This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another.

I have the more treasured of places set aside in my heart for the Central Wisconsin brewery that provided a sudsy crutch for me during my college years, which sends me back for their wares again and again. We’re a long way from the days when Point Special was only joined occasionally by its chunky cohort, Point Bock. Now the array of side offerings from Stevens Point Brewery can be a little dizzying, especially for those, like me, who tends to happily see the classic blue bullets — the nickname for the flagship beer because of its bright blue can — as a fine default. It may not be a fancy beer, but sometimes it’s the only beer I need.

Over the weekend, my attempt to properly stock a friend’s refrigerator as an expression of gratitude gave me cause to sample most of the rest of the brews offered by Stevens Point Brewery with regularity. And I was reminded that, while they are not admittedly not crafted with equal deftness, some of the spinoffs are pure joy in a glass themselves.

I probably wouldn’t slide a glass of Smiley Blue, Stevens Point Brewery’s Czech pilsner, across the table to a refined beer connoisseur and expect them to be dazzled. For me, though, I’ll gladly down a couple of these, feeling smitten the whole time. Crisp and flavorful, with a hint of the distinctive hoppy funk that marks it as a Point, having a icy cold Smiley Blue invariably prompts me to my own version of the expression that’s right there in the name.