Summit Silver Anniversary Ale: A Sneak Peek

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Summit Brewing Company turns 25 this year. It’s quite a milestone for the craft beer pioneer. There wasn’t much happening beer-wise in the upper-Midwest in 1986 when Mark Stutrud got the harebrained idea to open a brewery that would make beers with actual flavor. This was hardcore American lager country; Bud, Miller, or here in Minnesota maybe Grain Belt, Schmidt, or Hamm’s. But start the brewery he did and 25 years later it is going strong with annual production approaching 100,000 barrels and multiple national and international awards, including GABF and World Beer Cup medals last year for their original and still flagship beer Extra Pale Ale.

Of course the brewery is releasing a beer to commemorate the milestone. Silver Anniversary Ale is inspired by the beer that started it all, that same Extra Pale Ale. It has been described to me as a kind of hopped-up EPA. In a piece on the Summit Website, brewer Damian McConn says of the beer:

Using the EPA malt bill and yeast strain as a foundation, we’ll retain the balance that Summit’s beers are famous for, while providing more distinctive flavors and aromas through the use of unique modern hop varieties and assertive dry-hopping. Grapefruit, passionfruit and kiwi aromas should lead to a pronounced but crisp bitterness with minimal contributions from the yeast. A clean, complex finish, underscored by a straightforward blend of pale and crystal malts.

I had the opportunity to give it a pre-release taste test. Here’s my notes:

Silver Anniversary Ale
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: IPA
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Caramel sweetness with touches of biscuit. Fresh pine, herbal, and grapefruit hops.

Appearance: Medium-amber and crystal clear. Modest, white head that did not persist.

Flavor: Greets you with an initial blast of cool pine-resin hops and a sharp bite of bitterness. The hops smoothly give way to a caramel-malt counterpoint without ever quite letting go. This beer is built for bitterness, but it’s not unbalanced. Sharp and crisp. As it warms the sweet, biscuity malt fills in gaps, but still doesn’t overtake the hops. Whiffs of orange float in the background. The finish is dry with long-lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Crisp. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: I think I would call this one a hybrid Amero-English IPA. It’s got the rich, caramel/biscuit malt of an English IPA or an ESB, but the hop character and bitterness of an American IPA. Still, it’s less aggressive than some American hop bombs. I found it to be beautifully balanced with delicious hop and malt flavors.

Silver Anniversary Celebrations

Silver Anniversary Ale is scheduled for release the week of July 25th. Of course there will be release week events. Here they are:

  • Monday, July 25: Mackenzie’s, 5-7 p.m. (First 25 beers served are free and then $.25 taps until 7 p.m.)
  • Monday, July 25: Liquor Lyle’s, 7:30-9 p.m. ($.25 taps of the Silver Anniversary Ale and 2 for 1 deals on all other Summit beers)
  • Tuesday, July 26: Groveland Tap, 6-8 p.m. ($.25 taps of the Silver Anniversary Ale)
  • Thursday, July 28: Specials served at Sweeney’s, 4-6 p.m.
  • Friday, July 29: Beer Dinner celebrating Summit’s 25th anniversary at Tracy’s Saloon & Eatery, 7 p.m. (Pints will be on special in the bar as well).

Summit will have an Anniversary bash at the brewery on September 10th. Tickets go on sale on July 25th at 10:00 AM. Check here for details.

SAVOR Flowers from Sam Adams and Dogfish Head

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A most interesting beer crossed my path. SAVOR Flowers was a collaborative effort of Boston Beer Company and Dogfish Head. It was created for and exclusively served at SAVOR, the Brewers Association’s annual beer and food bash in Washington, DC. Flowers is a beer befitting the Kings of extreme. The press release says of it:

Jim (Koch) and Sam (Calagione) decided to tackle beer’s previously untapped ingredient – water – and, through and age-old distillation process, created a rosewater base to be used as the main liquid in the brew. The rosewater inspired them to continue to explore the idea of brewing with flowers. After experimenting with a range of varieties, they landed on dried lavender, hibiscus, jasmine and rosebuds mixed in during the brewing process to further enhance the beer’s botanical qualities. As well, on his annual hop selection trip to Bavaria last year, Jim learned about a new hop breed known only as #369, grown for its amped-up floral notes. He was able to obtain 30 pounds of this unique variety from the Yakima, Wash. growing region, adding another dimension to this complex brew.

