Sixpoint: Alpenflo Helles Lager

Discussion in 'Beer Releases' started by CNoj012, Dec 28, 2017.

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  1. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Since the 2-row universe is so large, and to @steveh's point, why not at least say imported 2-row, or more specifically, Pilsner malt?

    This would be akin to making an Oktoberfest and just saying you used all German malts.

    And there's plenty of breweries using American 2-row for their lagers, some do it well and use a blend of American and German (Summerfest comes to mind). And some may use all American 2-row and hop the hell out of it with Noble hops and call it a "German" lager.

    That being said, excited to try this, there's more Pilsners on the shelves, but Helles is a style seriously lacking.

    Sounds like it might come in around the same color as a pale Oktoberfest or pale Maibock even.
     
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  2. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    But aren't German brewers these days going away from decoction mashing and replacing a part of the grist with something like carafoam to get the same (or similar) flavor?
     
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  3. SCW

    SCW Initiate (0) Jul 25, 2004 New York

    The two-row varieties we sourced are from several favorite regions of ours spanning two countries in Europe, so there was no real concise way to say it without a further generic descriptor like "imported 2-row malt." As mentioned, the most important fact here is that the base malt is not cheap 6-row north american barley...but we definitely see your point of view on where the confusion may be.

    "Sounds like it might come in around the same color as a pale Oktoberfest or pale Maibock even"

    I believe its lighter than that, but I'll try to grab a photo of it soon and post to this thread. I'm planning on hooking a fresh keg up to my kegerator imminently. :-)
     
  4. StartedwithSAM

    StartedwithSAM Initiate (0) Feb 17, 2015 Virginia

    I enjoy this style, I'm interested to try this interpretation. I appreciate the inspiration for the name as well. Very nice. :slight_smile:
     
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  5. ecpho

    ecpho Savant (1,159) Mar 28, 2011 New York

    My favorite domestic Helles is Cigar City's Tampa Style Lager. Its classified on this site as an American lager but I believe it uses German malt, hops and yeast.
     
  6. meefmoff

    meefmoff Pooh-Bah (1,848) Jul 6, 2014 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Man did that hit the spot on a 90 degree day in Key West.

    Definitely interested in trying this one, especially with the 12 pack format and the Crisp's track record.
     
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  7. StartedwithSAM

    StartedwithSAM Initiate (0) Feb 17, 2015 Virginia

  8. Jacobier10

    Jacobier10 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,090) Feb 23, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society

    @Sixpoint Interested in the reasons behind using horizontal tanks for lagering and what you feel the final effects are on the beer vs. using vertical or conicals. Do you use horizontal tanks for any of your other lagers? Thanks for your insight into this beer so far.
     
  9. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I suppose I should check that out some day. Do you really think it's on par with Von Trapp?
     
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  10. frozyn

    frozyn Maven (1,411) May 16, 2015 New York
    Trader

    Not sure if what's hitting distro is the same as what you guys had on tap a couple releases ago, but I'm guessing it's going to be pretty similar, in which case I'm looking forward to this being available more often. I remember it being very crisp and refreshing, nice malt presence with just the right amount of noble hops to go along with it (for my tastes, anyway). Pretty sure I went through 5 or 6 of the 4 oz tasters that day as it was smooth and easy drinking, very delicious. I'm not a helles connoisseur, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
     
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  11. ecpho

    ecpho Savant (1,159) Mar 28, 2011 New York

    You know I haven't had the Von Trapp in awhile, I usually only see the Pils and Vienna - they are pretty rare around here anyway. I really like them, I wish they had a bigger presence in NY. I do like everything about Cigar City's - not easy to find either. Oh and I buy the 15 packs of Jack's Abby House Lager too.
     
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  12. ESHBG

    ESHBG Pooh-Bah (2,099) Jul 30, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Yes! I would take one over an IPA just about any day and I am happy to see others with Lager love.
     
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  13. beernuts

    beernuts Initiate (0) Jan 23, 2014 Virginia

    Interesting explanation for the darker color, I'll have to read about how kettle contact influences color. Is this the same reason your recent Kolsch was slightly darker than others?
     
  14. invertalon

    invertalon Pooh-Bah (2,065) Jan 27, 2009 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    This more than ever. I buy more lagers than ales these days, same as my brewing (soon 3 out of 4 taps will be lagers). The past few months, while I have always enjoyed them, have a far more aggressive love of well done German lager. I don't get excited to see NE IPA's on tap lists anymore, or big BBA stouts and crazy sours... But a Helles? Dunkel? Festbier? Send a 0.5L over, ASAP!
     
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  15. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,030) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Larger breweries, but I've seen many smaller ones that still proudly advertise their decoction method.
    Not sure about carafoam, but there are definitely malts that claim to provide that melanoidin character without decoction mashing.

    On the other hand, if you look at Paulaner's web site they list only Pilsner malt in their Helles. I suppose you can take that with a grain of salt, but the fresh bottles I had recently had the best toasty malt goodness I've had from a German beer in a long time.
     
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  16. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,053) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    You guys are always up-front about whether yours are "traditional" takes, or have a little something unique going on. All the language on this one (and the explanations here) seem to point to more traditional. That so?
     
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  17. Ranbot

    Ranbot Pooh-Bah (2,389) Nov 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Man, you guys are grilling @Sixpoint over these malts... this might be the hardest I've seen @Sixpoint work to sell a beer to maybe 4 to 6 people... :wink:

    I'll grab some Alpenflo if I see it.... I am curious to see how it stacks up to Sly Fox Helles, which is a regular in my house.
     
  18. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,081) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'll take two.
     
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  19. ESHBG

    ESHBG Pooh-Bah (2,099) Jul 30, 2011 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Same! I was somewhere recently and saw tons of IPAs and was excited to be able to order a solid Lager. I said this in another thread but to me IPAs have become the macros of craft :stuck_out_tongue:
     
  20. SCW

    SCW Initiate (0) Jul 25, 2004 New York

    I break to handle some business stuff, call my wife, take lunch, and come back to the Spanish Inquisition! :-)

    No worries, I enjoy answering the questions that others may have...you should put the same amount of care into it whether you are selling to 4 people or 4,000 people or 4,000,000. Scale without intimacy is hollow.
     
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