Point. Well made.
About a year ago, I found a 12-pack of Point Amber at Total Wine & More on Central Expressway, and bought it on a whim. Point Brewing is in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which I only know because University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is occasionally a 16th seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament. I love Leinenkugel's Red, from Chippewa Falls, so I figured another Wisconsin beer would be worthwhile. It was; I'm more a hop-head and currently on a big Pale Ale/IPA kick, but the Point Amber is a tasty, meaty, malty (but not too heavy) pleasure. Sort of a XX (Dos Equis) amber of Shiner Bock tasty-yet-unserious brown beer. I've gone back several times, and often have a few Ambers in my fridge (until my nephew Logan comes into town and drinks them all). Until this week, that's the only Point beer I've ever seen, much less tasted.
Tuesday, I had to go to Central Market to pick up flowers for my secretary's birthday, and saw a mixed 12-pack of Point beers: two each of St. Benedict's Winter Ale, 2012 Black Ale, Burly Brown, Cascade Pale Ale, Belgian White, and Amber. I'm working my way through them. (Actually, since I started this post, another trip to Cental Market was required for an entirely different reason, which resulted in a second 12-pack; what I do for blogging's sake.)
Tasting notes:
I started with the St. Benedicts. It's a clear and sharp winter ale with a crisp spicy edge. It's fairly light in both color and taste, almost to the point of being too watery for an ale (especially a winter ale). The spice blend is strong enough to taste, but not so strong that it takes on a perfume taste.
Next up was the 2012 Black Ale. On the Stevens Point Brewery site, some expensive-looking ads for the 2012 play off of the Mayan calendar end-of-the-world scenario, like the brewery threw whatever it had left into this brew: drink it like the end of the world is coming, since we held nothing back. It's not all that. The first sip is thick and malty, and clings to the back of your tongue and your soft palate, promising a glass full of wolly warmth. But that first impression, full of chocolate and roasted nut flavors, fades by the third or fourth sip. The flavor is still there, but the body, the thickness, like you'd find in, say Guinness' black ale, thins out sip by sip. By the end, if you're drinking out of the bottle (as I did my first time), you may well forget you're drinking a black beer (as I did my first time). My advice: drink it out of a glass; you're much more likely to enjoy it as a black beer all the way to the end.
The following night I had the Belgian White. I was going to drink it out of the bottle, but was struck by how clear it was, so I decanted. Clearly this is not a white -- it was clear as spring water (well, yellow spring water). It says on the label that it's a wheat beer, as all Belgian white's should be, but I would expect any true white to be somewhere between translucent and opaque. Whites are called that because they look cloudy; it's a result of the carbohydrate/starch in the wheat not breaking down entirely. You also expect a white to have a musty, sour-milk sort of smell and taste: again, that's a result of brewing with wheat, and the inability to brew it down to pure sugars. Usually, white beers are drunk with fruit, so as to cover up some of the sour taste of the wheat. They're also usually infused with coriander, for the same reason. For what it lacks in the "white" department, the Point Belgian White is definitely makes it up in coriander; so sharp, it made me think of ouzo for a second. Despite how bad that all sounds, it's actually a nice beer. I don't think I can call it a white, but it would certainly be serviceable as a spice beer.
Next was the Cascade Pale. As with most Point beers, it's a little on the thin side, with a typical crisp American Northwest hop taste. It comes across very clean, and the malt taste is very subdued. I love hops, so I enjoy how forward this beer is with the hop flavor, but it's definitely not bitter or particularly dry. I rarely say this with regard to a pale, bitter, IPA, ESB, or the like, but it really could use more malt.
The Burly Brown compares well with the black, and is an interesting back-to-back tasting. It's much less chocolatey and more of a nut brown. It's billed as an American brown ale, which is seems like it is, but is definitely thin in mouth-feel. In fact, if you drink it out of the bottle, you'd never know how dark it is. If you want to look like a serious beer drinker but are actually a poser, this would be a good beer on draft.
Finally, the 12-pack also contains the Amber. Previously, I'd only had it in cans. Like I said above, it's a great standard medium-brown amber, sort of a Wisconsin Shiner Bock. There's almost a cirtusy back-flavor behind the malt, which must come from the crystal malt that gives it a slight red tone. This is the Point beer I'd buy over and over again.
All of the beers lack any sourness or edgy bitterness (even where there ought to be some, as in the White and the Pale). All of the beers are light enough to allow you to drink them nonstop without feeling full or bloated, with the possible exception of the Burly Brown (for a contrary example, think of drinking 2-3 Fat Tires in rapid succession, and the bloated feel you'd get). I'd suspect the water is very low in mineral content, possibly even softened, and the yeast is light and uncomplicated. I'd also suspect that the brewers at Point are very conscious of brew temperatures and maintain longer-than-average enzyme rests in the 145 - 155 degree (Farenheit) range.
Bottom line, these would satisfy the serious beer drinker and the casual one. I guess if you can't drink anything beefier than Corona Light, you might have trouble choking down some of these, but then again, if that's you, what are you doing in Wisconsin?
