Sixpoint Craft Ales
Sixpoint Founder Lost Girlfriend, Lived Out Of Brewery In Name Of Success
You have to work hard to be successful. Success requires a certain degree of sacrifice to gain it. Sixpoint Craft Ales founder Shane Welch mentions to Chris Drosner of the Wisconsin State Journal, some of the personal sacrifice it took to get there.
At one point in the brewery’s development, Shane gave up his apartment to put extra cash in the business. He ended up living at the brewery. That didn’t go over too well with the girlfriend at the time, losing that relationship. I wonder if he’d do it all over again to be where he is now? I’d lean towards yes. [WisconsinStateJournal]
Little side note from Drosner’s interview: Sixpoint is experimenting with New York wild yeasts, and even MOLD in fermentation. Could be the next big thing. Who knows.
Sixpoint Apollo Teaser [Video]
A slightly abstract trailer for Sixpoint Brewing’s upcoming seasonal release – Apollo.
Sixpoint “Slim Can” Resin Debuts Today
Sixpoint Brewery is debuting Resin today, in a unique can. The 12oz package is as tall as a 16oz tallboy, but much slimmer. It’s one for hop lovers. I took a few liberties with the press release:
Often enjoyed on draft and served in smaller glasses, double IPA beers are naturally strong and strikingly hoppy. They are brewed with roughly twice the amount of hops in the average IPA, and have a considerably higher alcohol content. The hops’ essence is produced within hop cones at peak maturity, when their cores swell up with a sticky golden secretion – or resin. This bounty of natural fresh flavor is the simple inspiration for Resin. To conjure the green petals of the cones, Resin cans are designed with a lush green background and golden-bronze accents to symbolize the precious resin inside each cone.
The can is as tall as a tallboy, but skinny:
For such a distinct beer, Sixpoint Brewery has chosen to offer them in unique 12-ounce can four-packs as well as on draft. The cans are identical in height to the rest of the year-round canned offerings from the brewery (Sweet Action, Bengali Tiger, Righteous Ale and The Crisp) as well as seasonal releases (Diesel and Autumnation thus far). However, their “sleek” shape contributes to smaller four-can packages. Resin will be sold at the same retail price as its other canned offerings, delivering value for fans of specialty craft beers.
Shane Welch, Founder & Prez:
“Sixpoint Resin was one of the most exciting projects we’ve undertaken recently, and I’m thrilled to share it with our customers,” r. “People are quickly waking up to the wonders of IPA and the pleasant taste sensation of bitterness. We wanted to deliver a story about the organic chemical responsible for these flavor sensations everyone is enjoying. This was a very extensive project where we anatomically analyzed the various features of the hop cone, and explored the botanical feature that makes it all happen – sticky resin oozing from the interior!”
Don’t forget Jan, he was in on Resin too:
Sixpoint Braumeister Jan Matysiak, who joined the brewery as of late last year, was instrumental in the recipe and brewing procedures for Resin. “Brewing a ‘big beer’ is always a lot of fun, and an opportunity to push one’s own creativity to the next level,” said Jan. “I am very happy with the outcome of Resin and look forward to sharing this extraordinary beer with Sixpoint fans and all beer connoisseurs.”
Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 12oz slim cans, Draft. All Sixpoint markets
9.1% ABV, 103 IBUs
Sixpoint Resin: February 2012
In addition to Sixpoint Harbinger to look forward to in the coming weeks, be on the lookout for Resin. It’s a big double IPA, with a host of American hops like Columbus, Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, Cascade, Chinook. The can is a 12oz “tallboy.” Same height as 16oz’er but skinnier. The brewery plans on releasing them in 4 packs in February.
Style: Imperial IPA
Availability: 12oz cans
Arrival: February, 2012
9.1% ABV, 103 IBUs
Saison In A Can? That’s Sixpoint Harbinger
Saison in a can? Sixpoint Harbinger is and will be. Here’s a litle Anne Finch poem to get you in a springy mood.
Exert thy voice, sweet harbinger of spring! This moment is thy time to sing… She begins, Let all be still! Muse, they promise now fulfull! Like most movements, Spring begins underground. Churning underneath the surface, you can almost fell the ground moving… it is a Harbinger of things to come.
Style: Saison
Availability: Draft. New 16oz cans
Arrival: TBA
4.9% ABV
Sixpoint President Gives Control To Brewers
The president of Sixpoint Craft Ales is leaving the operations in the hands of the brewers. He will no longer run the brewhouse. He’s not stepping down, he’s stepping UP! In a recent email, Welch give a brief bio on the guys in charge now:
Have You Ever Met the Sixpoint Brewers?
