Sixpoint: Alpenflo Helles Lager

I never said anything about "craft," just lager. So how about Point Brewing. Actually, I like Point beers even more than Leinenkugel. Or Yingling.

As pointed out, they have a year-round lager -- as do the others I mentioned.

@Ranbot -- no competition at all, just using comparisons. Could add many more Wisconsin lager breweries, but don't want to be the cause of blown gaskets.

Um. Hofbrau? Guess I'll have to add in all of the Beer Gardens in Milwaukee.

 

thought you might find this interesting....if you go by % basis, only ND has a higher percentage of German-heritage residents vs. Wisconsin...probably somewhat due to their relatively low population there as well....




About a quarter of people in PA claim German heritage, but in Wisconsin, its 42.6% (latest figures from 2004 census, but still impressive)

BUT.....it is interesting to note that PA has the highest absolute number of German heritage folks...with over 3 million people in the state!


cheers BAs and lager lovers...

 

So, by this new post you're equating German heritage with lager preference? Well then, since you made the connection -- what other state has claimed Gemütlickeit as their own?




To add from BA's own Home Page (though this could be a regional advertisement).

 

I for one would gladly buy Alpenflo if it as available in Wisconsin. Please don't leave us out to dry, @Sixpoint! Talk some sense into that distributor.

 

While I do think Pennsylvania's lager beer preferences run deep and probably moreso than any other region in the US. I'm going to stop short here...

The heritages people claim can be strange, especially the older and more distant the ancestral connection was. I don't see it as being too relevant other than as a social observation. For example, my wife will say she is Italian, based on her mother's family tree*, but her father's family tree is all English and German and her maiden name was English. She choose to ascribe to the Italian heritage over other viable possibilities. Or my last name is German traced to a father/son who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s, but my family tree has many surnames from England, Ireland, and Scotland, and I have a Cherokee great-great grandmother. My German last name is a result of a long series of random paternal naming accidents, with no more genetic claim on my "heritage" than the other nationalities. Furthermore my wife and I's perceptions of our heritages have little to no bearing on the decisions we make in life (that we're conscious of, at least), so I would question any attempt to correlate them... you could probably correlate eye or hair color, or shape/size of ears, or width of our feet just as easily.

So, anyway I don't put much stock in self-reported heritages or analysis of them... it's often as much popularity contest as anything else. Then connecting heritage to consumption of beer and specifically lagers is an even bigger stretch.

* - My wife's Italian-heritage family drinks plenty of Yuengling and I've never seen them serve Peroni at a family gathering... so much for heritage's influence on that beer-related choice.

 

All very reasonable observations, but one doesn't have to rely only on modern self-reported heritage when there are historical records that show clear patterns of German immigrants arriving in and settling in particular areas of the United States. For example, PA has a very long history of German immigrants settling here, many in later waves of immigrants influenced by the existence of communities established by earlier patterns of immigration.

https://www.loc.gov/rr/european/imde/germchro.html

In addition there is some historical information about the origin and spread of lager breweries in the US that suggests a pattern and correlation.

https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/10/beer-history-german-american-brewers-before-prohibition.html

It's much easier to appreciate lagers if your friends and neighbors drink them and you can drink them fresh "within sight of the brewery." So I doubt that it is a coincidence that two of the oldest lager only breweries in the US still owned and operated by the families of the German immigrant founders are located in PA. You don't stay in business for over 100 years without customers who want your product.

 

The Kewpie doll is yours, my friend. Great analysis.

LOL! My German dad drank Drewery's and my Irish grandfather was a Scotch drinker (not really blasphemy, there was no Irish whiskey available for him to drink back when), took the third generation to settle back into the "traditional" ways. (yes, I'm joshing, I'm completely on board with Ranbot's dissertation)

Time for a nice, cold lager...