After all that they aged it in “Barrel One – the same bourbon barrel Jim used to age the premier batch of the first ‘extreme’ beer, Samuel Adams® Triple Bock.” Wow! WTF. Here’s my notes:

SAVOR Flowers
Boston Beer Company & Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales
Style: Vegetable, Herb, Spice Beer
Serving Style: 22 oz Bottle

Aroma: Granny’s soap. Floral. Lavender, roses, and hibiscus. Like walking into a Body Works store at the mall.

Appearance: Cloudy. The color is a vaguely pink amber. Fluffy white head that was moderately persistent.

Flavor: This beer changed throughout the tasting. It started off sharp and planty; roses and lavender with light tart background notes of hibiscus. Bitterness was unexpectedly high, but then what led me to otherwise? High levels of herbal/floral hops emphasized the flowers. As it warmed a rich caramel maltiness crept in, underpinned by raisins and dark fruit. This didn’t reduce the botanical flavors in the least. It merely gave them something on which to rest. Still warmer, it took on almost Belgian cotton-candy flavors; sweet, but still finishing dry with hints of licorice and geraniums. I guessed around 8% ABV. Actually 10%.

Mouthfeel: Medium-high body. Somewhat syrupy as it warms. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: This was a most unique beer. Did I like it? “Like” is such a limiting term. I found it irresistibly intriguing. While I don’t know that I would run out to buy a bottle were it available, the beer’s complexity compelled me, almost against my better judgement, to finish this one. My initial impression was one of admiring the effort and creativity, but not so much the beer. But it grew on me. The endless layers of flavors that came in as the beer warmed grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. But did I like it? Hmmmm……..

#IPADay on August 4th.

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This came across my email today. Could be interesting. A world-wide social media celebration of hops. Check it out.

Announcing International #IPADay: A Social Celebration of Craft Beer

San Diego, CA – July 7th, 2011 – Attention all craft beer evangelists, brewers, bloggers, and suds-savvy citizens! On Thursday, August 4th 2011, you are cordially invited to participate in the largest international craft beer celebration and virtual conversation the world has ever seen.

International #IPADay is a grassroots movement to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide through social media. On Thursday August 4th, craft beer drinkers across the social sphere and across the globe will raise pints in a collective toast to one of craft beer’s most iconic styles: the India Pale Ale. This celebrated style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories, and regional flavor variations – making it the perfect style to galvanize craft beer’s social voice.

#IPADay is not the brainchild of a corporate marketing machine, nor is it meant to serve any particular beer brand. #IPADay is opportunity for breweries, bloggers, businesses and consumers to connect and share their love of craft beer. Getting involved is easy; the only requirements are an appreciation for great beer and the will to spread the word. Anyone can participate by enjoying IPA with friends, making some noise online with the #IPADay hashtag, and showing the world that craft beer is more than a trend!

Tips on How to Take Part:

1.      Organize an #IPADay event at your brewery, brewpub, restaurant, bar, home, or office (Ex:  An IPA dinner/cheese pairing/comparative or educational tasting/cask night/tap takeover…). Share your events on the official #IPADay forum at http://www.ratebeer.com.

2.      On August 4th, share your photos, videos, blog posts, tasting notes, recipes, and thoughts with the world. Be sure to include the #IPADay hashtag in your posts Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WordPress, RateBeer, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Untappd or any other social media site.

3.      See what other people are saying by searching “#IPADay” on Google, search.twitter.com, et cetera…

4.      Track down your favorite IPA’s, ones you’ve been meaning to try, and ones you’ve never heard of; share them with friends and share your thoughts with the world.

5.      Have a good time and know that by sharing your experiences online, you’re strengthening the craft beer community at large.

About International #IPADAY

Founded in 2011 by beer evangelists and social media personalities Ashley V Routson and Ryan A Ross, International #IPADay is the largest grassroots social media-based celebration of craft beer. The goal of #IPADay is to use social media to strengthen the collective voice of craft beer through the simple celebration of beer itself. The success of #IPADay hinges on the passionate voices of beer enthusiasts worldwide and their willingness to share that passion across the social sphere.

For more information on events or how you can support #IPADay, visit http://ipaday.eventbrite.com or contact (insert regional host brewery) at (http://www.breweryname.com/, facebook, twitter, *Change out with relevant brewery/blog info*

Alaskan IPA Revisited

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In January 2009 I posted tasting notes for Alaskan IPA. I remember that I had a cold that day. I did a string of tastings and even noted in some of them that my taster may have been off. Looking back at those notes it seems that I liked it, but it didn’t really stand out to me as anything particularly special.

