Sixpoint's Shane Welch [5 Questions]

One of the best things about craft beer is that the beer is made and the companies are run by people who care about what they do. Also, many breweries are local or regional companies which means it's made in your area. All of this lends itself to one of my favorite things about the industry: you can actually know the people that brew your beer and run the companies that produce the brew that you love!

With that in mind, we've launched a series of articles where we'll talk with people from the craft brewing industry and ask them a series of five (or sometimes more) questions so that you can get to know these fine people a bit better.

We're happy to introduce our second guest for this series, Shane Welch, the President of Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, NY. It's been a longtime since we had our first Sixpoint beer, back when they were only sporadically on tap in Boston. And it was love at first sip! So much so that we even visited them years ago when we drove down the East Coast brewery hopping. So, with that said, we'll jump right into the interview.

Drink Craft Beer: How did you get into craft beer?

Shane Welch: I got into craft beer at an earlier age than probably anyone in the industry.  My father was a very early adopter of "craft beer" in the 1970s when your selection was strictly limited to import brands.  At the time, he was drinking Chimay and high-end German imports.  Here is a photo [at right] from 1981 where I am drinking the dregs out of my father's ceramic stein.  I loved the taste of beer ever since it crossed my lips.

DCB: What was the turning point (a beer or moment) that made you love craft beer?

SW: Are you requesting my "a-ha" moment?  :-)   My "a-ha" moment was when I started to drink real homebrewed beer.  It was the first time I realized that beer could actually be something beyond a commodity - something that was a live product, fermented cereal grains seasoned with hops. 

DCB: You walk into a magical beer shop with every beer currently available. You can put together one six-pack. What do you walk out with? Only one beer can be from your brewery.

SW: This is sort of a trick question because many of my favorite beers are not available in bottles.  They are draft-only varieties.  But since this is a "magical" beer shop I am assuming they also can magically bottle these draft-only varieties and have them for sale.  :-)   In that case, I will go with beers from:

Live Oak Hefeweizen
Live Oak IPA
Barrier Brewing Company Dunegrass (shout out to Craig Frymark and Evan Klein)
Hill Farmstead Ephraim (shout out to Dan Suarez and Sean Hill)
Ale Asylum (shout out to Dean Coffey)
Augustiner Edelstoff Helles (non-export version, the fresh draft straight from the brewery) - fyi this is a beer I can drink gallons of

DCB: What would you be doing for a career if you weren’t in beer?

SW: Mathematician, and probably working for or with Google.

DCB: What do you drink when you’re not drinking craft beer (or beer at all)?

SW: I love to drink and collect different teas from all over the world. 

DCB: Where do you see the craft beer industry going in the next year? And, in that vein, can we get a sneak peak at what new to expect from you in the coming year?

SW: Craft has legs and will continue to grow, even if the growth tapers on a percentage basis.  Regarding new beer releases...let's just say we will be combining German precision and engineering with Sixpoint creativity.   :-)

DCB: You can brew any beer you like, no matter the cost and consumer demand, what would you make and what dream ingredients would you use?

SW: The Poppenoff, without a doubt.  If you have to ask, you'll never know.   ;-) [Editor's Note: We have no idea what this beer is...we'd have to ask, so I guess we'll never know]

DCB: Thanks for your time, Shane! And thanks to your dad for having such great taste in beer back in the day...without that, we may never have been able to experience nano-kegs! Also, Shane and Sixpoint just brought on a new Brewmaster as Shane transitions out of overseeing all of the brewing operations himself and into running the company even more. Look our for a new 5 Questions with Sixpoint Brewmast Jan Matysiak soon!