Long summer days are the perfect time to relax by the pool with a cold beer in hand, a proven method of beating the heat. But this is also the season to get outside, embark on an adventure, and work up a sweat in the hot sun after a long, cold winter spent indoors. After months of drinking stouts and porters during the colder months, beer drinkers are looking for something more refreshing and crushable, something you can take along when you hit the trail or enjoy while cooling off after a long hike, mountain bike ride, or a half-marathon.
Enter Jammer, Sixpoint Brewery’s line of thirst-quenching, gose-style beers dubbed “tangy session beers” to reflect the level of acidity and repeatability. Based on a recipe that German brewers have been perfecting for almost a thousand years, gose sits on the lighter, punchier end of the trendy sour beer spectrum. “Jammer is brewed like a traditional gose,” says Sixpoint brand manager Max Nevins. “It gets spice from coriander, and a touch of salinity from sea salt.” Sixpoint sources its salt from Jacobsen Salt Co. in Portland, Ore., which hand-harvests sea salt from the Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast.
Nevins says the beer earned the name “Jammer” for the vibes it carries with it. “It’s a tart/tangy, incredibly sessionable beer that, at 4 percent [alcohol], you can drink all day,” he says. It’s not just the low ABV; a can of Jammer has only 125 calories, is low in carbs, and is refreshing in taste from the sea salt used in the brewing process. The qualities of the Jammer caught the attention of REI, and Sixpoint soon launched a new partnership with the outdoor company called #JammerAdventures, which takes people on outdoor trips in New York City and the surrounding area. Activities include bouldering in Central Park, camping skills in Prospect Park, and mountain biking in Yonkers. Select trips will end with a “Jammer Hour” at a nearby bar, with the first well-earned round of Jammers on Sixpoint.
Now in its fifth year of production, Jammer Gose is joining Sixpoint’s year-round beers, as opposed to being a summer release. Sour beers have become more and more popular with drinkers, as have lower-octane brews. There’s no reason a lighter, brighter beer like Jammer should just be a seasonal release. A refreshing, sessionable brew is something many beer drinkers are looking for on even the coldest day, especially those who stay active all year long. Just because the temperature drops doesn’t mean your activity stops, so even your mid-February workout can end with a Jammer now.
Last year, brewmaster Eric Bachli and the Sixpoint product development team created Citrus Jammer, which is bolstered with lemon and lime juice. Bachli, who helped pioneer the New England IPA during his time at Trillium, says the formula is one of the most difficult things he’s accomplished in his career. “It was about balancing the refreshing quality of Jammer with the vivid fruit flavors we wanted to incorporate,” he says. “We wanted to deliver eye-opening flavor and aroma without sacrificing the characteristics that make Jammer the ideal session beer after a long hike.”
With the Jammer Session Fifteen Pack that Sixpoint released this year, Bachli and crew created three more fruit-flavored gose variants to add to the Jammer lineup. Berry Jammer is made with strawberry, cranberry, and raspberry juices, matching sweet with sour in every sip. Next up is Tropical Jammer, which balances the beer’s inherent tart notes with sweet mango and pineapple. And finally, there’s Ruby Jammer, a grapefruit-infused beer that tastes almost like a Paloma cocktail, minus the tequila. The five flavors can be found in 15-can mixed packs, ideal for summer parties.
Plenty of beer companies have launched beers that are low-cal or lower in alcohol, following the winds of changing trends, but Sixpoint joins a community of brewers that have found room to play within these styles. Sixpoint works with experimental styles, expanding beyond traditional IPAs and lagers, to create a beer that is the perfect companion to leading an active lifestyle. So get outside and do something this summer, whether it’s climbing rocks in the park, a three-night backpacking trip in the mountains, or a kayak trip down the Hudson River. At the end of your adventure, a cold Jammer awaits. When it comes down to it, Sixpoint’s Jammer series proves there’s not much better in the hot summer sun than a vibrant, low-alc sour beer or two.
This article is sponsored by Sixpoint Brewery.
