Way back in 1986, before craft brewing was even cool, Summit Brewing Company Founder and President Mark Stutrud set out in St. Paul, Minnesota, to make craft beers inspired by old-world brewing traditions and ingredients. More than 30 years have passed since he first brewed our flagship Summit Extra Pale Ale, and it’s safe to say he freaking nailed it.
Today, Summit Brewing continues to infuse traditional recipes with modern ingredients from around the world, crafting high-quality and consistent craft beer out of respect for the hardworking folks who enjoy our beer.
And because we’re independently owned and operated, we get to make craft beer our way. That means relying on natural carbonation, protecting the foam, and celebrating the true dance between malts, hops, water, and yeast. It means protecting the environment, supporting the community and the arts, being kind to animals, and always having one more beer with our friends and family even if we’re already late for rotary club. It means drinking our beer fresh and cold, because warm storage turns good beer to shit. And it means never settling for “good enough,” always pulling the goalie when we’ve got a chance to win, swinging for the fences, and never, ever forgetting where we come from. Grain country represent.
Tap. Poured black with a light brown head. Aroma was consisted of oat and chocolate notes. Flavor matched the aroma quite well with oat, chocolate and coffee notes.
Shaker pour @ moto-i. Completely murky, yet glowing golden. Has a slightly sticky lacing. Cannot see through it. The beer is just a coriander bomb throughout, not much more. A bit more citric in the aroma and more mineral and earthy in the flavor. Fortunately, I heart coriander.
On tap at The Refuge on 05/26/2009. Very clear amber body with a large frothy off-white head. Sweet floral and light citrus hop aroma with some light caramel. Sweet floral hop flavor with light caramel notes. Medium body with moderately high carbonation.
A reddish amber ale with a thin creamy off white head. In aroma, a lightly nutty caramel with light British hops. In mouth, a very nutty malt with light herbal fruittyness. Some metallic hops notes. Medium bodied. On tap at Jerry’s, Chicago, May 16 2009.
12 oz bottle–pours a foamy off white head and gold color. Aroma is lemon, Euro-skunk, light malt-bready, yeast. Taste is sweet light malt, slight bitter-herbal/spice hops, alcohol. Lots of effervescence. Not clean as a bock style lager should be. Thanks to Joe-jwc215 for picking this out.
pours a foamy off white head and orange/copper color. Aroma is resin/herbal, secondary medium malt-caramel. Taste is herbal/coppery, secondary medium malt-caramel, buttery. Thanks to Joe-jwc215 for picking this out.
12oz shorty bottle. Black with some stained-glass red corners. Pleasant mild roasty aroma. Medium to light bodied, relatively thin. The taste and flavors are right on however. Middle of the spectrum chocolate malt flavors, with a nice balanced crispness. A touch sandy with a smooth caramel finish. Good stuff.
12 oz bottle that was part of a Spring sampler that a friend of mine brought to a poker night. Pour is copper golden with a smallish white head that faded fast. Aroma of sweet honey and light lime citrus. Fair amount of caramel maltiness behind that. Taste is the nose, in nice balance. Palate is fairly flat, straw dryness, medium-thin, drinkable. Overall a decent enough beer.
12oz bottle. Deep orange-copper color, soapy head. The aroma seems off to me, some butterscotch. The taste is dominated by malt, which overwhelms any hop character it might have had. Lacks crispness and doesn’t come off fresh at all. An embarrassingly bad example of an IPA. Re-rate- OK, so Im having this one again, fresh this time. The aroma is more stable, though I can see how it would age poorly. The hops are much more present, though in a simplistic soapy bitter way. Certainly not as offensive as the above rating. Light and easy on the palate, while displaying some assertive hop characters. Upped from a 2.3 to a 3.2
Bottle. Body is a slightly hazy brownish amber and supports a one finger head of sudsy tan. Aroma is fruit and sweet heavy... a bit of apricot, caramel, oranges and a little spice. Flavor is a little thin till the hops kick in the finish. This is highly malty (caramel) and fruity with a bit of a bitter edge at the finish side. Still, this is pretty bland and fairly uninteresting.