What a difference two years makes. I had a bottle and decided it would be interesting to do another set of notes. It just goes to prove something that I always say; you can’t put too much stock in reviews. So many things influence how a beer tastes on a given day. Then I was sick in Palo Alto, California. It was winter and while not cold, it got somewhat chilly at night. Today it’s 95 degrees with a heat index of 109 degrees. That kind of weather is more like IPA weather for me. I’m not stuffed-up today. And I have two more years under my belt of paying close attention to the beer that I’m drinking. I’m sure my palate has changed. The beer may have changed as well.

I found it interesting to compare my two experiences. I thought I would post the two sets of notes together. So here’s my notes from then and now:

Alaskan IPA
Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska
Style: American IPA
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle

Aroma 2009: Citrus and pine American hops
Aroma 2011: Bread and graham cracker. Hop aroma is light but bright and citrusy. Grapefruit and tangerines.

Appearance 2009: Light amber/deep gold. Lighter than expected, must be mostly base malts. Fluffy and persistent white head.
Appearance 2011: Dark golden with full and persistent white to off-white head. Clear.

Flavor 2009: Grainy malt with very light caramel balanced by pine and citrus hops. Medium-high bitterness and hop flavor is lower than expected and allows the malt to shine through.
Flavor 2011: Delicate, balanced, sharp and clear. The mild, grainy and slightly sweet malt just balances the hops. Very well attenuated. Bright, citrusy, grapefruit-pith hops. Background notes of tropical fruit and tangerine. Medium-high bitterness, but balanced. Get the hop flavor without the bitterness. Finishes extra-dry with grapefruit and tropical fruit lingering. So delicate and yet still bold.

Mouthfeel 2009: Medium body. Medium carbonation.
Mouthfeel 2011: Medium body and medium carbonation.

Overall Impression 2009: A solid IPA. Nice malt with lighter than expected hops. I think I have come to expect “greatness” from Alaskan Brewing and this was not “great”. It was just a good IPA. That said, I would certainly have a couple more.
Overall Impression 2011: Sometimes you taste a beer and it says to you, “I am great.” It’s a combination of things like complexity, clarity, and delicacy. This beer has it, at least for me today. For my own part I would like a bit more malt, but that’s just me. I like malt. It is not an overly complex beer. In fact it’s probably less complex than some other IPAs. But it is really well made. The folks at Alaskan really do know how to make beer.

St. Paul Summer Beer Fest: a Quick Recap

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The rain started to fall at about 12:30 as brewers and vendors were putting the final touches on their booths. Not a heavy rain, just a light but continuous drizzle. Enough to be annoying, but not enough to really get you wet. It was still raining as the bagpipes signaled that the start of the St. Paul Summer Beer Fest with the admission of the VIP early-entry ticket holders. Those folks got wet. Fortunately a good number of brewer-booths were under the canopy of the International Bazaar at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. By 2:00 when the doors opened for general admission, the drizzle had largely stopped, leaving the rest of the fest with perhaps the best kind of beer-fest weather, overcast with temperatures around 80. No unwanted sunburn this year.

Once again Juno Choi and Mark Opdahl of Chop Liver LLC, along with an army of volunteers, put on a great fest. As in the past two years it was very well organized. From my own experience, very little was lacking. Although there were several water stations, drinking/rinse water coolers seemed in short supply or hard to find, at least in the “south forty” outside the confines of the actual Bazaar where I spent a good deal of my festival time. People kept asking after water. Next to the education tent were coolers full of water in which various hops and malt had been steeped. I got a kick out of watching the expressions on faces as people filled their glasses expecting straight water and got a mouthful of Saaz hop instead.

The change in venue was a good one. The International Bazaar seemed perfect for the event. Each booth was like a little chicken cage with chain link on which brewers could hang their banners. The canopy was nice during the early-hours drizzle. Behind the actual Bazaar was an overflow area where several brewers’ booths were located along with the education tent, the charity dunking booth, and the VIP hang-out tent. It looked to me like the location outside the main event did little to stop people from visiting those booths. The fact that Surly was out back probably didn’t hurt.

