New Summer Variety 12-pack from Stevens Point Brewery

(Stevens Point, WI) – For beer lovers, the long hot days of summer call for crisp, refreshing fruit beers. The Stevens Point Brewery has answered the call with its Long Days variety 12-pack featuring four new seasonal fruit lagers just for summer: Point Lime Lager, Mango Lager, Tart Cherry Lager and Watermelon Mojito Lager. Introduced at retail during May wherever Point handcrafted beers are sold, the Long Days variety pack contains three 12-ounce longnecks of each new fruit brew.

Fruit beers continue to blossom across the craft-beer landscape and seasonal variety packs are also a fast-growing trend for craft brewers like Stevens Point Brewery, especially for the long days of summer. According to MarketWatch, sales of craft beer seasonal variety packages increased 21% in 2014, capturing more than 9% of all U.S. craft-beer sales for the year.

“Long hot summer days and cold beer are natural companions,” said Julie Birrenkott, Stevens Point Brewery’s Marketing Director. “The variety pack delivers a combination ounique, very refreshing fruit flavors, the perfect solution for beer drinkers seeking to relax and quench their thirst on hot summer evenings.”

Just the right balance between malt and hops and fresh fruit flavors is what Point Brewmaster Gabe Hopkins and his brewers aim for when they brew their new pale golden summer lagers.

POINT LIME LAGER
Point Lime Lager is bursting with the citrusy crispness of pure, clarified lime juice from Florida-grown limes added during the brewing process. “This is a very clean, well-balanced beer,” Hopkins said. “The lime is a not-too-sweet citrus component that marries very well with the beer’s clean maltiness, adding a tart crispness to the flavor,” he said.

POINT MANGO LAGER
Point Mango Lager offers the flavor of freshly picked Florida mangoes combined with two-row malted barley and Mount Hood hops grown in the Pacific Northwest. “Mango is a very aromatic fruit and gives Mango Lager a delicate, Caribbean-style character,” Hopkins reported.

POINT TART CHERRY LAGER
Point Tart Cherry Lager has a prominent, pleasing cherry nose, said Hopkins, who uses clarified cherry juice in his recipe. “The tartness from the cherry juice is one of the characteristics that define Point Tart Cherry Lager as a true summer beer,” he said.

POINT WATERMELON MOJITO LAGER
Point Watermelon Mojito Lager is an intriguing combination of crisp lager with fresh watermelon juice, clarified cucumber juice, and a hint of mint. Point’s brewers add 40 pounds of fresh mint leaves – the beer’s signature – for each 100-barrel brew, according to Hopkins. “This beer is one of my personal favorites,” Hopkins said. “We steep the mint leaves in cold water before adding them before the fermentation process begins. The watermelon, cucumber and mint flavors all come through very nicely.”

The Long Days lagers are refreshing summer session beers and great grilling companions, according to Hopkins. “They are just right for the long, hot days of summer,” he said.

www.pointbeer.com – @pointbrewery – facebook