Point Classic Amber - Stevens Point Brewery

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

2.63/5  rDev -19.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Clear, caramel coloration, a dark amber, with a nice, thick creamy off-white head. Aroma is, wel, too sweet and malty, with little balance, and an adjuct-y flintiness. Too much like the unpleasant swill smell I've tried to avoid throughout my beer drinking career. Slight hops and mineraly-ness, but it falls flat, and lays there like a stinker.
Taste? there's a malty feel, a caramel tone that swims around the palate, but it leaves as quick as it comes. Light body, short finish, little texture, too much carbonation at the front. Hollow, listless...a trace amount of flavor trickles back and flits down the throat, but it's not a terribly happy sensation. This one's definitely for the lower rung, and will impress only those with small reserves of taste and infinite tolerance for blandness.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2004 22:38:12 | More by feloniousmonk

moulefrite

Massachusetts

3.03/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

An average Joe here. Things start out ok with a fair bit of deep caramel on the pour, and a good bit of frothy, and sticky head that offers good retention. But, things slide downhill from there. Aromas are malty, yet also skunky and barnyardy (in a bad way) as well. The mouthfeel is crisp though somewhat syrupy. Flavors are hard to define? Mildly malty, watery marzen-esc flavors, some burnt caramel and a nutty quality on the tail end-some sourness as well. I guess this is fair for a mass marketed Marzen, but as one who truly enjoys the style this is just another Amber for the quassi adventerous.

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2004 01:36:37 | More by moulefrite

ALESwhatCURESya

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +23.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pretty nice tasting beer from Stevens Point Brewery. I got this in a mixed grab bag and I am actually pretty impressed. There is a nice color and aroma to this and the mouthfeel is very balanced. Dry malty overtones fill your mouth and you are left with virtually no aftertaste. Nothing amazing, but a nice session beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2004 21:00:19 | More by ALESwhatCURESya

ADR

Pennsylvania

3.28/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear ruby amber color, good 3/4 inch head, but its small bubbles start deconstructing a little early. Some drips and dots for lace. Pleasant pecan nutty aroma, bit of maple. Very smooth mouthfeel, works pretty well with a mild malted milk character -- but could use more toastiness. Lower carbonation than my expectations. Hops are what's lacking in this brew, even for a Vienna Red (while its hair splitting, I think this qualifies better as a Vienna Lager), there's just nothing much to balance the beer and make it a better sessioner. As it is, it flattens to a sugar water close. Not too bad, easy drinking.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2004 14:41:35 | More by ADR

brewQ

Missouri

3.5/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The jewel like royal brown appearance was very nice.
The aroma was an unexpected plus- I did not realize this was marzen style til it hit me in the nose. Sweet roasted malt- not a macro red as I might have expected.

The taste followed through in exceeding my expectations. A clean brew with nice body. Very drinkable.

Despite some ownership changes this old time brewery appears to be on the right track. It's good to see. And at $5.49 a six pack this is a nice value beer.

As a Wisconsin native I am happy with this one.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2004 23:01:34 | More by brewQ

TastyTaste

Minnesota

3.18/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Ruddy brown color, with almost no head. This beer is a lot better than the Point Special I tried. Has a deeper flavor of malt and a nice hop finish. I may even consider getting this beer again, if the chance ever presents itself. This beer may best as a standby, a solid choice over the macros.

Serving type: bottle

12-13-2003 13:13:54 | More by TastyTaste

bditty187

Nebraska

3.05/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Clear, orangey-bronze in hue. Slightly off-white head, very modest in size (maybe a half a finger), fair retention, some unorganized lace. It does look nice in my glass. The nose is unbalanced, half toasty, nutty, maltiness and the other half is odd dull butter and DMS. The potency is mild so the “off-ness” can be over looked. The taste is better, the light nutty-toasty malt is the focal point, the hops bitterness is mild but very complementary… towards the finish a clean sweetness emerges (an adjunct?). Medium-light body, slick carbonation, watery in spots. The aftertaste is tacky & sweet and it falls apart a little as it warms. This is a serviceable beer, if the price was right it would be worth drinking on occasion. But since I’ve never seen this in my area I need to thank ZAP for the sample.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2003 19:30:58 | More by bditty187

Brent

Kentucky

2.9/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I'm not sure why this is listed as a Marzen, other than the label references some lagering. Overall, this is a pretty average amber lager. A bit murky. Flavor profile is flat, with some sweet caramel malt and a touch of apple. Mouthfeel leans slightly to the watery side. Smooth and uneventful.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2003 04:23:00 | More by Brent

Redrover

Illinois

3.53/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz long neck brown bottle with a new and I don't think improved label.

