)，成了重慶女婿后在重慶經(jīng)營(yíng)著一家小酒吧。2012年，他結(jié)合重慶美食的麻辣特色大膽嘗試，調(diào)制釀造出獨(dú)創(chuàng)的花椒啤酒。

In the Cultural and Creative Park of Chongqing Testbed 2, the reporter met Ben Brown, now-famous foreigner in Chongqing. He was 1.8 meters tall, wearing a red peaked cap with "ST. John's" on it, and was fluent in Chinese to communicate with shop assistants.His Chinese name is Hebian (which means riverside in Chinese). His friends and colleagues always call him Ben.

“I am from Minnesota, USA, and St. John’s University is my Alma Mater”. Ben pointed to his cap and said that he studied and worked in Chongqing. After becoming a Chongqing son-in-law, he runs a small bar in Chongqing. In 2012, he made a fresh attempt that combining the spicy taste of Chongqing cuisine to brew an original pepper beer.

生活中 In Life

他是重慶女婿，最愛(ài)重慶火鍋

會(huì)劃酒拳、愛(ài)聊天，最愛(ài)重慶火鍋。這是生活中的Ben，他自稱為重慶人。

1994年，Ben作為圣約翰大學(xué)的交換生，第一次來(lái)到重慶學(xué)習(xí)，幾個(gè)月后便回到了美國(guó)。1997年大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，他再次來(lái)渝，先后在四川外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)和渝州大學(xué)（現(xiàn)重慶工商大學(xué)）當(dāng)外教。這兩次經(jīng)歷讓他結(jié)交了許多朋友，他也愛(ài)上了重慶。2001年，Ben回到美國(guó)攻讀MBA，畢業(yè)之后他也在中國(guó)其他城市待過(guò)。直到2012年，Ben才真正扎根在重慶，因?yàn)樗⒘艘晃恢貞c姑娘。

He is the Son-in-law of Chongqing and Loves Chongqing Hot Pot Best.

He is quite good at playing finger-guessing drinking game and chatting with people, and Chongqing hot pot is his favorite.This is Ben in daily life and he calls himself a Chongqing man.

In 1994, Ben came to Chongqing for the first time as an exchange student at St. John's University and returned to the United States a few months later. After graduating from the University in 1997, he came to Chongqing again and worked as a foreign teacher in Sichuan International Studies University and Yuzhou University (now Chongqing Industrial and Commercial University). Thanks to these two experiences, he made many friends and fell in love with Chongqing. In 2001, Ben returned to the United States to study for an MBA. After graduation, he also spent time in other cities in China. It wasn’t until 2012 that Ben really settled in Chongqing, because he married a Chongqing girl.

Ben said he worked at a training institution in Chongqing in 2012 . One day, when he was running a bank business, he met Li Can, a Chongqing girl. The relationship between the two gradually developed,and they decided to marry in Chongqing. Today, their son is already 3 years old, and Ben, who can speak a Chongqing dialect, has become a "Chongqing hand."

Ben is a foreigner who is very down-to-earth . He likes the unique culture and beauty of Chongqing and prefers the food here. Barbecue and Maoxuewang (a dish of boiled blood curd and other stuff with spicy sauce) are his favorite, especially Chongqing Noodles and Chongqing Hot Pot. “Every time I go out for dinner, I will choose the hot pot restaurant, eat a spicy hot pot, chat with friends, and then play fingergussing game.It’s so interesting!”

Ben說(shuō)，2012年，他在重慶的一家培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)上班，某一天，他在銀行辦業(yè)務(wù)時(shí)結(jié)識(shí)了重慶姑娘李燦。兩人感情逐漸發(fā)展，戀愛(ài)并決定在重慶結(jié)婚。如今，他們的兒子都3歲了，能講一口重慶話的Ben成了“重慶通”。

Ben是個(gè)很接地氣的老外，他喜歡重慶特有的文化、美景，更喜歡這里的美食：燒烤、毛血旺……尤其是重慶小面和重慶火鍋?！俺鋈ゾ鄄褪走x火鍋店，吃一頓麻辣火鍋，和朋友擺龍門陣，再劃上幾拳，好耍慘了！”

Ben說(shuō)，他在重慶生活的這些年，見(jiàn)證了重慶的飛速發(fā)展。最明顯的感受就是高樓變多了，出行更方便了?！爸貞c有3000多萬(wàn)人，我的家鄉(xiāng)只有3000多人。”在Ben看來(lái)，重慶是一座非常大的城市。這座城市的美麗、開(kāi)放、包容和豪爽都深深地吸引著他。他建議重慶要面向世界加大宣傳推廣力度，讓更多人知道這座美麗的城市。

Ben喜歡跟朋友劃拳、聊天，最愛(ài)重慶火鍋。

Ben said that during his years in Chongqing, he witnessed the rapid development of Chongqing. The most obvious feeling is that there are much more tall buildings and transportation is more convenient.“Chongqing has more than 30 million people, and my hometown has only 3,000 people.” In Ben's eyes, Chongqing is a very big city and he was deeply attracted by the beauty, openness, tolerance and generosity of the city. He suggested that Chongqing should increase its publicity and promotion to the world so that more people can know about this beautiful city.

