從品嘗民族誌出發──探究美國哈迪斯堡市精釀啤酒鑑賞的文化意義

Discovering the Cultural Implications of Tasting in Craft Beer Culture in Hattiesburg

2014年4月至翌年5月，本文作者於美國密西西比州的哈蒂斯堡市進行精釀啤酒文化的田野調查。過去九年間，透過當地餐廳、酒吧及眾多愛好者的推廣支持，精釀啤酒已成為當地飲食文化的一個重要元素。透過參與者觀察的方式，作者加入當地精釀啤酒愛好者群，參加本地愛好者品嘗精釀啤酒的活動，與愛好者共同品嘗、感受、討論精釀啤酒。精釀啤酒文化中的基礎是飲者自身的感官體驗，尤其是味覺體驗。本文以感官人類學對生理感官體驗的關注為理論出發點，從精釀啤酒的「味道」出發，將探究該文化的重點放到最基本的身體感官體驗上，試圖理解愛好者是如何通過語言和行動來與其他人分享他們品嘗精釀啤酒的味道、「味道」在精釀啤酒文化中的作用、以及以「味道」為中心的愛好者文化的社會意義。

After promotion for almost a decade, enthusiasts, local restaurants, and bars have created a unique craft beer culture in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the United States. For over 13 months, from April 2014 to May 2015, I participated in numerous special activities and everyday events in places where craft beer enthusiasts in the city gathered. This article draws on interviews and fieldwork-notes from this project, exploring how tasting is done among local craft beer enthusiasts. I was interested in the relationship of taste, culture, and social contexts. Specifically, I investigated questions relating to the tasting of craft beer in a casual social context. How is tasting done in craft beer? How do enthusiasts communicate in these tastings in a larger social context? Following Sarah Pink’s theory on doing sensory ethnography, this research is based on current developments in the anthropology of the senses. By looking at taste in certain social contexts, this article contributes firsthand ethnographic materials as a contribution to the emerging field of sensory studies. Finally, I propose a particular kind of “anthropology of taste” as a potential direction for further research.