Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, New York

We are on another one of our brewery streaks here at BarBEERians. Sixpoint Craft Ales has been all over a radar and we have been drinking a variety of brews from them lately, resulting in back to back reviews from the same brewery. Sorry to all our readers that aren’t located in New York since this is probably not readily available, but alas, we can’t just review Pacific Northwest beers forever. My favorite thing about the Sweet Action has got to be its name. For some unknown reason it just sounds so appealing. It also helps that its big brother is called Double Sweet Action, I mean come on guys, that almost sounds like a threesome!

Although it wasn’t quite as good as a threesome, the Sweet Action wasn’t a bad beer, probably even better when its fresh off the tap. Dirty blond, and promising luscious gratification, the Sweet Action had a hop-front aroma with some definite sweet notes floating around, perhaps even some green tea somewhere in there. The hop flavor was more mild than the nose, with slightly pronounced citrus and lots of sugary honey. A weak bitter finish cleaned the palate nicely, but the overall mildness of the flavor was a bit disappointing.

Although Sixpoint Sweet Action was quite sessionable, it was pushing the boundaries of mild. Given that it is a blonde ale, this may not be overly surprising. I guess the name Sweet Action threw me off just a bit. I was expecting something with a little more zip, but man, that Double Sweet Action just sounds oh so tempting.

Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, New York

Sitting down to watch the United States vs. Canada hockey finals for the Olympics, we were left with a quandary: what beer to drink? We wanted something special, but also something we could drink during the game and not end up too drunk to pay attention to the third period. Turns out the best way to do that is to drink a smattering of different beers, which is exactly what we did. We started off with a real treat of an ale: the Bolshoi Imperial Stout from Sixpoint Craft Ales. We weren’t exactly sure what it was at the time. It was in a waxed dipped bottle without a label, but after some twittering with the folks over at Sixpoint, we discovered it was a four year aged bottle of the Bolshoi Imperial Stout! What a great surprise this was. I’m guessing it is pretty hard to get your hands on a bottle of this, but man, if the opportunity comes up, do it!

Between the dark bottle and not knowing what sort of beer was in the bottle, this one was certainly an adventure. The stout itself was black enough to block out the sun, if I were to pick a color it would have to be total eclipse. Wafting from the espresso foam head was a delectably sweet aroma of malty chocolate and almond with some charred coffee going on to. It was a very complex nose, and I’m sure I have missed some of it, so feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you thought. As alluring as the smell was, it didn’t compare to the rounded, balanced taste of the Bolshoi. The blitz of sweet booze opened up into a garden of bitter bakers chocolate, heavily roasted coffee, and some berry/cherry flavor. It had a smooth, heavy mouth feel, but totally pleasant.

I wish I could tell you all to go out and pick a bottle of this up, but alas, I couldn’t even tell you where to begin looking. It was a superb brew. Congratulation to you guys up there at Sixpoint. We’ll be out there in a few months and plan on stopping in.

The Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY

I’ve just started reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. In the collection, Gladwell discusses how success is formed. He argues that much of our success is derived from our backgrounds, our chances, and much of our timing upon entering schooling, sports, etc. I really think the same goes for beer. Much of the success of a brewery depends upon the timing of opening, the positive reinforcement a place receives when opening, and the location which the brewery is based. If you’re the Brooklyn Brewery, you have to be pretty happy with yourself. You opened at a time just before the great Brooklyn Renaissance; you surely had a lot of great backers pushing for a fantastic brewery in the New York City area; and you’ve now wound up in the center of hipster/craft beer culture in a wonderful area of the United States. You were one of the Outliers, Brooklyn, but that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep pushing the craft beer envelope. I’ve been up and down on your selections but I think I’m ready to make up my mind after trying another one of your special beers, this time on tap, the Brooklyn Brewery’s Brewmaster’s Reserve Intensified Coffee Stout.