I’m not sure how many brewers were actually in attendance, but I’ll call it “a bunch.” In the program I count 80-ish. There didn’t seem to be any big new-comers this year aside from the new entries into the Minnesota market; Alaskan, Olvalde, Brooklyn et al.

No one brought any really exciting beers this year. The selection was mostly culled from the normal offerings of each brewery. That said, Rock Bottom was pouring from bottles of their barrel-aged, bottle-conditioned series and had a couple of beers from the new Brewmaster Bob McKenzie. I was also happy to see a Genesee Cream Ale booth (really). I have been thinking about that beer for a little while and it was good to have the opportunity to enjoy a sample at the fest.

Overall, the beer selection was disappointing to me. Was I in a bad mood? Definitely not. Have I grown hyper-critical from my beer-travels through the Midwest? Perhaps. Maybe I’ve just become jaded. Or was my palate off for some reason? All I can say for sure is that very little stood out to me as special. Granted, I didn’t try nearly all of them and most of the breweries’ regular offerings are tasty. There just wasn’t anything that made me say “wow.” Several beers even stood out as less than adequate. It was a bad day for saisons in particular. I tried many and didn’t care for any.

The one beer that was memorable to me was apparently also memorable to others, as it took the People’s Choice Award. That one was Engine 20, a smoked pale ale from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Co. It was unique without being extreme. It had a very drinkable malt/hop balance and just enough smoke to make it interesting. Great Lakes won the best-of-fest last year with Nosferatu Imperial Red ale. They must be doing something right in Cleveland.

Samuel Adams Utopias 2011

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I have somehow been fortunate in my life. Maybe I’ve just been a good boy. I have had the opportunity to taste every vintage of Samuel Adams Utopias. The super-strong, cognac-like extreme beer has been released every odd-numbered year since 2002. It is constructed from a blend of different barrel-aged beers some of which date back to the original vintage of Triple Bock from 1994. The strongest, naturally-fermented beer in the world, it weighs in at a hefty 27% ABV.

I won’t say that I remember every vintage. That would be absurd. But a few do stand out. 2003 was especially good in my memory, as was 2009. But maybe that was just the circumstances in which I tasted them. At any rate, I sampled this year’s version last night. Do I like it? I’m undecided. I guess I’ll just have to try it again. Here’s my notes:

Samuel Adams Utopias 2011
Boston Beer Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Style: ?
Serving Style: 22 oz bottle

Aroma: Thick butterscotch and maple candy with faint chocolate in the background. Port wine-like. Caramelized prunes. Layers and layers of smells. A big enough whiff reveals nostril-burning alcohol.

Appearance: Dark mahogany with flashes of blackness. Clear. Still. Ample legs drip down the side of the glass when swirled.

Flavor: Rich and creamy. The same butterscotch and maple candy carries over from the aroma. Chocolate comes lingers behind. Glints of sour cherry toward the end. Caramelized dark fruits. Alcohol is prominent, perhaps a bit too much so. Not hot, but boozy. It tingles the tongue and numbs the lips. Finishes long and sweet. Complex.

Mouthfeel: Thick and chewy. Alcohol warms all the way down. Creamy. Still.

Overall Impression: The caramel, butterscotch and maple is nice, but then the tart cherry comes in underneath and upends it. It adds layers of complexity, but that isn’t always necessarily a good thing. My impression changed from sip to sip, some exceedingly enjoyable, some less so. It would be nice to let the alcohol tone down a bit. Perhaps some age will help. I’ll give it another try in a few months.

Boulevard Two Jokers Double Wit

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I first tried Boulevard Brewing Company’s Two Jokers Double Wit when it was originally released two years ago. At the time I found it overly spiced, kind of like granny’s bath soap. After that experience I never went back. Jump to the present and I had a completely different experience. Has the beer changed or has my palate change? That’s hard to say. Here’s my notes:

Two Jokers Double Wit
Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, MO
Style: Imperial Witbier
Serving Style: 750 ml Bottle

Aroma: Saltine cracker wheatiness. A bit of banana candy and lemony citrus. Intensely floral.

Appearance: Deep golden to orange color. Cloudy. Fluffy white head that lasts and lasts.

Flavor: Tart, lemony, citrus acidity hits the middle of the tongue right away. Soft bready wheat serves as a base, providing a sweet fluffy cushion. Plenty of stone-fruit esters and floral spicy notes. It’s still a bit perfumed for me, but no longer seems over the top. The dry finish lingers on floral spice.

