Sixpoint Apollo - Sour?

This was my last drain pour. I tried 2 cans from a four-pack I bought and other than the banana flavor, I felt like what I was drinking wasn't anything like what's written in the reviews. Either I got a bad four pack or I see things much differently than others.

Did I get sourness? Eh, maybe a touch behind the banana, but if it was there, it wasn't super noticeable.

 

I think it's tart, refreshing, and delish. I have had many cans of Apollo this summer.

 

I just read the side of the can, and it does indeed say it's supposed to be tart, but I still could swear the first cans I had weren't so.

 

This beer had a great tart finish when I had it. The beer itself impressed me, wasn't expecting much but I believe it is one of sixpoint's best offerings now.

 

Yes it is tart. Im not a huge fan of the beer.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'm wondering if the beer is brewed with the German Hefe strain, then canned with a wild lacto/brett blend. I only say this because the beer is yeasty and unfiltered and seems to have a fairly wide range of sourness depending on the date of the can, with a tiny bit of funk coming out in older cans. I bought a 4-pack and am putting them aside and drinking them each a few months apart just to see.

But don't quote me on that, this is purely conjecture and I have no actual clue. That being said, love Apolo. The tartness is glorious.

 

I have no idea whether Apollo is canned with a lacto/brett blend or not.

I can relate my experience with one 4-pack of Apollo. I purchased it earlier this summer (end of June?) and I drank the 4 cans over a month+ timeframe. The first two cans (fresher) were bright and pleasant with a slight tart taste. The last two cans tasted ‘different’. There was definitely a change in the flavor profile. I am not sure I would describe the flavor as being more sour or funky but there is no doubt that it was ‘different’. I preferred the fresher two beers.

I stored the four beers in the refrigerator to entire time and this batch had a best by date of Sept. 2012.

Please report back the findings of your ‘experiment’.

Cheers!

 

Does anyone know when Sixpoint beers are actually canned? All I can find is the best by date, and their website doesn't indicate when they are canned from that date.

 

I wanna say theres some acid malt giving a hint of sour on the back end.

 

Not sour at all. Tastes exactly like a hefe.

I only bought this because the beer store guy told me it was a Berliner Weisse. I was severely disappointed.

 

In a past thread a couple of BAs (BB1313 and jlordi12) stated that they had Apollo beers that were very sour like a Berliner Weisse. It appears that there has been some ‘batch variation’ with Apollo? If the beer store guy tasted this sour batch(es) then I could understand the confusion. You can read the other thread below.

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/sixpoint-apollo-yum.24890/

Cheers!

 

The only reason I'd disagree with this is because the sourness seems to develop over time, making it inconsistent from can to can depending on its age. If they used sour malt it'd be consistently acidic.

 

This is taken from ratebeers description of a kristallweizen, the style of beer which Sixpoint Apollo is. Hope it helps:

Kristalweizens are the third member of the German Wheat trifecta. Deriding by many beer lovers as “castrated hefeweizens”, kristalweizens are known for their filtered, sparkling colour. They have the classic spritzy carbonation of wheat beers, and the same tart wheat notes and signature components of banana, bubblegum and spice. The body is light, and alcohol ranging around the 5% mark, give or take half a point.

Fantastic beer BTW....

 

I emailed the brewery about this and I was told that it was "designed to evolve slightly over time." So, it seems it's canned with a few bugs such that fresh cans are going to taste pretty normal, and older ones are going to start getting sour.

Wheat itself does not make beer sour. I think I know what people mean by the "tartness" of wheat, but it's definitely not the kind of lactic acidity I got out of this beer.

 

Thank you for the Rate Beer description. I can certainly attest that the Sixpoint Apollo that I drank while fresh was indeed “tart”. Over a period of time the time the beer became ‘different’. As per PangeaBeerFood ‘s palate: the sourness seems to develop over time. So, there seems to be an ‘effect’ whereby Sixpoint Apollo changes over time?

Cheers!

 

I emailed the brewery about this and I was told that it was "designed to evolve slightly over time." So, may I ask you following question: does it make ‘sense’ to you that a Kristalweizen ‘should’ evolve over time?

Cheers!

 

I mean, such a beer might not be a proper kristalweizen as per the style guidelines, but if one just takes the term literally there doesn't seem anything counter-intuitive about it.

 

Sixpoint needs to get their stuff together. Before their expansion to Lion they were one of my favorites, but I can't bring myself to buy their beer anymore because it ends up being $10 of not very good beer that sits around forever in my fridge. I'd much prefer to only be able to get their beer on draft if it was good than have not good cans available for purchase.

 

Um. So here's an interesting turn.

Me: blahblahblah It wasn't sour, now it is.
Sixpoint: It's designed to change over time.
Me: So it's canned with wild yeast/bacteria?
Sixpoint: No.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't have take "designed to change over time" as being "contains wild yeast/bacteria." Lots of beers develop over time (by design or not) and most have no wild yeast or bacteria.