Craft beer’s popularity has exploded in the U.S. in recent decades, leading to soaring production and the creation of thousands of new breweries.

近幾十年來，精釀啤酒在美國的受歡迎程度呈爆炸式增長，產(chǎn)量飆升，并催生了數(shù)千家新釀酒廠。

Much of that growth has come at the expense of traditional brewing giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors.

這種增長在很大程度上是以安海斯-布希英博(Anheuser-Busch InBev)和米勒康勝(MillerCoors)等傳統(tǒng)啤酒巨頭的損失為代價(jià)的。

（注：精釀啤酒用來區(qū)別于大部分常見的工業(yè)啤酒［青島、雪花、燕京、百威、喜力、嘉士伯］。這和其口味是苦是甜，是香是酸，酒精度的高低與否，并沒有直接關(guān)系）

Setting the scene

設(shè)置場景

The scene of my experiment was a bar, University of Beer, in the college town of Davis, California, where I study. Over the course of more than a month, I recruited 301 patrons of the bar for my experiment.

我實(shí)驗(yàn)的場景是一個(gè)酒吧，啤酒大學(xué)，在加州戴維斯大學(xué)城，我在那里學(xué)習(xí)。在一個(gè)多月的時(shí)間里，我招募了301名酒吧顧客來做我的實(shí)驗(yàn)。

Participants began the experiment by selecting the beer they would most like to order from the venue’s rotating list of 60 brews on tap. Then I presented them with a list of 10 randomly selected beers from the menu.

實(shí)驗(yàn)開始時(shí)，參與者從60種啤酒中選擇他們最想點(diǎn)的啤酒。然后我從菜單上隨機(jī)挑選了10種啤酒，給他們看。

For each, I asked participants what they’d be willing to pay for the random beer so that they wouldn’t care whether they received it or their original selection – that is, whatever price would make them happy with either choice.

對于每一種，我都問參與者愿意為隨機(jī)購買的啤酒支付多少錢，這樣他們就不在乎是收到了它還是他們最初的選擇——也就是說，無論價(jià)格如何，他們都會對這兩種選擇感到滿意。

Participant responses revealed an array of “l(fā)ocal” qualifiers – proximity was included in most definitions but some also cited production size or brewery ownership.

參與者的回答顯示了一系列“本地”限定詞——大多數(shù)定義中都包含了接近性，但也有一些定義提到了生產(chǎn)規(guī)?；蚱【茝S所有權(quán)。

Frequently, a participant’s definition of “l(fā)ocal” was inconsistent with the beers they actually deemed “l(fā)ocal.”

通常，參與者對“本地”的定義與他們實(shí)際認(rèn)為的“本地”啤酒不一致。

To circumvent these inconsistencies, I did not adopt a universal definition of the term. Instead, a beer was considered “l(fā)ocal” if an individual identified it as such.

為了避免這些不一致，我沒有采用這個(gè)術(shù)語的普遍定義。相反，如果一個(gè)人認(rèn)為啤酒是“本地的”，那么它就被認(rèn)為是“本地的”。

I also needed to separate “beer geeks” from average consumers.

我還需要把“啤酒怪才”和普通消費(fèi)者區(qū)分開來。

Not everyone is equally enthusiastic about craft beer. Some care deeply about their beer, such as where it comes from and who produces it. Others simply want something tasty.

并不是每個(gè)人都對精釀啤酒有同樣的熱情。有些人非常關(guān)心他們的啤酒，比如它來自哪里，誰生產(chǎn)。其他人只是想要一些好喝的東西。

I hypothesized that these different types of consumers would likely have distinct preferences for craft versus macro and local versus non-local beer. To identify and sort participants, I administered a quiz at the end of the experiment to test their knowledge of craft brewery locations and ownership.

我假設(shè)，這些不同類型的消費(fèi)者可能對精釀啤酒和宏釀啤酒、本地啤酒和非本地啤酒有不同的偏好。為了識別和分類參與者，我在實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)束時(shí)進(jìn)行了一個(gè)測試，以測試他們對手工釀酒廠的位置和所有權(quán)的了解。

Putting a price on local beer

給本地啤酒定價(jià)

My findings unequivocally show that consumers prefer local beer – however they define it.

