Tag Archives: brooklyn

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 21, 2013

Posted under

Reviews

Comments

1 Comment

Sixpoint Diesel

Sixpoint Diesel

Sixpoint Brewery

Brooklyn, NY

Diesel Black IPA/Stout

6.3% ABV

According to my Untappd, the first Sixpoint beer I had was Diesel, the Brooklyn brewery’s hybrid black IPA and stout. I remember getting my hands on that first can of Sixpoint and being really excited to finally try something from one of the most-hyped breweries I’d seen in a long time.

I’ve regularly gotten my hands on Sixpoint beers since then – take a look at my archives and see – and have been continually impressed with the new stuff they’ve been putting out. But with Diesel being their winter seasonal, I’ve had to wait until now to really get into it.

Diesel is blend of a black IPA and an American stout, with the end result leaning more toward the former. As with most Sixpoint beers, it’s hoppy as all get-out, but not in an overly abrasive way.

For a “stout,” this beer is monstrously hoppy. There’s a lot of pine and citrus on the nose that is halted just slightly by this nutty, biscuity malt note. The slight sweetness mellows out what I think would otherwise be a hop bomb of a “stout.” There’s a light roasted coffee note in there as well. Also, there’s a bit of a fruity sweetness there, too, sort of like a light banana ester note or some cherry juice. It’s faint, but it’s there.

The taste begins with a strong pinch of citrus bitterness right on the front of the tongue. The body is lighter and just slightly thin, and the carbonation is mild throughout. In the middle of the mouth, these big bitter roasted notes arise. It’s just slightly more mellow than black coffee, but it leaves the same lingering bitterness on your tongue. There’s a good bit of bittersweet chocolate in there as well. On the end is where the malts really become prominent. There’s this chewy bread characteristic and a really strong roasted grain quality. The hops finish it all out, leaving that lingering citrus and pine bitterness on the back of your tongue.

While Diesel is a great beer, it’s probably the least favorite of Sixpoint’s selection I’ve had so far. Don’t get me wrong: It’s good and I certainly enjoy it, but it just seems like a strange, if unique, blend. If it was marketed as just a straight black IPA, I wouldn’t even be able to look for or pick up on any of the stout qualities. Still, I’m a hophead and Diesel certainly hits the spot for me.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 2, 2012

Posted under

Reviews

Comments

1 Comment

Sixpoint Autumnation

IMG_1443

Sixpoint Brewery

Brooklyn, NY

Autumnation Pumpkin/Harvest Ale

6.7% ABV

To quote “Simple Jack”: Sixpoint, you m-m-m-m-make me haaaapy.

Another change in the seasons brings another great seasonal release from the boys in Brooklyn. With Autumnation, the brewery melds the richness and full-flavored pumpkin beer style with the pungent and biting addition of wet hops. The twist on this one is this year, the drinker got to pick which hop was used. In an online vote, Citra won out over Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo and – my choice – Simcoe. (So close!)

Autumnation pours a slightly hazy rust orange color, like the color of changing leaves. The head’s about two fingers worth, really foamy and sticks around for a while. The lacing’s pretty mild and there really aren’t any alcohol legs holding on.

The nose has a strong, wet pungent hop smell of citrus. Orange and grapefruit are what pop out the most. There’s a bit of spice on the nose as well from the ginger used in the brewing, with brown sugar giving it a mellow sweetness. Definitely a good malt backbone and a bit of a nutty note as well.

On the front of the tongue is just a bit of hop bitterness and it’s got a fairly medium-bodied mouthfeel. There’s definitely a subdued wet hoppiness on the front and toward the middle of the palate. The finish starts off with a juicy orange note and blooms into a really citric, biting grapefruit flavor. The hop bitterness sticks to the roof of your mouth, but the maltiness is definitely there. It’s nutty and a bit sweet with a good bit of spice added in as well.

There’s been a lot of gnashing of teeth over the lack of a pumpkin taste in the beer. But remember: You don’t taste the pumpkin in a pumpkin beer; you taste the spices (nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, brown sugar) generally used in pumpkin dishes. The pumpkin affects the mouthfeel more than the flavor, kind of like what oatmeal does in oatmeal stouts and porters. With that in mind, there’s only a little bit of a creaminess from the pumpkin. The malts take over more as it warms and the mouthfeel of the pumpkin becomes more noticeable, but it’s there.

And with that, Sixpoint is now 4-for-4 with me. (See: Resin, Apollo, Brownstone.)

