Feb 032016
 

Point Premium Root Beer BottleSeal of ApprovalMy sister first bought this for me when I was at BYU. I had a four pack and put it in the back of the fridge on the top shelf until I was ready to review it a few days later. When I dug it out I noticed that the bottles had frozen, burst their seals, and had leaked root beer below. It was a total loss. I went back to the store she bought them from and they weren’t there. It would be months before I finally found this again. Their big gimmick is that their founder, Nicholas C. Point, had some sort of pointy head or hair or something. Though, they only talk about that on the back of the label. Going by the photo, he also has a pure white chin so I don’t know why they didn’t go with White Chin Premium Root Beer. Ol’ Nic was probably sensitive about the whole albino chin and poked people who mentioned it with his pointy noggin. After while they got the “point” and focused on what he was proud of. They talk up their using the “finest sugars” but the ingredients lists that as “cane sugar and/or fructose corn sweetener”. More importantly though, is the use of honey. As an aside, this brew is made near where my great grandparents settled when they first emigrated to the US. Now, back to the point of this review.

The point of this root beer is a delicious, sweet Body with all the right stuff, a medium frothy Head that sticks around for awhile, a nice but not very spicy Bite, and a pleasant Aftertaste of vanilla and honey.

Yup, I love this stuff. They have earned the right to call it Premium Root Beer. The label boasts the Beverage Tasting Institute’s Gold Medal Winner, but I’ll one up that with Eric’s Seal of Approval. It is clear that when the standards for good root beer were laid down, they didn’t miss the point. See how it rates against other root beers.

4 kegs




Aug 032012
 

This past week, as the Olympics got underway and many a medal were awarded, the United States Open Beer Championship announced their own 2012 medal winners. This competition, the only one which includes professional breweries and award winning home brewers, included a root beer category for the first time ever. Four medals were awarded to the top root beers, a gold, a silver, and two bronze for due to a third place tie. The Gold went to Saranac Root Beer from F.X. Matt Brewing. The Silver was awarded to Mount Angel Root Beer from Mount Angel Brewing Company, and the two bronze medals were awarded to Point Premium Root Beer from Stevens Point Brewing and Steelhead Root Beer from Steelhead Brewing.

Seeing Saranac, Steelhead (identical flavor to Bulldog) and Point Premium win top honors is no surprise to me, as they are all Seal of Approval award winners as well. I haven’t tried Mount Angel Root Beer yet, but if it ranks with those other greats I’m sure it will be a real treat.