◇ 文 |本刊記者 胡 婷 圖 | 游 宇

鵝嶺印制二廠內(nèi)有個(gè)酒吧，叫“笨精釀啤酒”，店名“笨”取自老板名字Ben的諧音。店里主打精釀啤酒，啤酒都是由Ben自己釀制。

五月的一個(gè)下午，我們?cè)诘昀镆?jiàn)到了胖胖的Ben，中等身材，戴著一頂紅色的鴨舌帽，笑起來(lái)眼睛瞇成一條縫。他一邊忙著給顧客點(diǎn)單，一邊在吧臺(tái)接酒。

把事業(yè)與家庭扎根在重慶的Ben，一臉的踏實(shí)和幸福。

Inside E’ling Printing Plant No.2 there is a bar called“Stupid Craft Beer”, whose first character is taken from the Chinese homonym of the owner’s name Ben. Its leading drink is the craft beer brewed by Ben himself.

One afternoon in May, we met Ben in his bar. A man of medium build, he was wearing a red cap and laughing wholeheartedly when he was busy in taking orders from and delivering drinks to customers.

Ben took his career and family roots in Chongqing,showing on his face contentment and happiness.

為一碗老麻抄手學(xué)習(xí)中文 Learning Chinese for “Laoma Wonton”

Ben說(shuō)著一口流利的重慶話，讓人驚嘆不已。

原來(lái)，他也算“老重慶”了，早在1994年，Ben就作為交換生來(lái)到西南師范大學(xué)（現(xiàn)西南大學(xué)）。1997年，Ben再次回到重慶，在四川外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué)做外教。

Ben說(shuō)，剛來(lái)重慶做交換生時(shí)，還不會(huì)講漢語(yǔ)，更說(shuō)不了重慶話。直到1997年再次回到重慶，Ben才因?yàn)橐煌肜下槌珠_(kāi)始慢慢學(xué)習(xí)中文。

“我和一位同事在川外一家餐館吃飯，同事給我點(diǎn)了碗老麻抄手，太好吃了。”Ben為了第二天能獨(dú)自到餐館點(diǎn)上一碗老麻抄手，就開(kāi)始跟朋友學(xué)習(xí)中文。“我要一兩老麻抄手?！边@是Ben學(xué)會(huì)的第一句中文。

連續(xù)在這家店里吃了5天的老麻抄手后，Ben成功地點(diǎn)了一份蛋炒飯。從那以后，Ben能說(shuō)的中文越來(lái)越多，吃飯點(diǎn)菜也不在話下了。

2001年，B en去了西雅圖，一邊工作，一邊念MBA。2012年，在西雅圖大學(xué)念完MBA后，Ben第三次來(lái)到重慶，成了一家投資公司的國(guó)際戰(zhàn)略部經(jīng)理。

在西雅圖讀書(shū)期間，Ben喜歡喝當(dāng)?shù)氐木勂【?。?lái)到重慶后，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)并沒(méi)有精釀啤酒。于是，他便到成都找那位化學(xué)專業(yè)的美國(guó)朋友Brian，學(xué)習(xí)釀精釀啤酒。

It is simply astonishing to see Ben speaking fluent Chongqing dialect.

It turns out that the story between him and Chongqing goes way back. As early as 1994, Ben came to the Southwest Normal University (now Southwest University) as an exchange student. In 1997, Ben returned to Chongqing and worked as a foreign teacher at Sichuan International Studies University (SISU).

Ben said that when he first came here as an exchange student, he could not speak Chinese at all, let alone the Chongqing dialect. When he returned here again in 1997, he gradually started to learn Chinese for the “Hot and Spicy Minced Meat Wonton”.

“I was dinning with a colleague in a restaurant outside SISU and he ordered for me the ‘Laoma Wonton’. It was incredible.” In order to order it on his own the next day, he started to learn Chinese from his friends. "I want the ‘Laoma Wonton’" –this was the first Chinese sentence Ben mastered.

After five days in a row having the same thing in the same place, Ben managed to order the “Fried Rice with Eggs”. Since then, Ben has been able to grasp more and more Chinese, and ordering food became a piece of cake.

In 2001, Ben went to study for an MBA at Seattle University while working. In 2012, after completing it, Ben came to Chongqing for the third time and worked as the manager of the international strategy department of an investment company.

While studying in Seattle, Ben enjoys drinking local craft beer. And when he came to Chongqing,he discovered that there was no craft beer here. So he went to Chengdu to learn about brewing it from Brian, an American friend who majored in chemistry.

