Point Brewery
See Point being bottled; grab a brewery tour at O’so.
Beer, wine and spirits are becoming a big draw for central Wisconsin tourism, in part thanks to the Central Wisconsin Craft Collective. The regional marketing effort was started in 2014 by the Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and it’s grown to include four breweries, two wineries and a distillery. Its goal is to call attention to all craft beverages made in the region.
“When visitors come to the area, they often visit more than one of these types of businesses,” says the collective’s marketing director, Melissa Sabel. “They tend to make multiple stops, even over a weekend.”
Craft beverage tourism continues to grow in Wisconsin, though neither the Wisconsin Department of Tourism nor the Wisconsin Brewers Guild has any hard numbers on it. Brewers Guild executive director Mark Garthwaite notes that beer tourism is hard to quantify, but points to a 2016 Travelocity “Beer tourism index” that cites the popularity of brewery tours and attendance at beer festivals. He also mentions “anecdotally, the numbers of out-of-state license plates” he’s seen in the parking lots of breweries.
Sabel thinks beer travel is especially popular in the central part of the state because of the long history of the Stevens Point Brewery. Plus, a trip there can be nicely fleshed out with trips to newer breweries, wineries and distilleries.
At the collective’s website, a fun, if unscientific, quiz matches drinkers with the Wisconsin Craft Collective member that best represents them. Found at stevenspointarea.com/craft-collective-giveaway, the quiz does in fact highlight differences among its member businesses. Are you an old school beer lover? Visit Point headquarters. Are you interested in whether the glass in your beer bottle is recycled? Head to Central Waters.
“What visitors really enjoy is how unique each Craft Collective member is. People love to explore them all and find their own personal favorites,” says executive director Sara Brish.
While tours of the facilities are the most common way to enjoy the stops, there are also a number of special events planned this fall, including:
Oct. 12, 7 p.m.: The history of the Stevens Point Brewery will be presented in the brewery’s tasting room by the Portage County Historical Society.
October 14, 11 a.m.: O’so Brewing will host a 60-minute yoga and beer class.
October 14: The five-mile River Run and Great Amherst Beer Festival at the Central Waters Brewing Company.
October 20, 6 p.m.: Sunset Point Winery presents Wines of the World and trivia night with samples of not only wine, but beer, distilled spirits and local cheeses, along with live music.
Other fringe benefits, like hotel discounts and contests, are offered through the collective.
Members of the Central Wisconsin Craft Collective are: The Stevens Point Brewery and Sunset Point Winery of Stevens Point, O’so Brewing and Great Northern Distilling of Plover, Central Waters Brewing Company of Amherst, and Kozy Yak Brewery & Winery of Rosholt.
