Wisconsin

My expectations of this beer were pretty low. I've had a couple Stevens Point beers before and I remember them being nothing special. They were better than mass produced macrobrews but in the pantheon of great craft beers, Stevens Point is pretty far down the list. Also, it seems like the bulk of O'Fallon's beers are being brewed in Stevens Point now... and they're pretty poor quality. I tried to keep an open mind though and give this beer as fair shake. I'm pleased to say the St. Benedict's Winter Ale is better than I was originally expecting. How much better? Well... not much.

Sprecher is a brewery I know of only because I've seen their sodas for sale a few times. John Ratzenberger told me a few years ago (OK, I was watching his Made in America roadtrip show...) that Sprecher also makes beer. I'd more or less forgotten about Sprecher's craft beers until I got three bottles in the mail a few weeks back. The bottles are labeled "Winter Brew" and aside from that you'd never know they were a seasonal. The packaging is quite low budget, so much so that it actually kinda looks like an authentic German beer... from one of those 600 year old breweries that hasn't updated their labels since the the first time Germany invaded France.