US craft beers are heading for the UK

The American Craft Beer Company (ACBC) is bringing a selection of US craft beers across the pond.

ACBA has announced plans to begin positioning craft beers from the US for retail to UK customers. The company will initially focus on five beers from the Stevens Point Brewery, which is based in Wisconsin.

The five beers are Point Brewery; Point Belgian White, Point Pale Ale, Point Black Ale, Point Amber Lager and Point IPA.

Joe Martino, the CEO of Stevens Point Brewery, said: “The American Craft Beer Company have a unique perspective on our brands and the role they can play in the UK market. We have been in business since 1857 and this will be our first venture into the export market, having reviewed the UK beer scene in much detail we are convinced that the time is now to capitalise on this new and emerging trend.”

America’s craft beer market is growing and now accounts for 6% of all beer sales in the US and craft beers have also enjoyed significant export growth over the past two years. Over 2010 and 2011 the year on year growth of exports has been 21% and 86% respectively and over 50% of these exports go to Europe.

The UK and Sweden are Europe’s two largest importers of American craft beer.

In terms of the five beers that will be coming to the UK, Point Belgian White is described as, “a smooth refreshing and distinctive beer brewed in the tradition of Belgian Style White Ales. The result is a light-bodied beer renowned for its signature golden-white haze.” The beer was a gold medal winner in the 2010 US Open Beer Championships.

Point Pale Ale was recently voted the “Best of the Midwest” in the United States Beer Tasting Championships and is described as a, “delicious American Pale Ale with a signature fragrant hop bouquet and a soft malt palate”.

Point Black Ale won the silver medal at the 2012 World Beer Championships, the 2012 World Beer Cup and at the 2011 US Beer Open.

Point Amber Lager is a Vienna-style lager made with German hops, it is, “a sweet, well balanced copper-coloured lager with a smooth taste”.

And finally the Point IPA, which contains three kinds of hops; “the crisp and citrusy trio of Magnum, Perle and Cascade hops have been dry hopped to create a complex and delicious taste”.

The American Craft Beer Company’s, Mark Smith, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Stevens Point Brewery and their brands are simply exceptional. These brands are going to change the way consumers think about beer. A major US brewer executive once told us, ‘it is our job to maintain the status quo’ it’s our job at American Craft Beer Company to blast that apart.”