About a year ago, I found a 12-pack of Point Amber at Total Wine & More on Central Expressway, and bought it on a whim. Point Brewing is in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which I only know because University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is occasionally a 16th seed in the NCAA March Madness tournament. I love Leinenkugel's Red, from Chippewa Falls, so I figured another Wisconsin beer would be worthwhile. It was; I'm more a hop-head and currently on a big Pale Ale/IPA kick, but the Point Amber is a tasty, meaty, malty (but not too heavy) pleasure. Sort of a XX (Dos Equis) amber of Shiner Bock tasty-yet-unserious brown beer. I've gone back several times, and often have a few Ambers in my fridge (until my nephew Logan comes into town and drinks them all). Until this week, that's the only Point beer I've ever seen, much less tasted.
Tuesday, I had to go to Central Market to pick up flowers for my secretary's birthday, and saw a mixed 12-pack of Point beers: two each of St. Benedict's Winter Ale, 2012 Black Ale, Burly Brown, Cascade Pale Ale, Belgian White, and Amber. I'm working my way through them. (Actually, since I started this post, another trip to Cental Market was required for an entirely different reason, which resulted in a second 12-pack; what I do for blogging's sake.)
Tasting notes:
I started with the St. Benedicts. It's a clear and sharp winter ale with a crisp spicy edge. It's fairly light in both color and taste, almost to the point of being too watery for an ale (especially a winter ale). The spice blend is strong enough to taste, but not so strong that it takes on a perfume taste.
Next up was the 2012 Black Ale. On the Stevens Point Brewery site, some expensive-looking ads for the 2012 play off of the Mayan calendar end-of-the-world scenario, like the brewery threw whatever it had left into this brew: drink it like the end of the world is coming, since we held nothing back. It's not all that. The first sip is thick and malty, and clings to the back of your tongue and your soft palate, promising a glass full of wolly warmth. But that first impression, full of chocolate and roasted nut flavors, fades by the third or fourth sip. The flavor is still there, but the body, the thickness, like you'd find in, say Guinness' black ale, thins out sip by sip. By the end, if you're drinking out of the bottle (as I did my first time), you may well forget you're drinking a black beer (as I did my first time). My advice: drink it out of a glass; you're much more likely to enjoy it as a black beer all the way to the end.
The following night I had the Belgian White. I was going to drink it out of the bottle, but was struck by how clear it was, so I decanted. Clearly this is not a white -- it was clear as spring water (well, yellow spring water). It says on the label that it's a wheat beer, as all Belgian white's should be, but I would expect any true white to be somewhere between translucent and opaque. Whites are called that because they look cloudy; it's a result of the carbohydrate/starch in the wheat not breaking down entirely. You also expect a white to have a musty, sour-milk sort of smell and taste: again, that's a result of brewing with wheat, and the inability to brew it down to pure sugars. Usually, white beers are drunk with fruit, so as to cover up some of the sour taste of the wheat. They're also usually infused with coriander, for the same reason. For what it lacks in the "white" department, the Point Belgian White is definitely makes it up in coriander; so sharp, it made me think of ouzo for a second. Despite how bad that all sounds, it's actually a nice beer. I don't think I can call it a white, but it would certainly be serviceable as a spice beer.
Next was the Cascade Pale. As with most Point beers, it's a little on the thin side, with a typical crisp American Northwest hop taste. It comes across very clean, and the malt taste is very subdued. I love hops, so I enjoy how forward this beer is with the hop flavor, but it's definitely not bitter or particularly dry. I rarely say this with regard to a pale, bitter, IPA, ESB, or the like, but it really could use more malt.
The Burly Brown compares well with the black, and is an interesting back-to-back tasting. It's much less chocolatey and more of a nut brown. It's billed as an American brown ale, which is seems like it is, but is definitely thin in mouth-feel. In fact, if you drink it out of the bottle, you'd never know how dark it is. If you want to look like a serious beer drinker but are actually a poser, this would be a good beer on draft.
Finally, the 12-pack also contains the Amber. Previously, I'd only had it in cans. Like I said above, it's a great standard medium-brown amber, sort of a Wisconsin Shiner Bock. There's almost a cirtusy back-flavor behind the malt, which must come from the crystal malt that gives it a slight red tone. This is the Point beer I'd buy over and over again.
All of the beers lack any sourness or edgy bitterness (even where there ought to be some, as in the White and the Pale). All of the beers are light enough to allow you to drink them nonstop without feeling full or bloated, with the possible exception of the Burly Brown (for a contrary example, think of drinking 2-3 Fat Tires in rapid succession, and the bloated feel you'd get). I'd suspect the water is very low in mineral content, possibly even softened, and the yeast is light and uncomplicated. I'd also suspect that the brewers at Point are very conscious of brew temperatures and maintain longer-than-average enzyme rests in the 145 - 155 degree (Farenheit) range.
Bottom line, these would satisfy the serious beer drinker and the casual one. I guess if you can't drink anything beefier than Corona Light, you might have trouble choking down some of these, but then again, if that's you, what are you doing in Wisconsin?
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