Sixpoint – Abigale 6-Packs Coming In March
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MyBeer Buzz
From Sixpoint:
Brooklyn-based Sixpoint Brewery today announced the resurrection of the "ABIGALE" — an original Sixpoint formulation first crafted in 1999, while founder Shane Welch was a hippie living in Madison, Wisconsin. During this crunchy granola phase of his life, he was romanced by the stories of craft beer staying alive during the "Dark Ages" through the monastic brewing traditions across Europe. After reading through dozens of brew books, Shane was inspired to take things in a new direction. He purchased a bottle of Chimay from Riley’s Wines of the World, drank 90% of the beer, and cultured the remaining yeast in the bottle with a malt starter solution and an airlock. Three days later, ABIGALE was born.
"I remember one Saturday evening watching the yeast swim around in the carboy, which I clutched like a newborn baby" remarked Welch. "I shined a flashlight in the beer and gazed into the interior of that vessel, mesmerized by the swirling turbulence of fermentation. It was bad-ass! These medieval monks must have thought there were crazy demons swimming around in these beers. Wicked!"
Things went smoothly until the high-gravity beer, which fermented out to 8.8% ABV, exploded and blew the airlock into the air, and created a projectile of yeast and krausen all over the place. To make matters worse, the carboy was kept in the closet, and it ended up spewing all over his roommates’ winter coats. Welch recalled, "They were pretty pissed off. But when I told them there was beer involved and I’d take care of the dry cleaning, they pretty much shrugged it off and went back to playing video games." 
ABIGALE, lovingly known as "Abbey" at Sixpoint – which is a play on A-BIG-ALE (see what we did there?), is an abbey-stylie inspiration. Like all Sixpoint beers, it does not intend to recreate a classic style, but instead draw inspiration by soaking in the culture and experience of these traditions, then riffing out a unique jam. Sixpoint Brewer Shaun Carney commented, "I think the the way the beer is tasting is not a classic Abbey – which is good, because we don’t want it to be. It celebrates the abbey brewing history but it also celebrates the American brewing industry. The blending of the classic European malts, the Belgian tradition of adding candi sugar, procuring an authentic Abbey yeast, and blending in American hops take this beer into a new direction. I’m psyched!"
Sixpoint traveled to the Netherlands and Belgium to meet with the Abbey and Trappist brewers, learn more about the classic monastic brewing traditions and fermentation specifications, and soak up the energy of the Original High Gravity brewing crew. Getting some high-fives from the brother (and father) brewers was exactly the type of good vibes the Abigale needed to get it over the goal line. "There’s something really special about crafting an original recipe on the stove, then 16 years later traveling to Belgium to meet the dudes who inspired the source of everything…and then dropping this OG in a sixer for our fans network wide" Welch beamed. "The combination of spicy yeast flavor, rich malt, and American hops is what beer lovers have been praying for!"
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