You should, and not just because they are a great group of dudes. You should also meet them because after 7+ years of handling the brewing operations at Sixpoint, I am turning things over entirely to the Brewing Staff. Am I concerned about this? No. And it is not just because the Sixpoint Brew Crew is aces.
photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
It is because I know these people, and they are here to take this to the next level. Rather than give you the traditional short bios with ego-tripping accomplishments, I’d like to give you the real story on the Sixpoint Brew Crew – the kind of juice you only get after sharing pints with folks over the course of months or years. You know – actually caring.
photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
First – let’s talk about Sean Redmond. Sean is the type of guy that always keeps the morale of the crew high. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I don’t think I have ever seen Sean in a bad mood. Sometimes when I am in my office upstairs, I can hear Sean laughing all the way downstairs in the brewhouse. I guess that is the kind of joy and passion he brings with him every day – it penetrates the walls.
photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
Then there is Pete Dickson. Pete may be the most quiet one of the bunch, but don’t let his silence fool you. Pete’s mechanical inclination is staggering. The son of a welder, he took his craft to new heights when he became a Mechanical Design Engineer at GE Aviation. After designing aerospace electrical-mechanical rotary and linear actuators for several years, he got bit by the homebrew bug. As a matter of fact, he got bit so hard he went out and got a Sixpoint tattoo! And then we hired him afterwards, and one day while lifting a keg, we saw the Sixpoint star tattoo on his arm. Call that what you want – we call it destiny.
photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
And of course, how could we forget Ian McConnell. Ian might have the most classic entrée into the profession. Ian is from and was living in Maine, but he rode his motorcycle and moved to Brooklyn to be closer to his girlfriend Celia. He emailed us looking for a job, as he enjoyed making beer and thought it would be a fun gig. I told him to come down. Soon afterwards, the doorbell rang. I went out to answer the door, but no one was there. Yup – Ian got scared and ran away. Hah! But there is a happy ending – he came back, got hired, and eventually became our Head Brewer. And his girlfriend Celia? There’s a happy ending there too: they are married now with a 10-month old daughter.
photo by Michael Harlan Turkell
Last, the newest member of our team and our Braumeister – Jan Matysiak. Born and raised in Germany, Jan has the same ridiculously high standards for excellence and precision as me, so we hit it off right away. That is why he is our new dedicated Braumeister and quality control specialist. And it is not just because he has OCD that makes him fit in so well – he also has an uncompromising love of animals. He moved to Brooklyn with 4 dogs! Jan is one of a handful of people in the entire country that can “legitimately” call themselves a Brewmaster, as he has completed the 4-year Diplom Braumeister program at the Weihenstephan Institute in Freising, Germany. And like the others, he has some ink to show his love for the craft.
traditional German Brauerwappen
This bad-ass tattoo on his calf is what is called a “Brauerwappen” in German. But don’t let Jan’s size and demeanor make you think he soaked up that ink without batting an eye. He whimpered like a little kitten!
This is the Sixpoint Brew Crew, and these are the people who are taking it to the next level.
With respect,
Shane C. Welch
President
Sixpoint Brewery
Sixpoint Diesel Now In Cans
Sixpoint (Brooklyn, NY) Diesel, the followup to Autumnation is shipping today.
It’s our second seasonal can release of the year, followed by the inaugural Autumnation for fall. As the leaves fade to black, you’ll be able to find four-packs of these 16-oz cans in grocery stores, delis, bars and restaurants in all markets where Sixpoint cans are sold. But we don’t intend to stop filling kegs of it this winter, either – soon, you’ll be able to score a pint of it on draft as well.
Diesel stout has actually been offered each winter since 2005, the year after Sixpoint was founded. Rich, robust and deep brown-black, this beer will linger in your mouth like a streak of tar. Yet it’s surprisingly sessionable and effervescent, too. It starts with nutty roasted malts, which get combined with Columbus and Northern Brewer hops. Another dose of Columbus in the dry-hopping stage gives it a defiantly hoppy character. Poured in a glass, the head becomes thick and cappuccino-like, with lacing down to the last sip.
Style: American Stout
Taste Expectations: Coffee, bitter chocolate, roasty malts. Light vanilla, grassy hops. Very intense.
Availability: 16oz cans, Draft. Winter seasonal.
6.6% ABV