Seeing as that the only beer from Brooklyn that I’ve truly loved was their Black Chocolate Stout, I was expecting a heaping batch of delicious and toxic sludge when ordering something as ominous and devilish as the Intensified Coffee Stout. Pouring a glass that looked like a dark chocolate and beer lover’s dream, the ICS smelled like a roasty and malty pint of heaven. A heavy and dark-hazelnut brown head perched itself above the brew and hung around for the remainder of the pint. The taste wasn’t nearly as terse and boisterous as I was hoping for, with just a gentle waterfall of slightly roasted and creamy chocolate flavor touching at the front and smoothly cresting toward a finish of leathery and warm cream notes. The bitterness up front wasn’t overly high, but the end flavor made the mouth tingle for quite some time and got me thinking that this was a rather uniquely bitter beer. Subsequent sips revealed that intensified coffee flavor, with what felt and tasted like a dark roast coffee mixing in rather nicely with the laid-back chocolate splashes. Indeed, this was a rather tame beer, but in a rather toned-down, and, dare I say it, boring sort of way.

For something that gets branded with the Brewmaster’s Reserve label, and that also gets the word “Intensified” in its title, I’m looking for a rather impressive beer. This isn’t even one I can chalk up the shortfalls as coming as a result of being poured out of a bottle. No, this beer just wasn’t up to the standards that I think I’ve been placing on the Brooklyn Brewery. Yes, it was certainly smooth and inviting, like a hug from your great-aunt. Sure, it’s nice, but who wants to always have a hug when you can go to the best bar in the town and meet hundreds of your favorite friends and hot lady-friends over a glass of malty and alcoholic goodness that makes you feel ever more loved inside? Not me, sadly. Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll let you decide–is this beer the outlier, or are we staring at a brewery that is an outlier all in itself? I’m getting close to making up my mind.

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.

Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY

I almost forgot about this beer. As another one of the finds in the Midwest that is much harder to come by in Montana, the Brooklyn Brown Ale was another beer I took notes on upon tasting, liked quite a bit, but completely forgot about until now. And for as much as I loved Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout, and for how I was just slightly above indifferent toward Brooklyn’s Local 2, I was curious to see how much I would enjoy the usually mediocre brown ale category entry. No matter how hard I try, finding a sessionable and unique brown ale is just really tough. It’s starting to look like it’s the equivalent of ordering a pale ale at the bar: I know what I’m getting into; I know I’ll most likely be disappointed; and I know that it will take something special in the flavor to blow me away. Yes, I’m a skeptic. Yes, I tried the Brooklyn Brown anyway.

Pouring a dark brown color with some subtle accents of red mixed in, the Brooklyn Brown Ale didn’t put out much of a scent, and even somehow smelled just a tad watery. How a beer smells watery, I do not know, but take a whiff of the Brooklyn Brown and you’ll probably understand. The lacing and creamy head made me reconsider the light smell, though. The taste was a little more promising, with a good bitter hit up front that quickly broke away toward a sexy and smooth malt finish. Further sips didn’t reveal a whole lot more than what was initially discovered in the beginning. This is a rather unadventurous beer that has some nice opening and closing moments, but who wants to watch a three minute play or listen to a two minute Grizzly Bear album? Not me.

So my dislike for brown ales continues to gain more ground with the Brooklyn Brown. All that being said, if you want a lighter dark beer that has a lot of drinkability connected to it, be my guest. It’s definitely a step up in flavor from many pale ales or other brown ales I’ve had, but the taste just isn’t quite there for me yet. I’m still looking for an adventurous and striking brown ale, and I’m more than open to suggestions. However, I think for a while I’ll be passing on any nut browns or brown ales I see.

Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY

After a nice run-in with the Brooklyn Brewery and its Black Chocolate Stout, I was more than ready to jump back aboard the Brooklyn Brewery roller coaster. And when I was given the opportunity to taste one of Brooklyn’s more unique and special beers, Local 2, I was even giddier. The only thing incomplete from having Local 2 was that we really wish we could have had a bottle of Local 1 to compliment our drinking. But sometimes the chips don’t fall your way, and, let’s face it, we’re kind of spoiled. So Local 2 would have to do. But with the champagne bottle design with a great cork (one thing I love about wine: the unique cork designs), this baby was more than enough of an invitation to drink, and when we popped the top on the Local 2, we could already tell we were in for a real treat. It felt like New Year’s Eve all over again.

Pouring a rather murky and dark hazelnut almond color, the Local 2 quickly erupted into the air with the scent of some boozy fruit and a slightly malty nose. Interestingly enough, and maybe we were caught up on the bottle design, the beer even smelled a touch like champagne. Upon tasting, our noses were not proven wrong, with a dry-tasting, ultra-carbonated and bubbly beer. One drawback to this, though, was that the beer almost tasted too carbonated and punchy for a darker Belgian beer. There was a good dose of caramel up front, with a sweeter and more citrusy-tasting middle, maybe apples or pears, and a good hunk of lighter malt near the end. The velvety-smoothness of the beer was rather remarkable, especially when coupled with the champagne undertones. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the true champagne of beers.