 

My "German" heritage grandfather was a very occasional drinker who rotated mainly between St. Pauli's Girl, Sol, and Corona. His son's/my father's alcoholic beverage of choice for decades was wine [with no particular allegiance to it's origin] or Labatts beer, and he picked up American craft beer in the last decade. My mixed Irish, English, German, and Native American heritage mother has a much stronger drinking preference for German wines, and occasionally darker German-style beers, but that has far more to do with her fond memories of studying in Germany as a college student than drawing from heritage.

If you ascribe to the idea that heritage guides drinking preferences, my family is pretty weak evidence... YRMV. I think heritage is an overblown reason/excuse/scapegoat to explain why people do things, especially as the generations get further from the original immigration and especially with more inconsequential things in people lives...like beer drinking. (Yeah, I said that.) Which actually is a roundabout way of responding to @drtth's post above.... I think the connections drawn between heritage and beer make heavy use of cherry-picking, confirmation bias, and ignoring other socio-economic factors. There could be some very minor contribution of some people's concepts of heritage, but I think it's overblown and an overly-simplified answer for why things are.

Maybe give this a try to balance your conflicting heritage? Still no substitute for a good beer, lager or otherwise.

Prost! / Sláinte!

 

I’d imagine the drinking preferences between Pennslyvanians and Wisconsinites is pretty similar regardless of which state has better lager producing breweries.

 

Not to contradict your theory in any big way, but I probably would have never visited Ireland or Germany if not for my heritage. That said, there are very good reasons beyond heritage that draw me to places like Italy and Russia, among other far-flung locations.

I received a bottle of that in payment for some freelance work -- very nice. I only wish I could have shared it with my grandfather or uncle from that side of the family.

 

While you make some important points about such things as confirmation bias, etc., your analysis also implies that there is a more viable alternative explanation for why certain regions of the US saw the founding and growth of all-lager breweries whereas others did not. What might your alternative explanation be?

 

I think you're moving the goal posts slightly or we're on talking past each other some. In today's modern society, I think too much stock is put in personal perceptions of heritage, like reported in the 2004 Census above, which started this tangent. That's different than how breweries in a region were originally founded in the 1800s. As for why those brewers had continued growth, I would say there are intangible but very significant long-term benefits to being one of the first and most established businesses in a relatively wealthy region.

 

Thus all of the burgeoning ancestry companies. Every time I see another commercial prompting people to learn about their heritage I wonder if they ever talked with their grandparents. Sure, there are many who may not have that sort of luxury, or were transplanted to this continent in despicable ways, but I think most of us know our histories from our relatives. But maybe not.

And now we've really swerved from the original discussion -- apologies.

 

Talking past I'd say.

Part of my point is that I'd suggest that when two variables, e.g., modern day aggregate group self-reported identification and historical records of groups, each flawed in a different way, point in the same direction....

And we are still left with the same problem, if it's not aggregate self-identified heritage and/or historical records of groups that explain why PA "lager beer preferences run deep, possibly more so than any other region in the US," what other variables count, are less flawed or work better at providing an explanation?

(In a somewhat similar vein, Sherlock Homes once said, "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.")

 

Little bump on this one...I had been on the lookout here in Norfolk, VA since this was announced and 2x 12 packs finally showed up to my local Total Wine this past week. Enjoying my first one tonight and I can totally understating the emphasis on this one going down easy...great job again Sixpoint!

 

I was able to buy this beer once and it was never seen again. What a tease.

 

I found it twice some time ago with the direct assistance of 6P because their beer finder app doesn't work out here in California. I haven't bumped into it again in months. Plenty of other 6P beers are now available out here. I just wonder if the oddly shaped 12 pack is a problem for some smaller shops.

 

Seems to be. Also their app doesn’t really work here for the beer finder. Better off with untappd or BeerMenus. Anyway glad you guys get Sixpoint out West now. That’s chill. Now send us some Societe

 

Many weeks later and I am as smitten as ever....but also baffled by how scarce this one is on Long Island and in NYC. I have to travel to buy it.

 

What part of the Island are you from? I've still seen quite a few 12 packs in the shops near me in Suffolk County.