Stevens Point Brewery
Stevens Point, WI
Available: WI, IL, MN, MI, IA, OK, IN, KY, MA, RI, MD, VA
Stevens Point Brewery, in Stevens Point, WI, is the fifth oldest continuously operating brewery remaining in the United States.
ABV: 5.4
ABW: 4.3
Color: 8
Bitterness: 33
Original gravity: 1054
Being a denizen of Cascadia (what many of those of us who live here call the Pacific Northwest), I tend to shudder when I meet a beer from somewhere else named to reflect the region. But Point's pays a respectable homage to the land where most of the world's Cascade hops are grown. It pours a clear, bright light amber with a thin, white head that lingers through much of the glass. The aroma could be a bit more assertively "Cascade-y," but offers whiffs of grapefruit and pine along with a touch of lightly toasted malt. The flavors follow perfectly with what the aroma promised—no surprises here. And that's fine for a pale ale. This is a beer that can be enjoyed by both experienced beer fans and those just entering the arena.
If you're looking for aggressive hopping, this beer's not for you. Cascade is here alright—peppery grapefruit notes well in evidence—but this won't really deliver for anyone craving a serious lupulin hit. It's also a little underpowered. What it does do, however, is offer a gateway to interesting hop flavors for the inexperienced, especially as it's so easy drinking, well balanced and refreshingly bittersweet on the palate. In many respects, it reminds me of Cascade-hopped beers from the UK, where brewers are generally more cautious than their American counterparts when it comes to loading the copper.
Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and one of Britain's best-known beer writers.