Maybe we’re still caught up in the New Year’s mood, but this really was a beer that would have complimented any special occasion like NYE very, very well. Popping the top off this one almost opened up a party in the room, and the flavors in the beer put us all in a happy mood. All this isn’t to say that this is more of a champagne than a beer; rather, the citrus notes and touches of malt make this a great session beer that is perfect to share with friends when you’re ready for a party to go down. Pop the top, and let the fun begin.

Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY

So I’d dabbled around with some thick stouts, some worldly stouts, and some odd stouts in Michigan. But occasionally, I’m in the mood for a more dessert-based stout, and when I saw the Double Chocolate Stout from Brooklyn Brewery on the menu, I couldn’t pass it up. But, as with any beer (I feel like I’m saying this a lot these days), a fine chocolate stout is hard to make correctly. I’ve had some absolute clunkers throughout the years, as has been the case with blueberry stouts and cherry stouts and vanilla stouts. No one can seem to really hammer down the flavor balance between stout and bowl of ice cream. The first chocolate stout I tried was the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. At the time, I thought it was delicious and creamy and had a great sweet balance to it. But it wasn’t really a stout; it was a melted and then chilled candy bar. These days, I want a beer with strong booze, thick malt, and heavier emphasis on chocolate if I’m going for a double chocolate stout. Given Brooklyn Brewery’s hype and track record, it was worth a go, and I hoped they’d make a skeptic a believer.

For a double chocolate stout, the Brooklyn version didn’t smell overly sweet or commanding, which was a good sign. In fact, it was rather difficult to find a discernible nose on the beer at all. Pouring on draught into a gorgeous snifter, the stout’s color looked spot-on, with a dark and dominant black oil spill filling the glass with just a slight espresso-colored head. The taste was the real surprise, though, with a strong and fervent roasted malt flavor crashing onto the tongue first, followed by a slight bitterness and muted chocolate notes. The alcohol was rather apparent, and having not even noticed that I was drinking a 10% ABV oil slick, this was a more than welcome surprise. Best of all, Brooklyn bonded the chocolate flavors with the malt and high alcohol perfectly. I noticed later that this is actually categorized as an imperial stout, which certainly holds true. The name on this one is awfully deceiving considering how hard it is to actually pick out the sanded-down chocolate rushes that come and go so quickly with sips. Take long and intense sips and you’ll find more chocolate, or just drink this one normally and you’ll find yourself with a grand imperial stout.

For a beer that’s this high in alcohol, supposedly super chocolatey, and looks like a bottle of ink, I could easily have a few glasses of this. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a more drinkable stout than the Brooklyn Double Chocolate Stout. It wasn’t the intense dessert-style beer I was looking for, but I was fine with that. Maybe I’m just not a fan of the overly sweet and robust stouts that scream CANDY! as opposed to DARK BEER! And after having the Brooklyn version, I may never go back to another chocolate stout again. Nothing will top this.

So maybe it was Optimism Day at BarBEERians, but this New York Times article may put in dent in your good mood, if you’re ever looking to start your own, large-scale brewing operation, that is. The article’s a few weeks old, but it discusses the rigors of starting your own brewery in these trying economic times. Using Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn as the article’s jumping point, J. Alex Tarquinio finds that creativity and originality in brewing beer is the key to weathering the storm.

“We are not going to pursue the traditional brewery path,” said Mr. Welch [owner of Sixpoint Craft Ales], who grew up in Milwaukee, a city steeped in beer-making history. “It doesn’t make sense to ship it halfway around the world. That is an antiquated business model.”

The economics of the beer business can be daunting. Microbreweries need to sell thousands of barrels of beer a year before turning a profit. Until they do so, small business loans can be hard to get. And ingredients like hops have gotten pricey.

Not surprisingly, the article also shows that microbreweries have taken a slight hit with the economic downturn.

Paul Gatza, the director of the Brewers Association, said that the pace of new microbrewery openings had slowed this year with the recession. Last year, 56 microbreweries were opened, and 10 closed. Three of those that closed had opened in 2008. This year, the association has tracked 25 microbrewery openings and five closings.