工作中 In Work

他是釀造師，自創(chuàng)花椒啤酒

愛(ài)喝酒、會(huì)釀酒，自創(chuàng)花椒啤酒。這是工作中的Ben，他愛(ài)酒，他的酒吧以他的名字命名。

巧克力帝國(guó)世濤、黑啤、巧克力黑拉格……記者在Ben的酒吧里看到，中英文酒水牌上有十幾種啤酒，而最受歡迎的當(dāng)數(shù)該店的招牌花椒啤酒。

Ben的花椒啤酒誕生于2013年。那時(shí)候，重慶市面上大多是批量生產(chǎn)、口味單一的工業(yè)啤酒。進(jìn)口啤酒可供選擇的口味也寥寥無(wú)幾，且價(jià)格較貴。這對(duì)于曾在美國(guó)精釀啤酒中心西雅圖喝慣了精釀啤酒的Ben來(lái)說(shuō)根本不滿足。于是，在朋友的建議和指點(diǎn)下，Ben開(kāi)始自學(xué)釀酒。

“釀啤酒不難，普通人都能學(xué)會(huì)最簡(jiǎn)單的釀造方法。但要追求更高品質(zhì)的啤酒口味，就很難了。”Ben說(shuō)，釀造啤酒最關(guān)鍵的步驟在于發(fā)酵，在10至20天的發(fā)酵過(guò)程中必須保持酒桶的溫度恒定。重慶的夏天酷熱又漫長(zhǎng)，這讓他很苦惱，不得不費(fèi)盡心力反復(fù)嘗試。

He is a Brewer and Developed Pepper Beer by Himself.

He likes to drink and can brew wine, and developed the pepper beer. This is Ben in work. He loves wine and beer. His bar is named after him.

Imperial Chocolate Stout, Stout, Chocolate Black Lager... The reporter saw that in Ben's Bar, there are more than a dozen beers on the Chinese and English liquor brands, and the most popular one is the bar's speciality - pepper beer.

Ben夫婦定居重慶。

不過(guò)，對(duì)于釀酒，重慶也有優(yōu)勢(shì)。精釀啤酒的一大特色就是常常加入具有本地特色的原料，而重慶豐富的特色原材料，極大地豐富了Ben的想象。最終，他選擇了代表重慶麻辣性格的花椒。從紅花椒到青花椒，Ben通過(guò)嘗試不同的材料、調(diào)整釀制方式，并結(jié)合朋友品嘗反饋的意見(jiàn)，最終成功調(diào)制出口味純正的花椒啤酒。

Ben在調(diào)制花椒啤酒。

起初，Ben的花椒啤酒只用于朋友聚會(huì)，喝過(guò)的朋友都覺(jué)得不錯(cuò)，并鼓勵(lì)他經(jīng)營(yíng)一家酒吧。2017年10月，Ben的酒吧開(kāi)業(yè)了，花椒啤酒自然就成店里的招牌，酒吧也成了他和老友聚會(huì)、結(jié)識(shí)新朋友的好地方。

Ben的花椒啤酒并沒(méi)有想象中的濃烈花椒味，而是微甜、很香?，F(xiàn)在這種花椒啤酒比較受歡迎，已有量產(chǎn)的瓶裝啤酒上市。很多游客都會(huì)慕名前去品嘗，有的還會(huì)購(gòu)買帶走?！澳壳埃覀兊昀镉?8種精釀啤酒，其中有近一半是自釀。接下來(lái)，我還會(huì)考慮釀造辣椒啤酒、薄荷啤酒、八角啤酒，甚至折耳根啤酒等。”Ben說(shuō)，他打算結(jié)合重慶特色不斷豐富啤酒種類，做重慶最好喝的精釀啤酒。

圖片/受訪者提供

Ben's pepper beer was born in 2013. At that time, most of the commercial beer in Chongqing was mass-produced and tasted.Imported beer has few flavors to choose from and is more expensive. This is not enough for Ben, who used to drink craft beer in Seattle, the American Brewery Center. So Ben began to learn how to brew by himself with the advice of his friends.

“It’s not difficult to brew beer. Ordinary people can learn the simplest method of brewing. But it’s hard to pursue higher quality beer flavors.” Ben said that the most critical step in brewing beer is fermentation, and the temperature of the barrel must be kept constant during 10 to 20 days of fermentation. However, summer in Chongqing is very hot and long, which upsets him. He has no choice but try it over and over again.

However, Chongqing also has advantages in brewing beer. One of the characteristics of craft beer is that it often adds local characteristics of raw materials, which greatly opens Ben’s eyes. In the end, he chose the pepper, which represents the spicy character of Chongqing. From Chinese red pepper to Chinese green pepper, Ben successfully created a pure pepper beer by trying with different materials,adjusting brewing methods and integrating feedback from friends.

At first, Ben’s pepper beer was only available in his friends’ parties. Friends who had drunk it all felt good and encouraged him to run a bar. In October 2017, Ben's bar opened, and pepper beer became the signature dish of the bar. The bar also became a good place for him to meet old friends and make new friends.

Ben’s pepper beer is slightly sweet and fragrant,rather than the intense pepper flavor. Now this kind of pepper beer is so popular that mass-produced bottled pepper beer hit the market. Many tourists will come to enjoy it, and some will buy it and take it away. "At present, there are 18 kinds of brewed beer in our bar, nearly half of which are self-brewed. In the next step, I will consider brewing pepper beer, mint beer, star anise beer, and even herba houttuyniae beer. Ben said he intends to combine Chongqing's characteristics to enrich beer varieties and make the best brewed beer in Chongqing.