Beer pours a nice amber with decent head and some lacing. You can smell some malt and caramel, maybe a hint of hops.

Beer tends towards sweet, with not much hop bitterness. Beer has good carbonation. Taste falls off as it warms, which seems strange given the malt characteristics.

Drinkability and mouthfeel are fine, but not outstanding.

I think they may have changed the formula and made this beer a little less bold. Either that, or my taste buds have changed. It is still decent, but now, it is a just above average beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2003 00:25:48 | More by Redrover

marc77

California

2.28/5  rDev -29.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Clear ruddy amber hue. Initially fluffy, off white head recedes into a thin, but dense layer that manages loose lace. The aroma is odd, unbalanced combination of toasted malt, sweet caramel, herbal hops along with a grainy, lighty metallic twang and slight sulfur. Hint of sickly sweet corny DMS adds a macroesque edge. Non descript, sugary toffee hits the palate at first, then is ensued by mildly astringent, grainy 6-row husk and non descript ambient sweetness. As the beer breathes, graininess mellows into a refined white bread like quality. Paltry hop bitterness leaves residual sweetness unhindered and nearly cloying if not for the thin, overly attenuated body. DMS emerges late along with a resurgence of dark caramel malt, lending a cooked, creamed corn on stale toast impression. Finishes faintly herbal, with notes of dry cracker and hominy. Classic Amber is a poor Marzen, and is reminescent of a 25% Rolling Rock, 25% Killians, 50% Spaten Ofest mix. If this is all malt, they sure tried to make it taste like it has large amount of adjuncts. Skip this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2003 18:59:34 | More by marc77

Quaffer

Nevada

2.25/5  rDev -30.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Appearance: This was a deep amber beer with a fizzy tan head. It disappeared almost immedeately, leaving a thin ring around the glass. This, too, had vanished before the beer was gone. There was no lacing at all.

Smell: Oooo, this was not good. There was a very light, sweet malt aroma that tried to make itself known through the other not-so-pleasant smells. Corn and a stinging, antiseptic-like aroma were the main components. Of course, this got worse as the beer got warmer. At one point, I even started to smell bile rising from the glass. Like I said, not good.

Mouthfeel: Thin-bodied and watery on the finsh. Kind of smooth, though.

Taste: The taste was just mild, sweet malt combined with a little spiciness. There were no hops flavors at all. A bit of that macro-like corn flavor hangs around in the background, but it is not very strong. I hate to leave it at that, but that's all there is to this beer.

This beer is not worth the effort. It reminds me a lot of weak, wannabe beers like Killians and Amber Bock. And the smell is bad.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2003 19:18:37 | More by Quaffer

garymuchow

Minnesota

3.48/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Have I mentioned the Square(?), the ultimate college drinking collection of dives that exists merely for folks to drink to excess, very cheaply, without any worry of the surroundings. Ever cram 50+ drunk and drinking folks into a building the size of a medium bedroom watching slides of previous weekends in which they did the same (The Grin and Beer It)?
Anyway, I digress from the more relevent Point institution, the brewery.
Good lookin' beer, like many Point beers, big full head (slight beige color), amber and clear. Slightly toasted aroma that's on the light side. Flavor, while pleasant, lacks signficant presence. Mostly, if not exclusively, malt taste but lacking complexity. Mouthfeel is full from signficant carbonation, otherwise a little thin. Finish is short. Why do they market, on the label, that it's 100% malt? What does that say about their other beers, and who are they trying to influence? A rather inexpensive (<$5 in MN) beer, but worth it.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2002 17:53:13 | More by garymuchow

ZAP

Minnesota

3.95/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Not a bad vienna style beer that can be had relatively cheaply. I consider Point Brewery much better than their rivals Leinie's..and I've toured both..

This pours a reddish orange color with a clean, clear look and very little head....the nose is toasty and nutty...not real strong but a nice smell....the bigest knock is probably the body which is on the thin side but it isn't horrible...just not as strong as the rest of this beers characteristics..Taste is very nice, but subdued.....toasted malts...some hints of caramel...and almonds....this is really a pretty decent beer....not in the upper echeleon of Vienna's but a very good session beer and one I wouldn't mind drinking just about anytime...

Serving type: bottle

09-19-2002 21:22:27 | More by ZAP

Bighuge

Minnesota

3.78/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer is a deep clear amber color. A nice looking beige head tops the beer and coats the glass nicely as I drink. There's a pretty nice somewhat thick malt aroma. Seems like a munich and/or vienna style of malt. This is really a pretty decent amber lager. Nice malt taste. But an even nicer dry, hoppy note. It accentuates the maltiness in this beer very nicely. Body is about medium. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2002 15:17:11 | More by Bighuge