Although Red Hook has become Brooklyn’s latest neighborhood to experience the steady march of gentrification, it remains rough around the edges. The trendy new restaurants and boutiques that challenge the working-class streets once populated by longshoremen continue to be alienated by the Gowanus Expressway and the conspicuous lack of a subway line. Still, a transformation seems preordained, as cruise passengers from the Queen Mary II and shoppers from a brand-new Fairway supermarket bring money and a demand for fast-paced convenience. Amidst such transformation, a small brewery has emerged that defies commercial homogenization by honoring the traditions of yesteryear. Inspired by the community spirit for which Red Hook is celebrated, Sixpoint Craft Ales relies on traditional techniques, superior ingredients, and eclectic recipes to develop fun, innovative beers that are a welcome addition to New York’s recently revitalized beer culture.

Located on an isolated block near the water, Sixpoint’s exterior provides no clue as to the artistic ales manufactured within. Eager for a tour of the facilities, my wife and I took the B77 bus to Red Hook on an early fall afternoon. We disembarked directly in front of the Liberty Heights Tap Room, which sits adjacent to the brewery and conveniently features five Sixpoint beers on draught. Our arrival fell victim to gray and windy weather, and the neighboring school bus yards and dilapidated row houses did little to lift our spirits. A respectably sized group soon assembled and, when the advertised tour time came and went, appeared every bit as anxious as us to get things started. Before discontent could take root, a large, green wooden door that led into a courtyard behind the tap room opened, and a shaggy young man in a light blue polo shirt stepped outside. Having thoroughly studied the brewery’s Web site while planning our visit, I knew him to be Shane Welch, cofounder and brewmaster of Sixpoint Craft Ales.

Shane wasted little time in leading our group upstairs to a small wooden storeroom. A veteran of many brewery tours, I arrived at Sixpoint expecting the standard routine, which sometimes serves as little more than a marketing presentation for the brewery that guests must suffer through to earn the right to a tasting. However, I sensed that things at Sixpoint would be different the moment Shane pulled out a knife and slit open a bag of malted barley. He passed around several varieties for us to eat, energetically describing the signature characteristics of each. The quality of the grains quickly became apparent as we crunched into the first morsels. The darkest malt, rich in flavors reminiscent of coffee and chocolate, impressed me the most because of its intensity, though I also found myself wishing I had some of the lighter varieties at home for snacks.

Our curiosity sufficiently aroused, Shane led us onto the adjoining deck for a lesson in hops. As the aromatic flowers that provide bitterness to offset malt’s sweetness, hops are the distinctive ingredient with which many American craft brewers design bold beers that pay little attention to published style guidelines. Shane quickly confirmed himself a true rebel in this regard, encouraging us to stick our noses deep into the canisters he passed around so we could fully appreciate the complex fragrances released by these tiny plants. After describing a few traditional varieties, he introduced us to some new strains, one called Zeus, and another so fresh that it had yet to be named. With pride and defiance, Shane fiercely contended that the conventional use of hops could be somewhat boring; only aggressive experimentation, he argued, would lead beer making into exciting, uncharted territory.

Finally, the brewmaster took us back downstairs to the heart of the brewery. Stepping through a musty passageway, we emerged in a small room filled with shiny stainless steel vats. An intense bubbling noise filled the space, which I instantly recognized as the sound of beer fermenting. Shane explained that the barley storeroom stood directly above us. After being crushed, the grains flow down a chute into a machine called a mash/lauter tun, where they combine with water to create a sugary malt soup. After the mixture boils, the unfermented beer, now called wort, travels to a fermentation vessel, where one of Sixpoint’s house yeast strains joins it to eat the malt sugars and generate alcohol. Once fermentation is complete, the beer moves to a conditioning chamber and matures for several days before being kegged and transported to bars throughout the Tri-State area. Our tour reached its zenith when Shane allowed each of us to draw a glass of fresh beer directly from one of the tanks. It tasted incredible. A modest brewery, the equipment at Sixpoint is nothing like what one may find at a Budweiser plant, where computers control everything. Instead, Shane exercises intuition and a bit of muscle, a more time-honored and practical approach that succeeds in producing beers full of body and mouthwatering flavors.

Our tour complete, we stepped next door into the Liberty Heights Tap Room to taste a few more beers. With names like Sweet Action, Apollo, and Bengali Tiger, none of the ales can fail to impress the drinker with their freshness and bold tastes. Sixpoint Craft Ales has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the Northeast during the two years since it opened. With no marketing budget—the company relies solely on word-of-mouth advertising—Sixpoint has already acquired more than 250 accounts. Shane said that he and his partner, Andrew Bronstein, want the brewery to expand as much as possible, but never at the cost of quality. So the next time you’re at a pub and don’t know what to drink, ask the bartender to pour you a Sixpoint ale and relax as your worries flow away.

http://www.sixpointcraftales.com