Sixpoint's Dr. Klankenstein Revives Medieval Brewing Process
June 3, 2010 | By Pete Lawrence
The good folks from Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn were kind enough to send us a care package of some of their fine brews, one of which included a "Dr. Klankenstein". Not knowing exactly what that was, I enquired with brewmaster Shane Welch. I'm glad I did because the story behind this beer is amazing.
Sixpoint classifies Klankenstein as a steinbeer, which is a type of beer I'd not heard of before. The name comes not from the use of steins (German for "stone") but rather for the unique method in which it is brewed. They throw hot stones into the wort during the boil. It took Sixpoint a while to figure out how to do this as it's a tricky proposition in the brewing process. The video below helps shed some light on it.
There's also a pretty good slideshow of the process here.
Klankenstein is only available at the Modern, the restaurant of MoMA in New York, and only for a very limited time. Apparently once it's gone, it's gone and Sixpoint has no intention of brewing it again.
The result is an amazingly smooth, unfiltered, malty beer with just the right balance of hops. The hot stones apparently help caramelize some of the malts which gives the beer a sweet flavor with hints of banana. It's the kind of beer you could drink a lot of if you're not careful. If you're in New York and you can get your hands on some before it's gone, I highly recommend it.
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