Sixpoint: Alpenflo Helles Lager

And some of you folks arguing about the beer's merits before even trying it based on a general description may want to just let the fine folks at Sixpoint do their thing and wait to give it a go before questioning it. Just a suggestion I guess.

 

I would say some of us do value a traditional hand over innovation (i.e. throw a ton of hops in) for certain styles like a Kolsch or Helles. Since Sixpoint goes out of their way to say they usually do not necessarily brew to style and they love to talk about themselves here I think the questions are warranted. I'm going to give it a try if it is in fact a straight up Helles and not something supposedly improved by this innovation.

 

I haven’t seen your question answered.

The the yeast and particles that form at cold temperatures will drop out at maybe 10 inches per day. Horizontal tanks minimize the path, so shorten the time. The yeast will be distributed along the bottom half of the tank, and if still active they have more surface area in contact with the beer, rather than being in the cone on a unitank.

Hope this helps.

 

Some disadvantages.

Those require more floor space, sometimes you see them stacked 2 high. Beer has to be transferred from primary to the lagering tanks.

 

Are those horizontal lagering tanks Schlitz originals? I would guess so.

 

No distribution in IL at this time.....so yes, it would appear that WI or IN would be your best bet, depending on where you live in IL.

*A note to all - there are still some unanswered questions on this thread from various folks, I will be able to address all of them individually at a later time, been really busy with other matters & family stuff....happy new year

 

One further question I have is how long y'all lagered for? Happy New Year. Look forward to trying this one. Prost!

 

Will this be year round or seasonal?

 

Damn!! Now that's a RESPONSE!...............Oh wait? Is it Mad Science?

 

Many of you wondered about what the beer looks like. Here is one of the first pours (photo taken this afternoon).....my buddy Drew and I enjoying one on New Year's Eve before we head out with our families for the festivities.

happy new year's all....

 

Our wonderfully capitalist society has made things incredibly efficient, rooting out costs and finding the most efficient means to produce. In this efficiency-conquest that has swept across the country, beer production was not spared. Someone figured out a long time ago that you could cram a ton more fermenters into the same amount of space by simply building a "tank farm" where you house the beer in "skyscrapers of fermenters" that are essentially very tall cylindroconical fermenters stacked alongside one other like silos.

So yes, while yeast in beer now live like people do in large cities, where there are 20 story condos stretching into the sky, someone along the way realized this arrangement may be fine when you are a human being walking through air, but its a very different story when you are a unicellular organism that lives in high-density wort. You see, anyone who has done deep-sea diving, or even just jumped off the high dive in their local pool knows that if you get below a depth of 10 feet of water you can really start to feel it in your ears. Why? Because all of the collective weight of the water above you creates a ton of pressure, and that gravity is directing all downward on your head. Essentially, you are slowly being crushed. Pleasant thought!

When you're a unicellular organism (yeast) and you are floating around in high-density wort, its bad enough that all of your activities may be impaired through a dense medium. But its a whole different story if you are now in a depth of 80 feet and you have that collective weight above you crushing down on you. Then there is the issue of osmotic pressure as well. So the question is what type of an environment do you think the yeast is more inclined to perform better in? An extremely high pressure environment, where every intracellular movement and metabolic activity is going to be under intense pressure? Or in a low-pressure, stable environment of a relatively shallow horizontal fermenter? Naturally, all of this depends on a myriad of other factors, but its not hard to see why the best slow fermenting, slow-maturing lager beers are still made in horizontal tanks when produced en masse.

The Alpenflo is the super mellow, super chill brother of the KÖLD SCHAUER.

It just flows.

 

Do you guys conduct both primary and secondary fermentation in the horizontals? Also, how long do y'all lager? We do primary in our conicals and secondary in the horizontals. Total fermentation time at Bierkeller for all of our beers (except the Kellerbier) is around 8-9 weeks. I really feel the beers turn a critical corner at that point, but everyone's process is different (as are time-to-market requirements)....

 

Very well written....thats good to see in this age of texting and lol's lmfao, etc.....

 

Based on my digital SRM chart (and off my Mac, semi-calibrated monitor), that's between a 4 and 5. But I'll definitely wait for my own in-person glassful for a true assessment.

 

Or in the words of Yvan de Baets, fermentation tanks have been designed around the maximum volume per square foot, and the maximum size allowed via transportation on a road truck... with little regard to what makes yeast (the workers) happy. Horizontal tanks reduce pressure on yeast and results in happier workers.

 

Yes, we do both primary and secondary in the horizontals. The lagering time is more of a function of how the beer evolves organically, and specifically on how quickly it can clean up its VDK production after the primary fermentation. It can be as little as 4-5 weeks or as much as 2-3 months. Of course, it has to pass sensory evaluation as well.

What's more encouraging is that you appreciate it. "In this age of texting" it is also easy for producers of consumer goods to pander to the LCD and gloss over the details that matter. We're pleased to see there is still a passionate group of people who care about good beer, and the technical processes behind it. We won't let you down. We think you're going to dig this one....

Love the at-home assessment with the digital SRM indicator! The final version will most likely be just a hair darker than the one photographed....also keep in mind the sun was shining through the window when that photo was taken! #NoFilter tho.... :-)

Could not have said it better myself (and I'm a native English speaker)!

The craft of brewing is a meandering path with many twists and turns...but one thing that is pretty consistent over time is that when brewers of beer solely chase the almighty dollar without regard to the microorganism that drives and enables the entire industry, we are all setting ourselves up for massive disappointment.

RESPECT your invisible partner!

 

"Digital" as in: it's a digital file off of my "digital" computer. To my defense, I was a longtime color correction graphic artist, so I don't trust a lot of "digital" files or computer screens.

 

Has there been a SC sighting?

 

hopefully we won't need you to airbrush the final version ;-)

The beer is packaging and shipping to wholesalers this week....so there will be no sightings until then....