“在重慶，我有一個(gè)家” “A Home in Chongqing”

酒吧的一面墻上，貼滿了Ben在重慶拍的老照片。第三次來(lái)到重慶時(shí)，Ben發(fā)現(xiàn)眼前的重慶讓他有些不認(rèn)識(shí)了?！拔野l(fā)現(xiàn)這里什么都變了，就只有人和火鍋沒(méi)變。”Ben說(shuō)起重慶的變化震驚不已。

Ben還發(fā)現(xiàn)曾經(jīng)的重慶“棒棒”，現(xiàn)在也慢慢消失了?！啊渡匠前舭糗姟防锍霈F(xiàn)的老重慶街景我都熟悉，比如老華新街車站，電視里客串的兩個(gè)老外還是我朋友。”說(shuō)到“棒棒”，Ben居然跟我們聊起了那部曾經(jīng)火遍山城的電視劇《山城棒棒軍》。

“重慶以前好多梯坎，爬坡上坎不經(jīng)意間就鍛煉了身體。”Ben回憶起上世紀(jì)90年代，因?yàn)榕笥褌兌甲≡谄甙藰?，去他們家都要爬樓梯，僅1997年他就瘦了20斤。

“本以為這次回來(lái)也會(huì)瘦，結(jié)果反而胖了?，F(xiàn)在大家都是住在很高的電梯房里，到二廠上班，直接打出租車，如果我愿意，我可以讓車直接開(kāi)到店門(mén)口，運(yùn)動(dòng)的時(shí)間自然少了?！?Ben說(shuō)得很實(shí)在。

伴隨著愈來(lái)愈越發(fā)達(dá)和便捷的交通，Ben也發(fā)現(xiàn)重慶的樓房越修越高，“我老家明尼蘇達(dá)州最高也只有二十層，這里的房子動(dòng)不動(dòng)就是三四十層?！?/p>

怎么解讀Ben跟重慶的緣分？這是個(gè)問(wèn)題——第二次到重慶，Ben學(xué)會(huì)了重慶話；第三次來(lái)，Ben在重慶遇到了愛(ài)情，并在這里安了家。

2012年，Ben回到重慶那一年，妻子李燦當(dāng)時(shí)在觀音橋一家銀行做柜員。Ben去辦業(yè)務(wù)，對(duì)她一見(jiàn)鐘情，便開(kāi)始找各種各樣的理由搭訕?！暗刂凡挥浀昧?，幫我指一下路?！薄懊艽a忘了怎么辦？”“如果我要晚上取款，銀行關(guān)門(mén)了，應(yīng)該怎么辦？”

自然而然地，在Ben的追求下，他和重慶姑娘李燦走到了一起。2014年9月，Ben成了家，兒子現(xiàn)在都已經(jīng)兩歲了。

“飯里炒蔬菜肉，加上黑胡椒和進(jìn)口的一些香料?；旧隙际菭Z飯類?！逼拮永顮N在一旁吐槽Ben的廚藝，“慢慢地，他的重慶菜開(kāi)始做得有模有樣，辣子雞丁、回鍋肉、宮保雞丁，都是他的拿手菜。當(dāng)然，也有失手的時(shí)候，就在上個(gè)月，炒個(gè)熗炒藤菜，干海椒放多了，把全家人都嗆到屋外面去站了十多分鐘?！?/p>

On one wall of the bar are old photos taken by Ben in Chongqing. When he came here for the third time, he noticed that somehow Chongqing is different. "Everything here but people and hotpot has changed.” Ben was taken aback by the changes.

He also noticed that the Chongqing "Bang Bang"(porters that carry people’s luggage mainly with bamboo sticks and ropes) he used to see frequently are disappearing. “I’m familiar with all the old Chongqing streets that appear in the teleplay Porters in the Mountain City, such as the Laohua New Street Station. And the two foreigners in it are my friends.”It’s just amazing to see Ben talking about that hit in Chongqing.

“There used to be a lot of stairs everywhere,and climbing them is unintended exercise.” As Ben recalls the 1990s, he has to climb many stairs every time he visits his friends who live on the 7th or 8th floors. And the result from that is, in 1997 alone, he lost 10 kilograms.

“I figured that maybe this time I would lose weight too, but truth is, it went the other way. Now everyone lives in high buildings with elevators, and when I go to work, I would take a taxi. And I can tell the driver to stop right in front of my bar if I want to. So, naturally, there is less time for exercise.”O(jiān)bviously, that is true.

