Beer Review: Masons Black Wheat
Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, New York
When we first started this whole blog adventure, we all kind of thought of it as a hobby, and who knows, maybe there will be some free beer in it too! Very soon after starting, even before we really knew what we were doing, we were contacted by Sixpoint Craft Ales. We suggested that their beer isn’t available out this way, but we would dearly love to try some. Well that day has come. We recently tried a number of fine brews from out in Brooklyn and are very excited to bring you some reviews from the east coast over the next few weeks. Today we bring you a real treat with the Sixpoint Masons Black Wheat.
I’m not sure exactly where the Masons Black Wheat would fall in a style category, but I imagine it is somewhere around a dunkleweizen or weizenbock. Wheat beers are generally the last beers I’ll search out or even try, but some of the darker ones have really grown on me, so I was fairly pumped to crack open the bottle and get at it. The Black Wheat was unfiltered, giving it a dark, silty appearance, like muddy waters (I’m not talking about McKinley Morganfield here folks). The aroma was dominated by roasted grains with hidden notes of coffee, and a slight booziness, which I was surprised to find given it is only 5.7% ABV. This all gave me high hopes for how it would taste, and I wasn’t disappointed. Heavy sweet, grainy flavor transitioned into a slightly bitter finish with a bit of an acidic tang to it. The Masons Black Wheat is definitely a beer that benefits from letting it warm up a bit. The flavor profile expanded significantly to include more bitter chocolate and coffee notes, but remaining well balanced the entire time.
Sixpoint Craft Ales has done its share to convert me over to darker wheat beers. I found this one to be a delightful adventure into the beers of Brooklyn and look forward to finding some more brews like it in the future. Although it didn’t have the body I expected, it was light enough to be a sessionable winter beer, and is up there on my lists of recommendations.
Miles
Miles Anfinson currently lives in Helena, Montana where he was born and raised. A year ago, he graduated from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, where he spent four years tasting and drinking beer in the microbrew mecca of the United States. Aside from drinking beer, he enjoys collecting growlers and has a collection of over 120.
