I have often bemoaned remarked that precious few breweries from west central/northwestern Wisconsin (think Eau Claire and parts north of it) have distribution down here. I have also bitched complained noted that perhaps the most prominent brewery from that part of the state whose beers are available down here in the south is the brewing projeKt, the Eau Claire outpost of the Simcoe-Citra-Mosaic Empire. They seem to brew nothing but trendy/hype beers, appear unafraid to use Marshmallow Compound #3020 from Amoretti, and do their darnedest to catch the eyes of trendy drinkers with can labels that look like the bastard children of Ralph Steadman and Keith Haring.
But the city of clear water is no mere one brewery town. It is also home to Lazy Monk Brewing, where brewmaster Leos Frank, who grew up in Czechoslovakia, has been keeping the Chippewa Valley region supplied with Bohemian lagers, and other less trendy styles, since 2010. (I am a fan.)
There is now a newer kid on the block - K Point Brewing. It was founded in 2016 as an offshoot of The Coffee Grounds, a coffee roaster that also sells adult beverages, various fancy provisions such as artisanal cheeses and crackers, and the like. And they appear to also be a restaurant as well. I presume the brewery owners are skiing fans as I've read that a K-point is that line that ski jumpers have to land on the other side of.
I've never seen K Point's brews at a liquor store in Eau Claire and am told by brewer Tom Breneman that, while there are a few kegs around town, their beer is mainly sold at the brewery on the city's south side on tap and in K cans. (They also appear to be Lee Iacocca fans too.) Fortunately, I have a stepson who lives in Eau Claire and I trained him well as he was growing up so now he brings me beer as an adult. Recently he brought me a 4-pack of K Point's Rauchbier.
K Point is not afraid of smoked beers as they also offer a smoked Baltic porter and red lager that is described as having "a touch of smoke".
My Rauchbier pour came with a fairly generous loose, frothy, off-white head that lasted a little while. Long enough for it to appear in a photograph, anyway. The lovely amber beer had a slight haze to it but that didn't keep me from spying a few bubbles inside. It smelled smoky, as it should have, but there was also a hint of something sweet like honey or caramel in addition to something also sweet - fruit. Just some fruity overtones that I couldn't identify as being like a particular bit of produce.
A sip revealed a medium-light bodied beer with a fair amount of fizz. It tasted of smoke but I wasn't sure that kind. Was it cherry wood? Or did that just pop into mind because the brewery's website noted that the smoked malt in the Baltic porter was smoked with that wood? People tend to brush off smoke beers by saying they taste like bacon or ham - as if that was a bad thing - instead of noting the subtle differences amongst the flavors that different woods provide. Beechwood and alder offer a classic woody, smokey smoke flavor. But cherry wood smoke imbues things with a little of that fruity-almondy-clovey stuff and I thought that's what I tasted here.
Brewer Tom Breneman comes through again and notes that the malt bill was 97% cherry wood malt. Behind the smoke was a little caramel sweetness as well as a faint plum/stone fruit flavor. Some herbal hoppiness provided a counterpoint to the malt madness as did some astringency.
On the finish that malty sweetness and the fruity taste did the big fade away but the smokiness lingered. (Yes!) A gentle wave of herbal tasting hops came in to add a modicum of bitterness and dryness.
Very tasty! The smoke flavor here was wunderbar! At 4.9% A.B.V., this is something of a junior Rauchbier as I think that word usually conjures up images of a Märzen or a bock or just something a bit heavier and more potent. But this is just a wonderful brew. The firm smokiness doesn't hide other malt flavors and the hops are a bit more noticeable than in other Rauchbiers where you can only tell there are any hops by the fact that the beer doesn't taste like wort.
You have got me hooked, K Point. I will see you soon. Ish. Soonish.
Junk food pairing: Eau Claire is ground zero for horseradish processing in Wisconsin so pair your K Point Rauchbier with a bag of Herr's Kettle Cooked Cheddar Horseradish potato chips while you listen to some Bon Iver for the full experience.
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