After a
less than spectacular beer contract brewed by Stevens Point Brewery, I figured
it was a good idea to give their own release a fair shake. In that vein I picked up a six pack of Point Oktoberfest. The seasonal Märzen is an award winning beer with 1 gold, and 6 silver
medals at prestigious competitions (more on that in the “They Say” section). The beer is somewhat authentic to style, at
least in the ingredients list, so it should be an interesting beer. Before moving on to the review however,
Stevens Point Brewery has a storied past, going back 155 years.
Founded in 1857 by George Ruder
and Frank Wahle, Stevens Point Brewery is the fifth oldest continuously
operating brewery in the US. Shortly
after founding the brewery, in 1859, Ruder left to found the George Ruder
Brewing Company, which remained open until the 1950s. Frank Wahle remained with the brewery until
1867 when he sold it to Andrew and Jacob Lutz who in turn ran the company for
30 years. Lutz sold the brewery to Gustav
Kuenzel, who, three years later, renamed it the Gustav Kuenzel Brewing Company. After less than a year with the new name,
Kuenzl re-named the brewery again, this time to Stevens Point Brewing Co. Stevens Point Brewery changed hands and names
again when a controlling interest was purchased by Ludwig Korfmann in
1924. Korfmann reorganized the company
and rebranded it as Stevens Point Beverage Co, an excellent move given that
1924 was in the midst of the depression and the brewery had shifted production
to near beer (non-alcoholic beer) and soda in order to stay in business. Controlling stake in the brewery continued to
change hands until the 1990’s. Stevens
Point beers were first marketed outside of the state in 1990 with a move into
Minneapolis/St. Paul, and later Chicago-metro in 1991. Less than a year later, the brewery was
purchased by Barton Beers, an odd move considering Barton’s success as an
importer and distributor, as well as the interesting fact that Point Beer was
the only domestic brand in Barton’s product line. In 2002, Barton Beers sold the brewery to Joe
Martino and Jim Wiechmann, two real estate developers from Milwaukee. The brewery is fortunately still in the hands
of Wisconsin owners 16 years later.
Okay, enough history, let’s get
on with the review. At Beeradvocate,
Point Oktoberfest has a score of 79.
Over at ratebeer
it has a 29 overall, with a 30 for style.
Again with ratebeer having such a low score for an Oktoberfest, at this
point I don’t know why I am even surprised.
Rather than rant on it here, let’s just move on to what you came for.
They Say:
Point Oktoberfest is an authentic Marzen Style Lager beer, a
style reminiscent of the beers originally brewed for the first Oktoberfest
Celebrations in Germany during the early 1800's. Craft brewed using
Hallertauer Hops and sweet Vienna roasted malts result in a full flavored,
finely balanced beer brewed in celebration of the upcoming season.
Brewmaster
Notes
AVAILABILITY: August
1 - October 31
PROTEIN: 1.55
g/12oz
IBUS: 15
MALTS: 2-row,
6-row, Crystal, Vienna, 2-row Munich
CALORIES 12 OZ: 182
HOPS: Tettnanger,
Hallertau, Perle
CARB GRAMS 12 OZ: 16.5
g/12oz
ALCOHOL CONTENT: 5.67%
by volume
FAT GRAMS 12OZ: <0.25
g/12oz
Awards
Gold
Medal Winner - Great American Beer Festival, 2012 -
Amber Lager Category
Silver
Medal Winner - World Beer Championships, 2008
Silver
Medal Winner - World Beer Championships, 2010
Silver
Medal Winner - World Beer Championships, 2011
Silver
Medal Winner - World Beer Championships, 2012
Silver Medal Winner - World
Beer Championships, 2013
Food Pairings
Wine relatives are unbaked Chardonnay
or zesty Sauvignon Blanc.
CHEESE: Pair with Muenster or aged Swiss Cheese.
WINE: Wine cousins are Pinot Noir, German Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) and
Grenache.
I Say:
Point
Oktoberfest pours a crystal clear golden amber with a thick, small bubbled
white head with rocky breakup that holds moderate retention and leaves thin
lacing behind in the glass. Rich biscuity,
bready malts lead off the aroma with toasted and sweet malts in the finish. The strong, biscuity malt aromas of a solid
Oktoberfest are in evidence with just the right amount of toast to
Biscuity
malts and a moderate dose of floral hops combine with slightly fruity, sweet
malts in the forefront of the flavor.
The beer dries out considerably with a moderately bitter finish. Biscuity and slightly toasted malts linger
after the last sip, providing Point Oktoberfest with an excellent malty finish
that hits home without any lingering sweetness.
Point Oktoberfest is medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation,
right where it needs to be to hold to the style.
Point
Oktoberfest is a pretty solid festbier, coming in almost exactly as expected
for the style. While everything else
played harmoniously, the floral hops seemed a little too high, and the malts
were a bit too fruity for my taste. The
finish however, was spot on and was probably the most refreshing so far in this
Oktoberfest series. Point Oktoberfest is
a noticeable improvement over the festbier that I had, and wrote up before it. It is great to see such a solid offering from
Stevens Point Brewery. I was a little
concerned after having such a mediocre experience with a beer that they
contract brewed, but their own offering is definitely a beer that I would pick
up again.
Happy Drinking!