Sixpoint Craft Ales

Sixpoint Craft Ales are a pretty new brewery located in Brooklyn, with their first beers rolling off the production line in 2005. They shipped some beers to Massachusetts but for production reasons they apparently weren't able to keep up with demand, and we caught the beers on their comeback launch tour.

Shane Welch, the brewmaster/co-head honcho, was at Cambridge Common when we visited to try out the five different Six Point beers they had on tap. It's always fun to try so many beers from one brewery, to get a sense of what they are about. We especially liked their Bengali Tiger IPA (it's nice to get an IPA that isn't just hops), and their Sweet Action, an American Blonde style, with hints of honey. They have a wide variety of other styles, too, and Shane seemed to imply that they would continue to produce an unusually large number of different beers compared to other craft brewers.

It was fun to get to chat to the brewmaster for the beers we were drinking. He was eager to share his enthusiasm for beer, giving us an account of his beer background and his plans for the future, as well as the intrigue of the craft brewing industry! He got his start as a brewer while in college, getting into homebrew in a big way, and hosting big parties at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. That was only his first step, though, and he dropped out and pursued his own beer education and eventually landed up in Brooklyn with the keys to his own place. It sounds as though they are in the midst of a big expansion and we're hoping that their beers will be more reliably available in Massachusetts henceforth.

Deep Ellum

When nearby Deep Ellum appeared on a Beer Advocate list of the best bars in the US, we figured we had to find out what the fuss was about. That said, we're a little wary of the Beer Advocate lists, which sometimes throw up such unpredictable places we wonder if some loyal drinkers have acquired carpal tunnel syndrome in trying to ensure their favourite place comes out top. The top choice in 2006, the Moan and Dove, doesn't even appear on the 2008 list!

However, wariness proved to be unnecessary, for Deep Ellum is a genuinely enjoyable spot, with a short but very solid food menu, and a really excellent selection of drafts. It's always fun to get to a new place and discover a couple of rounds' worth of unfamiliar beers, even more so when the staff are so friendly and helpful. We were impressed by the staff's beer knowledge and enthusiasm, and their quick responses to questions about the seasonal botles that were in stock. They usually have around 20 beers on tap, with a nice range available (we still remember the otherwise excellent beer bar that had at least a dozen hop monsters on tap one evening, and virtually nothing else!). The bottle menu is pretty solid, too, especially when it comes to Belgian selections: you certainly don't see Brugse Zot, Bink, or De Dolle Brouwers everywhere, even in specialist bars.

The food is generally very good, too. The cheese plates are a great way to start, and generally have unusual accompaniments.

Judgment Day

Rating: 2

Lost Abbey/Port Brewing Company
Cooperstown, NY
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 10.5%
750 ml

Pours withe almost no head (despite my attempts to generate something more vigorous), a deep brown colour, almost completely opaque. The nose is rich and fruity, with raisin the uppermost scent, along with a sweet maltiness. The taste is rich with raisiny flavours, too, with other dried fruit tastes mixed in, especially prunes, as well as caramel maltiness. It's a nice, sippable beer, but it might be enlivened by some more carbonation.

Go Pats!

Gareth's Saison v2

Saison v2 (Saison Dupont clone)
(5 gallon)

.5 lb Vienna malt
5.75 lbs Munton's extra light dry malt extract
1 lb wheat dry malt extract
1 lb Belgian light candi sugar

1.25 oz Willamette 5.8% (60 min)
.5 oz Liberty 4.0% (15 min)
.5 oz dried orange peel (Penzey's)
.25 oz Liberty 4.0% (5 min)

60 min boil

yeast: WLP 565 Saison 1

Pitched 2/3/08, SG 1.060
Secondary 2/16/08, SG 1.024
Kegged 2/25/08, SG 1/024

Barley Wine

Barley Wine
(5 gallons)
2/3/2008

15.0 lbs British 2 row
7.5 lbs wheat malt
0.75 lbs crystal malt 60L
0.5 lbs black patent malt
0.5 lbs chocolcate malt
1.5 cups molasses
39.0 SRM

1 oz Cluster (120 min)
1 oz Cluster (60 min)
0.5 oz Willamette (15 min)
1 oz Liberty (2 min)
2 oz Amarillo
51.8 IBU

Yeast: WLP001 California with starter Infusion mash
155 degrees for 60 minutes

1.115 OG on 2/3

Ommegeddon

Rating: 3

Brewery Ommegang
Cooperstown, NY
Style: Wild ale
ABV: 8.0%
750 ml


Ommegeddon is one of the great beer names, designed to capture the idea of explosively wild flavors. It's not an exaggeration: this is a really excellent American take on a wild Belgian ale. Due to my own failure to follow the bottle instructions, this poured with almost no head, a straw color, with a saison/yeasty nose. The flavour is where the wildness really emerges, with a real sense that it was brewed right on the farm. It's got a delicious rawness and goes perfectly with good strong cheese!