No Sleep Till Brooklyn

In doing research for my “assessing information” class, I came upon an academic article entitled “No Accounting for Taste”. It is a short but well written article from 2010 that looked at motivations behind the explosion of the craft beer market. The article gave some physical reasons that consumers are seeking out “extreme beers”, but also pointed to a social sophistication aspect of drinking “expensive beer”. The article argues these beer drinkers might simply be following trends and trying to look cool. While I can appreciate some of these arguments, I maintain “fancy beer” really IS about the taste. Think of it in parallel to the hot sauce market. There is always going to be some attention starved portion of consumers who want to show how they can stomach really hot stuff – while some will just want a little spice. We “extreme beer” drinkers are looking for that “hot sauce” somewhere in between – enough kick to get you going but not so hot that you can’t enjoy it. 

It is with this article in mind that I present to you a selection out of Brooklyn – Six Point’s Resin. Before Brooklyn got as trendy as Boston… say ten years back… all I knew about it was the 1986 Beastie Boys hit – No Sleep Till Brooklyn.

This is important because I don’t usually pick my beers by location of their brewery. I use a bend of gut, friend-referrals and marketing appeal.  The introduction to this brew came from my work mate Philip.  We usually like the same beers and he has another criterion that is total awesomeness. He likes beers that are canned for their fishabilty (cans r better than bottles on a boat). So one day Philip throws me a slim-line 12 ounce can.

It’s an attractive can and I like everything about it – except for their logo. They get a pass because of their story (google "brewer’s six point star"). I threw the lonely can in the beer fridge. It took me a while to get around to it but I finally cracked it open and was VERY pleased. It’s a mid-level drinker. Classified by Six Point as an Ale, Resin drinks and tastes more like an IPA. You’re probably not going to chug these nor are you required to sip it. From a flavor perspective, it leans more to the floral side of hoppy that jumps on you with a pretty bitter after-taste that has kind of tangy, sweet after-burn. Perfect beer for a hop head - horrible if you prefer light beer, ales or stouts. 

This flavor of “hot sauce” suits me well enough that I’ve added it to my rotation. I LIKE this beer. However, At $10 a four-pack, it’s not the “ideal” fishing beer. Some would consider it a little pricey but it's not too expensive considering the 9.1% ABV. That puts it pretty much in the mood setter category. Drink one of these and you’ll be pretty well situated for the night. You'll only need to "maintain” with complementary IPAs. Visit Six Point Craft Ales to learn more and be sure to give Resin a try.- bikechain