The ever-reliable Summit Extra Pale Ale has been getting quite a bit of attention lately. Following up on a gold medal at the World Beer Cup in April, this quintessential Minnesota beer took Silver in the Classic English Style Pale Ale category at the Great American Beer Festival last week. There to accept the award for Summit were brewers Eric Blomquist and Eric Harper, Texas sales manager Amy Fletcher, and sales and marketing administrator Emily Johnson. Way to go Summit!

The other big Minnesota GABF winner was August Schell Brewing Company who took silver in the American Style Amber Lager category for their Oktoberfest. To make it that much better, the award was announced as Schell’s was celebrating their 150th anniversary in New Ulm. Congratulations to August Schell for both the medal and the anniversary!

Things have been a bit crazy for me since I returned from the GABF on Monday. I haven’t had a chance to catch up on all the writing that I want to do. There are stories to tell, beers to report on, and video interviews with a number of breweries that need to be edited and posted. As the craziness doesn’t end any time soon, I’m not quite sure when all of this is going to happen.