“前门到了，请您从后门下车” | S̶t̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ Change of Plans

有这么一句老北京笑话，寥寥几个字，却真正抓住了今年的精髓。

There’s an old Beijing one-liner, untranslatable, that really captures the topsy-turviness of this year:

"前门到了，请您从后门下车"

2020年已经过去大半，我们无法记录所有那些我们不得不改变路径、尝试其他门路、走弯路甚至集体撞墙的经历。毕竟这是个艰难的过程。

所以我们的想法很简单：能不能酿造出一款啤酒，能够展现上半年北京的不确定精神，让它变得非常好喝，或许还能反映出京A员工们充满变故的故事。

在很多方面我们是幸运的，但即使只是发生在京A办公室和厨房里的故事，也可以拍出一部电视剧。剧情曲折！险象环生! 黑色喜剧！

Halfway through 2020, and we can’t keep track of all the ways we’ve had to change paths, try other doors, take detours, and bang our collective heads against walls. It’s been a tough one.

So our idea was simple: can we brew a beer that could capture the uncertain spirit of Beijing in the first half of 2020, make it eminently drinkable, and perhaps reflect the stories of unexpected plans that the Jing-A staff have been swapping.

In many ways we’ve all been lucky, but even just our tales within the Jing-A offices and kitchens could fill a TV show: Plot twists! Close calls! Dark comedy!

一月份，我们还一起参加了一年一度的京A年会，为啤酒干杯，制定宏伟目标。然后......没有然后了。

我们有的人被困在北京城外无法进城；有的人婚礼被搁置；还有的人被关在酒店集中隔离，经历了多次的停留。

这一年就像自发发酵的啤酒，还在冷库里泡着。

In January, we were all together in the annual 京A nianhui, toasting to beers and setting ambitious goals. And then…well.

We’ve had staff stuck outside Beijing, unable to enter the city. Weddings were put on hold. Others went through multiple stints in centralized hotel quarantine.

The year felt like a spontaneous fermentation ale, still bubbling away in a coolship.

联合创始人Alex和他的家人经历了来自两个大陆的封锁，在室内隔离了超过6周时间。原定去新西兰、柏林、哥本哈根的酿酒计划被一一取消，唯独去纽约Other Half酿酒厂是唯一没有改变（但很危险！）的行程。

Co-founder Alex and his family went through lockdowns in two continents - stuck indoors for more than 6 weeks. Plans to brew - in New Zealand, in Berlin, in Copenhagen - were all cancelled, and a solitary trip to Other Half Brewing in New York was the sole unchanged (and dangerous!) plan.

我们将这款啤酒命名为 "计划赶不上变化"。这是关于计划如何跟不上环境，以及意外的弯路。对此，没有比Kris和Becky的旅程更能体现这一点了。

We’re calling our new beer Change of Plans – 计划赶不上变化. It’s about how plans can’t keep up with the circumstances, and about unexpected detours. Nothing captures that more, for us, than the journey Kris and Becky have been on.

京A联合创始人Kris和首席设计师Becky对2020年的规划很简单：来一场公路旅行，在北京胡同里享受夏天，练一练柔术蓝带。

Kris, Jing-A co-founder, and Becky, head designer, had a simple plan for 2020: take a roadtrip, enjoy the summer in the Beijing hutongs, break-in a blue-belt in jiujitsu.

然而2020年却把他们带到了阿姆斯特丹、隔离区、伦敦、隔离区、葡萄牙、隔离区、卢森堡和更多的待定站点。通往中国的边境关闭了，他们陷入了无休止的公路旅行中—一边远程工作，一边怀念火锅。

在伦敦，他们每天只被允许有一小时的 "户外时间"，不得不在树上做仰卧起坐、在公园里打泰拳，以此来增加运动时间。他们见证了新冠疫情席卷的城市--空荡荡的超市、诡异安静的街道、取消的航班、封锁、重开、再封锁。

计划每月一变，然后每周一变，有时每天一变。但即使在所有这些不确定因素中，有一个计划还是以某种方式成功了。

Instead, 2020 has taken them to Amsterdam, quarantine, London, quarantine, Portugal, quarantine, and Luxembourg, with more stops TBD. The borders to China closed, they’re stuck instead on an endless roadtrip – working remotely, dreaming of hotpot.

In London, they were allowed only an hour of “outdoor time” per day, which meant sneaking in exercise time by doing chin-ups on trees, and muay thai in the park. They’ve seen the entire arc of COVID madness – empty supermarkets, eerily quiet streets, cancelled flights, lockdowns, re-openings, re-lockdowns.

The plans changed monthly, then weekly, sometimes daily. But even in the midst of all this uncertainty, one plan somehow worked out.

Kris在很久以前就计划好了，要在2020年7月参加葡萄牙卡米尼亚的ArtBeerFest。6次绕道、8次飞行和15次日程变更后--他不知为何最终还是在葡萄牙度过了那个周末。节日被取消了，但酿酒师们总得酿酒--在2020年的混乱中，有一个唯一的计划保持不变。

Kris had made plans, ages ago, to be at the ArtBeerFest in Caminha, Portugal in July 2020. 6 detours, 8 flights and 15 schedule changes later – he somehow ended up in Portugal for that weekend. The fest was cancelled, but brewers gotta brew – and one sole plan remained intact in the chaos of 2020.

走了最迂回的后门才到达目的地，但也许这就是我们在这个前所未有的时代需要坚持的希望。

It took the most circuitous of back doors to get to the destination, but maybe that’s the hope we need to hold on to in these unprecedented times.

"前门到了，请您从后门下车"

计划赶不上变化，是2020年8月玩罐系列啤酒，它是通过微信语音即兴创作，跨时区酿造的作品。本周五酒头和新鲜罐装同步上线。

Change of Plans, improvised over Wechat calls and brewed across time zones, is our featured Small Batch beer for August 2020. It’ll be in fresh-filled cans and on tap starting this Friday.

 计划赶不上变化 

 CHANGE OF PLANS 

 ABV: 6.0% 

这款随机应变的IPA适合这个不可预知的时代，由Hallertau Blanc、Cascade和Nelson Sauvin三款啤酒花组合酿造而成。每一口都如同引人入胜的剧情转折，从白葡萄酒明朗的葡萄香气，到灿烂的果香，最后以泥土味的酒花苦味结束。

A quick-thinking IPA for these unpredictable times, brewed with a combination of Hallertau Blanc, Cascade and Nelson Sauvin hops. Every sip is a compelling plot twist, starting with bright notes of white wine grapes leading to zesty fruit notes, and closing with an earthy hop bitterness.