我的研究結(jié)果明確表明，無論消費(fèi)者如何定義，他們都更喜歡本地啤酒。

But how much do they prefer it – that is, how much are they willing to pay extra to have a local over a non-local brew?

但是他們更喜歡喝多少呢?也就是說，比起非本地的啤酒，他們愿意多花多少錢來買一杯本地的呢?

Unfortunately I have to give a boring economist’s answer: That depends.

不幸的是，我不得不給出一個(gè)無聊的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的答案：這要視情況而定。

Finally, do “crafty” beers that are owned by Big Beer fetch the same premium as certified craft beer? Typically, no.

最后，大型啤酒公司生產(chǎn)的“精釀”啤酒是否能與經(jīng)過認(rèn)證的精釀啤酒獲得同樣的溢價(jià)?通常,并不會。

Of the Big Beer companies, I found that only Founders Brewing Company, now partially owned by Mahou San Miguel, was able to extract premiums from consumers similar to the ones independent craft brews obtained.

在大型啤酒公司中，我發(fā)現(xiàn)只有創(chuàng)始者釀造公司(Founders Brewing Company)能夠從消費(fèi)者那里獲得與獨(dú)立精釀啤酒類似的溢價(jià)，而該公司目前由瑪侯啤酒部分擁有。

The other “crafty” beers in my study, however, couldn’t command the same premiums. In fact, I found that consumers wanted to pay $0.72 to $1.04 less per pint for a craft beers owned by other Big Beer companies relative to one owned by an independent brewery.

然而在我的研究中，其他“精釀”啤酒卻不能獲得同樣的溢價(jià)。事實(shí)上，我發(fā)現(xiàn)，相對于一家獨(dú)立啤酒廠擁有的精釀啤酒，其他大型啤酒公司擁有的“精釀啤酒”，消費(fèi)者希望每品脫少花0.72美元至1.04美元。

So unless you’re a beer geek like me, you probably don’t care if your artisanal ale is “Brewer’s Association certified craft.” But beer geek or not, when drinking your favorite type of ale or lager, you probably prefer that Big Beer doesn’t brew it.

所以，除非你是像我這樣的啤酒迷，否則你可能不在乎你的啤酒是否是“啤酒商協(xié)會認(rèn)證的精釀啤酒”。

評論翻譯

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.ltaaa.com 轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處


Andrew Shead
Where I live used to be a wasteland as far as beer is concerned when I had to brew my own. Since then things have changed. Now we have a dozen or more local breweries. Also, we get a lot of good import beer for which I am prepared to pay a premium like Fullers ESB, and a variety from Innes & Gunn.

就啤酒而言，我生活的地方曾經(jīng)是一片荒地，當(dāng)時(shí)我不得不自己釀造啤酒。從那時(shí)起，一切都變了。現(xiàn)在我們有十幾家本地釀酒廠。此外，我們還有很多進(jìn)口的好啤酒，我準(zhǔn)備為此支付額外的費(fèi)用，如Fullers ESB和Innes&Gunn的各種啤酒。

JBBH
logged in via Twitter
How can I get a job like yours?

我怎么才能找到像你這樣的工作呢?

Eric Smith
Being an Australian I can’t bring myself to drink anything made or owned by Carlton United Breweries, who themselves are owned by A-B InBev. Their profits typically exceed $2 billion every financial year but they pay no corporate tax in Australia.

作為一個(gè)澳大利亞人，我不能讓自己喝任何由卡爾頓聯(lián)合釀酒廠（Carlton United Breweries）生產(chǎn)或擁有的飲料，因?yàn)樗麄冏约阂矊儆诎偻⒉?AB InBev) 。他們的利潤通常在每個(gè)財(cái)政年度超過20億美元，但在澳大利亞他們不繳納公司稅。