Stevents Point – Snow Pilot Pistachio Nut Brown Ale / Point Light

STEVENS POINT, Wis.  (November 18, 2016) – Try Point Snow Pilot Pistachio Nut Brown Ale, the new winter seasonal beer from Stevens Point Brewery, and you’ll look forward to winter’s snow and cold.

An English-style mild brown ale flavored with crushed pistachio nuts for a new twist on the classic nut brown ale style, Point Snow Pilot is just right for savoring with family and friends during the cold-weather months. Snow Pilot is available wherever Point beers are sold in six-packs and 12-packs of 12-ounce bottles, 12-packs of 12-ounce cans, and on draft from November 1st through the end of January.

Point Snow Pilot has already captured gold, scoring 93 points in the Winter Ale category from t he World Beer Championships, an ongoing beer competition organized by the Chicago-based Beverage Testing Institute.  See the results here!

Snow Pilot, which sports a label featuring a fanciful squirrel skiing instead of hoarding nuts for the winter, will also be included in Point’s Winter Wonderland variety 12-pack soon to be introduced at retail. The Winter Wonderland variety pack will also contain five Point year-round brews: S.P.A. Session Pale Ale, Beyond the Pale IPA, Onyx Black Ale, Smiley Blue Pils, and Classic Amber Lager.

“Beers brewed specifically to enjoy during the winter months is a centuries-old tradition, and we’re excited to offer this distinctive addition to our lineup of seasonal beers,” said Julie Birrenkott, Stevens Point Brewery Marketing Manager. “Winter is the perfect season for enjoying nut brown ales like Point Snow Pilot.”

Craft brewers use many kinds of nuts to brew nut brown ales, including hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, and pecans, but it’s the pistachios that make Point Snow Pilot stand out from the crowd.

Point Snow Pilot is handcrafted using savory crushed pistachio nuts, Victory malt, caramel malt, and Palisade hops from the Yakima Valley.   The pistachios sweeten the beer and, combined with the Victory malt, give Snow Pilot a toasty, nutty character. Victory malt is often used for brewing pale ales and brown beers. “When you want to highlight the nutty components of a beer’s flavor, you brew with a nutty malt like Victory,” Brewmaster Gabe Hopkins said.

“The first thing you notice when you taste Snow Pilot is a caramel maltiness, followed by a very nice pistachio-flavored  sweetness,” he explained. “Snow Pilot has a very distinct, well-defined pistachio flavor and nutty aroma that shows itself more and more as the beer warms in the glass.”

The ideal serving temperature for Snow Pilot, Hopkins noted, is around 44 to 48 degrees. “Snow Pilot is a very sessionable, easy-to-drink brown ale just right for colder weather,” he said.

Stevens Point Brewery, founded in 1857, uses only the highest-grade barley malts, specialty malts, grains and the choicest hops to brew its handcrafted beers.

In addition to Point Snow Pilot, The Stevens Point Brewery seasonal offerings include  Point Coast Radler, a mix of beer and natural citrus flavors for the spring;  Siesta Key Citrus Pale Ale, for the summer; Point Oktoberfest, a Bavarian-style Märzen beer for the fall; and soon-to-be-released Point Bock Beer, a traditional full-bodied beer for the winter.

The Stevens Point brewery’s year-round lineup features flagship Point Special Lager; Point Amber Classic, an American-style Amber Lager; Point S.P.A. (Session

Pale Ale) an American Style Pale Ale;  Point Onyx Black Ale, a robust dark ale; Point Beyond the Pale IPA, a robust, hoppy India Pale Ale; Point Smiley Blue Pils, a Czech-style Pilsner; and Point Drop Dead Blonde Ale, a 110 calorie golden ale.