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Mouth-filling wheat thickness. Effervescent carbonation.

Overall Impression: The “imperial” part of this beer lands it somewhere between a Belgian Tripel and a witbier. The spice blend is strong, but doesn’t seem as over the top as the last time I had this beer. For 7+% ABV it’s remarkably refreshing.

Magic Hat Summer Scene Variety Pack

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The Summer Scene variety pack from Magic Hat Brewing Company is now in stores. It contains a seasonal mix of lighter ales including their flagship #9, Single Chair Ale, Blind Faith IPA, and an odd little beer called simply Wacko. I had the chance to give the latter three of these four beers a try. I’ve always been fond of #9, but I have to say that the rest of them didn’t really grab me. Here’s my notes:

Wacko
Magic Hat Brewing Co, Burlington, VT
Style: “Summer Beer”
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Tart citrus. Raspberries. Light acidity.

Appearance: Hazy, medium-amber with a pinkish tint. Low, white head with fine bubbles that dissipated quickly.

Flavor: Dry, crisp and wheaty. Medium bitterness with light grassy hop flavors. Fruity background berry flavors, blueberry or raspberry, but not as intense as a fruit beer. The light acidity in the aroma would be welcome, but is missing. Some lingering wheaty sweetness in the finish. Hints of caramel.

Mouthfeel: Crisp and dry. Some creaminess comes in as it warms. Medium-high carbonation.

Overall Impression: I would call this an okay American wheat beer, although the website makes no mention of wheat in the ingredients. It drinks easy and would be quite refreshing on a summer day. They tout the use of beet sugar, but this adds nothing except to lighten the body. Background berry notes are nice. Not bad, but just kind of “meh.”

Single Chair Ale
Magic Hat Brewing Co, Burlington, VT
Style: “Golden Beer”
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Pilsner malt; sweet graham-cracker and bread. Hop aromas are low. Light citrus, but predominant hop aromas are spicy.

Appearance: Slightly hazy and golden colored. Low, white head that didn’t persist.

Flavor: Malt dominates the aroma, but hops take over in the flavor. Assertively bitter for such a simple beer. Spicy and fruity hops sit on top of mildly-sweet, graham-cracker malt. Hints of fruit flutter in the background; apricot? Orange? Finish lingers on fruit and sweet malt.

Mouthfeel: Light body. Medium-high carbonation.

Overall Impression: A nice, summery, blond ale. Tilted a bit to the hoppy side, but still balanced. I love light, blond ales, This one isn’t bad, but doesn’t jump out at me.

The last beer in the selection is Blind Faith IPA. I don’t have specific notes, but I’ll just say that this one is bitter. I’m a weirdo in that I first look for malt in an IPA. This one could use a bit more malt to keep it balanced. I also prefer IPAs that favor hop flavor and aroma over bitterness. This one seems more balance to bitterness. It’s just not my kind of IPA, though some might find it great.

Beer and Wine Tips and Videos in June Cambria Style Magazine

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A while back I teamed up with my good friend sommelier Leslee Miller of Amusée to create some super pairings for the summer issue of Cambria Style Magazine. Outside, the gray and snowy day hardly made one think of summer, but inside Kitchen Window in Uptown things were warm and glowing. We shot several videos that day to accompany our written pieces about pairing beer and wine with food. The only down side was that the food and drink were being photographed for the issue, so very little sampling was done. Nonetheless it was a great day. The videos came out beautifully. Be sure to check out the magazine spread as well.

Summer Beer/Wine/Food Pairings

Pouring a Proper Pint

One More Class to List

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I’m doing one more summer beer class that I didn’t mention in the last post because I thought it was a members-only event. It’s not.

 

Beer Class: Understanding Hops
June 8, 5:30 PM, $30 includes light appetizers.
Campus Club, Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota
The Campus Club regularly produces beer themed events for members, including our annual Oktorberfest and our spring Beer Testing. This is our first ‘class’ focused on a specific beer theme. Our presenter is Michael Agnew, Certified Cicerone (the beer equivalent of a Sommelier). His beer column appears each month in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
You will learn a lot about hops: History, Botanical Description, Production, Types, Varieties, Brewing Process, and Vocabulary. You will sample a spectrum of beers to gain a deeper understanding of this essential ingredient in beer.
You must reserve your place(s). Call 612-626-7788. Non-members are welcome, but you must reserve your place.