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

October 5, 2012

Posted under

Reviews

Comments

2 Comments

Sixpoint Brownstone

Untitled

Sixpoint Brewery

Brooklyn, NY

Brownstone Brown Ale

6% ABV

Sixpoint seems to be doing everything right. I was wowed by Resin and Apollo, and I regularly look forward to whatever new release they crank out. That trend continues with Brownstone, their new year-round brown ale.

Their website doesn’t help much with ingredients, so I’ll just dive right in.

The look of the beer certainly lives up to the name. It’s a very murky, hazy brown that appears as a lighter amber toward the edges. There’s two fingers of a nice foamy head that sticks around a good long while. Incredibly strong lacing and alcohol legs, or at least more than I’d expect for a 6% beer.

There’s a surprising hoppiness on the nose. It’s a big, bright citrus notes with a definite presence of some lemon zest. There’s definitely a maltiness to it with a slightly nut and bread note. Bit of brown sugar and a really nice roasted note. It really works to keep a really balanced nose.

The hop bitterness is very strong on the front of the tongue. The citrus pops mid palate and lingers on the back with a bit of hop mouth, but it gives way to that classic biscuity brown ale taste. There’s a really great roasted note that lingers as well. The big bready malts are covered nicely with those hops. At 6%, it’s extremely drinkable.

Sixpoint is three-for-three with me, and every beer of theirs I’ve had so far has one thing that really makes it stand out. Resin clearly had its super-dank hoppiness, Apollo was smooth and flavorful, and Brownstone is balanced extremely well. The hops clearly get me hooked, but the roasted notes and maltiness are very pleasant as well. Keep ’em coming, guys.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 2, 2012

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Mission: Probable: Black Ops Night at World of Beer (UPDATED)

Since they opened in Columbia a few months ago, the World of Beer location in The Vista has been quite a popular spot for beer geeks. As an alternative to Flying Saucer, World of Beer is a straight-up bar with restaurant-style service and a pretty impressive bottle and tap selection that rotates every few days.

In hopes of being the go-to bar for craft beer fans, World of Beer regularly hosts special releases and parties for breweries and limited-release beers. That included Wednesday night when they were selling bottles of Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Ops.

Black Ops is a much-sought 11.3% imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels. Brooklyn takes their excellent Black Chocolate Stout, age it in bourbon barrels, bottle the beer flat and then add champagne yeast in the bottle to re-ferment it. It’s got a perfect 100 on RateBeer and a 92 on BeerAdvocate. With only 1,000 cases released a year, it’s pretty hard to come by, and since I’m a sucker for limited release beers I jumped at the chance to get some.

I exchanged some messages with whoever runs the bar’s Twitter account and found out they had about 40 bottle on hand, meaning there was little chance they would run out.

That’s not what actually happened, though. Only 10 of the bottles would be available for purchase, and then only through a raffle, all of which was announced just a couple hours before the release.

Side rant: Look, I understand holding on to a few bottles for friends and coworkers. Lots of bars and beer stores do it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And sure, having this image of manufactured limited availability is a great way to get people in the door. But if you’re going to brag for a week that you’re the only place in town that’s going to have this beer and hype it up so much, only to pull something shady like that at the last minute – especially after telling a loyal customer you’ve got way more than you’re giving away – is kind of a dick move. Hell, they were using MY tweets to promote the thing, only to pull a bait-and-switch. I’m not complaining, and I don’t think I was entitled to anything, but come on. SEE UPDATE BELOW

With about only a dozen bottles on hand, the bar decided to have a raffle instead. My fiancee and I got to the bar, met up with some friends and put our name into the raffle. The crowd was pretty sparse and I figured we would have a good chance of getting at least a bottle or two.

The raffle never happened. Only nine people signed up, according to our waitress, meaning if you wanted a bottle, you got one. (As I said before, stouts aren’t usually a big thing in Columbia, and the fact it was 75 degrees in February didn’t help.) Minutes later, we had four bottles sitting at our table: one for me, one for the lady and one for each of our two friends. There were some some nice signature tulip glasses to go along with the bottles as well.

So after all that confusion, I ended up with two bottles of our own and one I bought off a friend. I’ll be cracking one open this weekend and keeping the other two in my cellar for future enjoyment.

Was the whole “raffle” shtick needed? Apparently not. Are they worth the price? Maybe. Am I happy I’m stocked with delicious beer? Hell yes.

To quote “Gotta Have It” off Watch the Throne, “It’s just blacks on blacks on blacks.”

UPDATE: There was apparently some miscommunication and confusion during all the back and forth about the event. WoB received only 12 bottles of Black Ops; the 40 remaining bottles were of another beer. So yes, the raffle was in fact a good idea. Fortunately for us, there weren’t many people there. I’ve updated the post in accordance. A big thanks to the folks at World of Beer for clearing that up for me.