Apricadabra

This was very refreshing after the first day of Vacation Bible School.  I just spent the past few hours teaching children to appreciate the goodness of creation and praise the Lord for all He gives us. He who made the heavens and earth and still preserves it, cares also for each of us. And He also made the bountiful harvests of grains and hops and in this particular case, apricots (a subtle but significant ingredient in Apricadabra). It is quite in keeping with this topic to appreciate the heavenly inspired skills of craft brewers. This apricot wheat ale went down nicely, with praise and thanksgiving. 

Beyond the Pale IPA

This Wisconsin brewery, Point, is doing an admirable job here producing an IPA just as good and interesting as the West Coast IPAs it's mimicking.

Point White IPA

Point has done a great service to beer drinkers with their IPA variety pack. Four different recipes using different hop varieties give lessons on noticing the subtle play hops can have in the overall flavor of beer. This one is refreshing and light. The spicy bitterness of the Japanese Sorachi hops allow for a clean finish. Oh and by the way, we got a turtle.

Peach Mango IPA

For Mother’s Day, I chose a fuity-girlie kind of beer.  The peach and mango additives predominate followed by a strong kick of hop bitterness.

Sandy, the mother of my children, then prepared for me a big bowl of guacamole. The earthy flavors of the avocado and the spiciness of cilantro and jalapeño were just the perfect complement to this fruity beer.

One Shot IPA

Thanks to Phil Hale, the first volume of my lifetime beer book is now published. Anyone in the world can purchase a copy at http://www.prestophoto.com/bookstore/163263. Reaching this new level, I have an even more powerful motivation to come up with witty and engaging descriptions of the beers I drink and the times I have drinking them. So pulling this bottle out of the fridge tonight and sitting down with it and my beer book, all I can think is, “Wow, this one is good, too!”

Spruce Tip IPA

Tonight Sandy made me Scotch eggs for supper. Yummm! I took some time earlier in the day to seek out just the right beer that would stand up to this dish -- cutting the grease and richness of flavors. My wife's cooking requires pairing with the best beers I can get my hand on and this IPA can stand up to that test.

Lately I've been stepping on the scale more regularly. Summer is coming on and I want to look good in my summer outfits. Sometimes I think, "I could be skinny if my wife weren't such a good cook . . .  but where would be the fun in that?"

Overall, I find the spruce flavors in this special IPA from Point to be refreshing and natural.

Point Burly Brown

Burly Brown is a nice, sweet nut brown ale. The hops take a back seat to the tasty dark malts. Point put this in their Spring sampler 12 pack. But it was in the Winter sampler too. No worries. Any day will do for this easy going ale.

Point Three Kings

On a hot, lazy summer afternoon, the flavors and aromas in this beer remind me of childhood days when I'd get a sip or two out of my Dad's bottle. In those summers of the seventies the beers we had around the house (Stroh's or Weidemann) were full of flavor and body and no one seemed to care that the now ubiquitous "light" was missing from the label.

Kudos to Point for this  nostalgia-invoking Kolsch style treasure.

Point 2012 Black Ale

Well, we've made it halfway through 2013 and so it is safe to say that the Mayans were wrong about the supposed end of their calendar. Unfortunately, they were wrong about a number of things worse than this, like hoping that God would be happy if they offered him the still beating hearts of their enemies.

Stevens Point Brewery played up this Mayan legend well by naming their black ale "2012". I enjoy this one greatly, there's a complexity of flavors: nuts, molasses and enough hops to make your mouth water for the next sip.

The foam is great. It makes me never want to shave my mustache again.

The commercial also makes me smile.

Point Belgian White

For some reason Point feels obliged to put a Belgian in their Winter Wonderland Pack. Drinkable but the spices and cloves characteristic of this style are overpowering the citrus. It is still pleasing and I finished it, so it will count towards my beer book and becomes part of my contribution to American beer consumption for 2013. Britain's Daily Mail reports that the average American drinks the equivalent of 470 pints of beer a year. This is the lowest amount in the developing world.

Point Cascade Pale Ale

Point Pale Ale accurately showcases the Cascade hops. This is the hops variety that grows in our backyard, by the way. Point has put it together nicely in a well balanced American Pale Ale.

I enjoyed this very much this evening as we watched a television program my wife, Sandy likes.

Point St Benedicts

As we trimmed the tree in our home tonight I drank a St. Benedict’s.  I’m glad that the gang up at Steven’s Point made a holiday beer named for a Christian saint.  This label added to the spirit for our preparations for Christmas.  But as for the beer itself . . .well. . . the weird spicy flavors, like cloves and anise left me wondering, “Do I like this, or not?”  Since this happens to be only my fourth blog entry, I hate to be too critical.  Let’s just wait and see.  Maybe I’ll have much happier words for the next style of Point beer I try.

Point Amber Classic

Sweet, rich maltiness.

On tap at Old Chicago, Iowa City.

It really hit the spot after a long wait in the Emergency room of University of Iowa Hospital with Cameron's twisted ankle.