Even among America’s craft brewers — as aficionados call the independent breweries — some have grown into larger operations. The Brewers Association reclassifies microbreweries that exceed 15,000 barrels of production a year as regional breweries. In this way, nine microbreweries became regional breweries last year.

Even so, that was still a positive number in the number of breweries going into operation in America. However, what will be interesting to watch is if we ever hit a plateau in terms of beer makers. Looking at the number of wineries that exist in California alone, I find it hard to believe that microbreweries are even close to skimming the ceiling in terms of market saturation. Of course the economic slide will limit the number of new openings, but it’s encouraging that we’re not losing breweries as quickly as we gain them. However, if you are looking to start your own big-time brewing center, you might want to think twice.

Kathleen and Mike Dewey founded Mt. Carmel Brewing four years ago. Ms. Dewey manages the office and distribution, while her husband is in charge of production. They started the business with a $10,000 family loan, which they supplemented with credit cards while they got their brewery off the ground. At one time they had roughly $40,000 billed to credit cards, all of it for business-related expenses. But they have paid off those cards.

Ms. Dewey said that anyone who wanted to start a microbrewery should either have a substantial sum of money to begin with — or a great deal of patience. “It can be very dreamy thinking about starting your own microbrewery,” she said. “But unless you have several million dollars, be prepared for a lot of hard work.”

So who’s in the mood for donating a small sum of a few million dollars so we can start the BarBEERians Brewing Co.? You know we’d make great beer!

…now there’s a study showing that hops are being compromised. By global warming!

Climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and colleagues say that the quality of Saaz hops – the delicate variety used to make pilsner lager – has been decreasing in recent years. They say the culprit is climate change in the form of increased air temperature.

Mozny’s team used a high-resolution dataset of weather patterns, crop yield and hop quality to estimate the impact of climate change on Saaz hops in the Czech Republic between 1954 and 2006.

We all remember the dreaded hop shortage from 2007, and that wasn’t pretty. But now we may have some indication as to what caused that shortage. And it’s also proof that global warming is definitely happening!

Well, maybe. These kinds of studies are always interesting, and it does show some correlation, but it doesn’t show any causation. There are way too many variables to completely connect this to global warming, but it’s something to at least think about, especially if these type of studies are repeated in different areas of the world.

Mozny notes in the article that this type of decrease in hop quality is being seen in Germany and Slovakia as well. I haven’t heard anything about this change happening in America yet, but we’ll surely be following this trend. And if you’re feeling a little down about raising the earth’s temperature, thus compromising the hops that let us enjoy a Friday night, maybe consider drinking some beer from these breweries that place the importance of the environment next to the importance of their beer:

Brooklyn Brewery in Brooklyn, NY: You’d think a big city brewery in a bustling metropolis would place production and cost-efficiency well above environmental protection. Not so. The Brooklyn Brewery runs on 100% wind power through purchasing wind power from a wind farm in Upstate New York. Not many other breweries in the nation can make a statement like that. A small brewery making a big difference.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA: We rave about Sierra Nevada a lot here, but even their commitment to the environment earns our praise.  With the solar panels on the roof, a fuel cell training lab on-site, and a machine that recycles expelled CO2 in the brewing process and uses it in dispensing their beer, Sierra Nevada sounds more like an experimental science lab than a brewery. All this is astonishing when you consider the size of the establishment. And the delicious beer they serve.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, OH: Great Lakes Brewing is one of many breweries that recycles their barley and gives it to local farmers. But they’re one of the few breweries that makes a commitment to printing all menus and promotional material on recycled prodects, using biodiesel in delivery trucks and shuttles, and creating food from barley used in the brewing process. Any brewery that’s in the mood for reusing materials makes us want to reuse their beer when we’re thirsty.

Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, WI: Using 100% organic malts and hops, this smaller brewery in Wisconsin also makes a commitment to using wind energy as a source of power, as well as making a dedication to include Wisconsin growers in their plans for future beer production. The brewery also offers tours on Fridays that showcase the brewery’s dedication to a better environment through operational procedures that are making beer better and more eco-friendly.

New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO: Using one of the most efficient brewing kettles in the country, treating their waste water in eco-friendly ways, and always pushing to reduce their carbon-footprint, New Belgium Brewing not only makes some great beer, but also does it all while making a positive impact that will be noticed by generations of beer drinkers to come. Plus, who ever wants to pass-up a Fat Tire when you find it on tap at a bar? Not us.