Sixpoint Brevity
As I’ve said countless times, Sixpoint is one of my favorite breweries, and local to Brooklyn with a brewery located in Redhook. Sure, it’s not as accessible to me as the Brooklyn Brewery, which is just a fairly nice stroll from my apartment, but I find Sixpoint beers to be generally more palatable with nice robust flavors and a strong sense of balance. I especially love Sixpoint when they’re able to restrain themselves from being too experimental or fiddling with beer styles that aren’t necessarily the domain of East Coast brewers. This is where the Sixpoint Brevity comes in, it’s one of those beers that is clearly reaching to be the platonic ideal of its style and in many ways it comes very close to being the perfect witbier.
Brevity pours a beautiful opaque gold, the kind of gold that you never really expect a drink to actually come in (think the Gold uniforms on Star Trek: The Next Generation). It had the perfect haziness that one expects in wits with just the right amount of a white-ish head, nothing so big that you had to let it sit but still large enough that it’s clearly there. The scent was one of honey blended with coriander, and orange peel. In other words, the two classic witbier flavors with the sweetness that they’re always yearning to be balanced with.
The beer feels full in your mouth, making for a very pleasant drinking experience. The flavors are a nice train of balanced tastes that are arranged exactly as you want them to be. First, you’re hit with citrus flavors of orange and lemon, followed quickly by sweet honey to prevent things from getting too tart or sour. This sweetness is then rounded out with the delicious taste of coriander and a light dusting of spicy hops. My nose trick was able to bring out tastes of orange zest, honey, and a little bit more hops to give this beer a full flavor profile.
The Sixpoint Brevity is definitely one of those beers that you should get when you can. It’s perfect for summer nights that are dropping in temperature from warm to cool, and you’re looking for the beer that will precisely match the mood of the evening.
