STEVENS POINT, WI – Stevens Point Brewery’s hand-crafted specialty beers and Root Beer look like Olympic champions with four new silver and bronze medals from a prestigious American beer competition.
At the U.S. Open Beer Championships, announced on July 31st in Atlanta, GA, Point Special Lager won a silver medal in the American Premium Lager category, Whole Hog Raspberry Saison earned a silver medal in the French/Belgian Saison Ale category, fall seasonal Point Oktoberfest won a bronze medal in the Marzen/Oktoberfest category and the Point Premium Root Beer was awarded a bronze medal in the Root Beer category — new in 2012.
The 2012 United States Open Beer Championships, the only brewery competition to include professional breweries and award-winning home-brewers, included more than 1,650 beers represented in 65 different categories. The Root Beer category was the newest category added this year.
“This competition is significant because it accepts entries from breweries around the world and allows national winning home-brews to compete,” said Dow Scoggins, director of the U.S. Open Beer Championships. “This year, over 20 international breweries entered the competition. Breweries from Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Germany, Mexico, and England medaled.”
Competing beers were judged in 65 different beer style categories. This year’s judges were from England, Canada and the United States.
“It’s an honor to win these awards,” said Joe Martino, Stevens Point Brewery Operating Partner. “These results reflect the dedication and hard work our brewers put forth every day, brewing the best hand-crafted specialty beers in America.”
About:
The Stevens Point Brewery Stevens Point Brewery, founded in 1857, uses only the highest-grade barley malts, specialty malts, grains and the choicest hops to brew their handcrafted beers, including flagship Point Special Lager, which won the gold medal in the American Premium Lager category at the 2003 Great American Beer Festival.
Point’s year-round specialty beers include Point 2012 Black Ale, a robust dark ale; Point Belgian White, a Belgian-style wheat ale flavored with orange peel and coriander; Point Burly Brown American Brown Ale, an American-style brown ale; Point Cascade Pale Ale, a hoppy American-style pale ale brewed with Cascade hops from the Yakima Valley; Point Amber Classic, an American-style amber lager; and Point Drop Dead Blonde Ale, a golden ale. Seasonal specialty brands include Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat, an award-winning unfiltered wheat ale; Point Oktoberfest, a Bavarian-style M├ñrzen beer for the fall; Point St. Benedict’s Winter Ale, a dark, abbey-style ale available from November through February; and Point Three Kings Ale, a K├Âlsch-style beer, for the spring.
Point’s specialty beers also include the Whole Hog Limited Edition Brewmaster’s Series, “big beers” that represent the epitome of the brewmaster’s art, including year-round Whole Hog Six-Hop India Pale Ale, and seasonal offerings, Whole Hog Barley Wine-Style Ale, Whole Hog Raspberry Saison, Whole Hog Russian Imperial Stout and Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale.
Gourmet soft drinks from the Stevens Point Brewery include Point Premium Root Beer, Point Premium Diet Root Beer, Point Premium Orange Cream, Point Premium Vanilla Cream and Point Premium Black Cherry Cream Soda.
For more information about the Stevens Point Brewery, visit www.pointbeer.com or call 1-800-369-4911. Tours of the brewery are available, with schedules listed on the web site www.pointbeer.com.