With the more and more developed and convenient transportation, Ben also found that the buildings in Chongqing are getting higher. “In my hometown, Minnesota, the buildings have only 20 floors at the highest, but here it’s thirty to forty floors at least.”

How to understand Ben’s connection to Chongqing? That is a question. On his second visit,he learned the Chongqing dialect; on the third, he fell in love and got settled.

In 2012, Ben returned to Chongqing. His wife, Li Can, was a teller at a bank in Guanyinqiao back then.When Ben went there to get something done, he fell in love with her at first sight and started looking for many reasons just to talk to her. "I don’t remember my address. Would you help me?" "What should I do? I forgot my password." "If I want to withdraw money at night and the bank is closed, what should I do then?"

Bit by bit, with his sincere heart, he finally won her love. In September 2014, they got married and now they have a two-year-old son.

"Fried rice with vegetables and meat, some black pepper and imported spices – That’s mostly what he does." Ben’s wife, Li Can, is commenting on his cooking. "Gradually, he makes better Chongqing cuisine, such as Spicy Diced Chicken,Double Cooked Pork Slices, and Kung Pao Chicken etc. Certainly, there were days he didn’t do so well.Last month, he tried to make the Quick Fried Water Spinach, but he put too much dried chili in it, so the whole family had to leave the house and stood outside for more than ten minutes."

釀出重慶味的“花椒啤酒” The “Sichuan Pepper Craft Beer” with Chongqing Flavor

店鋪面積不大，75平方米的樣子，工業(yè)風(fēng)的裝修。吧臺(tái)正前方，有18個(gè)酒柱，排成一排，Ben一按開(kāi)關(guān)，啤酒就從酒柱流出。

“這都都是我釀的精釀啤酒。”Ben一臉自豪，他釀酒的地方就在吧臺(tái)正對(duì)面的一個(gè)角落。角落里，Ben收拾出了一個(gè)地方，放置著釀酒的裝置：兩個(gè)不銹鋼桶，依次是熱水桶、糖化桶。

早上十點(diǎn)，Ben就開(kāi)始釀酒了。麥芽磨碎后，放在熱水桶中煮沸，煮沸后的麥芽汁進(jìn)入了糖化桶。等麥芽汁在冷卻器冷卻后，才進(jìn)入發(fā)酵桶，兩個(gè)星期后，啤酒就算釀成了。

說(shuō)起來(lái)簡(jiǎn)單，在重慶開(kāi)始釀啤酒時(shí)，Ben直言重慶的天氣讓他很苦惱，尤其是夏天，他花費(fèi)了大量時(shí)間在各種降溫方式上。與我們交談之時(shí)，Ben不時(shí)會(huì)走到熱水桶前，看看溫度表上水的煮沸溫度。Ben告訴我們，精釀啤酒在發(fā)酵的過(guò)程中，需要恒定的溫度。

入鄉(xiāng)隨俗，Ben在釀制精釀啤酒過(guò)程中，加入了重慶特產(chǎn)青花椒，釀制了一款花椒啤酒。花椒啤酒銷量還不錯(cuò)，也成了“笨精釀啤酒”的招牌啤酒。

The bar is decorated in an industrial style with a space around 75 square meters. Right in front of the bar table, there are 18 beer columns lined up in a row. Ben presses the switch and the beer flows out of the column.

"Here, I made all the craft beer by myself,"Ben said so with absolute pride. The place where he brews beer is in a corner, just across the bar. He tidied up a place where the brewing devices were placed: two stainless steel barrels, hot -water tubs and mashing tubs.

At ten in the morning, Ben starts to make beer.After the malt is ground, it would be boiled in a hot tub and then the boiled wort goes into the mashing tub. Wait for the wort to cool down before putting it into the fermentation vat, and two weeks later, we have the beer.

However, it’s easier said than done. The hot weather in Chongqing used to bother Ben so much,especially in summer, because he has to spend a lot of time on finding cooling ways. While we are talking, Ben would walk to the hot tub from time to time to check the boiling temperature of the water on the thermometer. Ben told us that the craft beer needs a constant stable temperature during the fermentation process.

To partake in local traditions, Ben added the Chongqing specialty – the Green Sichuan pepper in the brewing process, and it turned into a special Sichuan pepper craft beer. It sells very well and has become a signature brew of “Ben Craft Beer”.