[cheery string music]
- Narrator: With its' lumber industries
on the Wisconsin River,
Stevens Point became a bustling boomtown.
And as early lumberjacks, river rafters, and sawmill workers
would soon find out,
it was also a perfect place to brew beer.
In the mid-1850s, a brewery built on the outskirts of town
would go on to become one of the oldest breweries
in the country.
- John Harry: The brewery had different ownership
throughout the years,
and it wasn't until the 1880s with Andrew Lutz,
that he started branding his barrels
with Stevens Point Brewery.
And the name just kind of stuck then.
- Narrator: The namesake brewery grew along with the city,
although it faced competition.
In the early 1900s, the Polish Brewing Company
arrived in town.
- John Harry: But in 1908, there was this huge cyclone
that ripped through Stevens Point, right along the river,
and totally decimated the Polish Brewing Company.
They did rebuild.
But then, in about 1916,
they had a spoiled batch of beer,
and Prohibition was already kind of seen on the horizon,
and they decided to not reinvest
in opening the brewery again.
So 1917 was the last time that Point
had an in-town competitor.
[upbeat piano music]
- Narrator: Point Brewery outlasted the competition,
with a focus on only serving the local community.
A growing Stevens Point led to a thriving Point Brewery.
- John Harry: Now, that all seems to be going great
until Prohibition hits.
[music distorting]
- Art Oksuita: And that really put a strain on the brewery.
It was difficult for them to continue operating,
but they did.
They never shut down. [gentle piano music]
- Narrator: Prohibition hit breweries hard
across the nation.
And Point Brewery was no exception.
Survival meant ingenuity.
Breweries turned to soda products or near beer,
a non-alcoholic beer, to keep them afloat.
- John Harry: In 1927/28, the Stevens Point Brewing Company
came up with a new near beer,
and they decided to call it Point Special Beverage.
- Art Oksuita: It was basically taking Point Special
and boiling all the alcohol out of it.
So it was a non-alcohol beer.
- John Harry: After Prohibition, all they did to the label
was change the word "beverage" to "beer."
Throughout brewing history, breweries mainly focused on
one or two beers a year.
Point Special was the flagship beer since Prohibition.
- Art Oksuita: We've dabbled in different things over the years,
but it's still, when you think of Stevens Point Brewery,
you're thinking of Point Special.
[gentle guitar music]
- Narrator: With the challenge of Prohibition behind them,
Point Brewery faced a new threat.
Fierce competition from bigger brewers.
Wisconsin was once home to 350 breweries.
By 1973, only nine remained,
with Stevens Point the smallest and the most vulnerable.
- Art Oksuita: The competition was really getting tough.
And the biggest one is price.
A Miller or Budweiser could certainly underprice us.
And they did.
It's a good deal for the bar owner,
but it's bad for the Stevens Point Brewery
because that's our competition.
And that was really, really tough.
[upbeat funk music]
- Narrator: But in 1973, a big boost.
- Art Oksuita: There was an article by a writer in Chicago.
His name is Mike Royko.
He wrote an article basically saying
that most American beers tasted like it went through a horse.
So what he did was he had a blind taste test.
And somehow Point beer got over to him,
and we came out the number one beer in the United States,
second beer in the world.
Well, that was phenomenal for the brewery.
[upbeat funk music]
I truly believe that that kept the brewery going.
And there was an instant 20% increase in sales.
- John Harry: They got requests for beer from TWA Airlines,
as well as distributors all over.
And they knew that they would not be able to keep up
with the orders and the capacity that these places needed
to be able to have Point beer.
So they said, "No, if you want this beer,
you have to come to Stevens Point."
It was always really important that Point Brewery
could supply the people of Stevens Point
and central Wisconsin with their beer.
[gentle guitar music]
- Narrator: The newfound fame of Point Special
brought attention to an important factor
that contributed to its quality.
- John Harry: Stevens Point is known for many things.
One of them is the water quality there.
The tap water is some of the best in the country.
- Art Oksuita: The quality ingredients
that go into making beer
are hops, water, yeast, and grain.
Every one is very important.
We do an ultrafiltration on it,
but we use the water as it comes from the city.
The water here at the brewery is perfect.
It's part of that original formula.
* It's the beer
* That's light and clear
You ask any, any of the people in the surrounding area
if they remember the Point jingle,
they'll all sing it to you.
* Tastes so good * Satisfies completely
* Like good beer should
I mean, I heard that jingle all my growing up years.
* Point Special beer
How many cities can say that they have a beer
that's actually part of the city's name?
The brewery really is integral to the city
and integral to the community.
* Point Special beer
- Announcer: Brewed in the city of wonderful water.
* Won't you make it
* A point to buy Point
[upbeat music]