2012 GABF Interview with Summit Brewing Company

A lot has happened at the Summit brewery since I interviewed their brewers at the 2011 GABF. A pilot brewing system was installed, allowing their brewers to test recipes and get a little experimental. The taproom has opened for business and is going gangbusters. Ground was broken on a massive cellar expansion that will allow them to nearly double production. In this interview with brewers Eric Blomquist and Gabe Smoley at the 2012 GABF we talk all about these changes and what it might mean for the future of Summit.

As I was editing the interview I realized that I kept referring to the pilot system as the “toy brewery.” It made me laugh, but it also made me wish that I had explained myself. It almost sounds as if I am mocking the new mini-brewhouse. I meant “toy” as in a really cool thing that allows the brewers to play, much as a 1965 Mustang might be a “toy” to a car enthusiast. The Summit pilot system is REALLY cool. I want one in my basement.

Summit Unchained Series #11: Old 152

If you do a search online for Kentucky Common, you don’t turn up much. There are a couple of homebrew forum discussions, a Wikipedia page, and a reference to the 1901 Wahl & Henius Handy Book of Brewing, Malting, and Auxiliary Trades. The Handy Books is the only actual period reference, and it doesn’t tell you a lot. It says that Kentucky Common had a grain bill of malted barley and about 25 to 30 percent corn. Some sugar color, caramel or roasted malt was added for coloring. It had an original gravity of somewhere around 1.045, translating to around 4.5 percent alcohol under normal fermentation conditions. Hopping was moderate at one-half pound per barrel. It wasn’t fined or filtered, leaving it with a “muddy” appearance.

This lack of information is one thing that lead Summit brewer Eric Harper to select the Kentucky Common style for his second entry to the Summit Unchained Series, Old 152. Asked about this choice he said, “Nobody makes it. Nobody knows anything about it. You can’t have any preconceived notions about what it is. You can’t say I did it wrong, that’s for sure.”

Harper’s approach to the style was to take the scant historical information and riff on it. As the beer was originally made in Kentucky, he took a cue from the bourbon makers and used a mash of corn, rye and distiller’s malt. A portion of caramel and Victory malt added color and some toasty notes. He hopped the beer with Cluster hops, a variety that is native to the US and that 19th-century brewers would conceivably have used.

Some descriptions of the style make reference to a “sour mash,” another nod to the bourbon industry. Harper says that part of his mash was sour. “At a whisky distillery they are fermenting the entire mash.” he explained. “And then they take a portion of that fermented mash that’s got yeast and whatever bacteria and they add that back to the next batch. So that portion is the sour mash, and they are using that as a ph adjustment. We don’t ferment on the grain, and even if we did we don’t have an old batch of this beer around.” Given that limitation, Harper lowered the ph of his beer by adding acidulated malt, malt that has been treated with lactobacillus, an acid-producing bacteria that is found naturally on malted barley. This lowered the ph of the mash to far below the norm at Summit. “There is some confusion when I talk to people about it that the beer is going to be sour.” he added. But this notion of Kentucky Common as a sour beer is not borne out in the historical literature, and Harper’s version is definitely not sour.

So is Old 152 “to style?” Who knows? You’ll have to judge that for yourself. Release events started yesterday and run all week long.

Here’s my notes:

Old 152
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Kentucky Common
Serving Style: 12 oz. bottle

Aroma: Toast and caramel with tootsie-roll chocolate notes. Vague hints of spicy and catty hops add some high notes. Like a delightful baked good.

Appearance: Reddish amber with a slight haze. Good stand of off-white foam that sticks around in a thick layer on top of the beer.

Flavor: Toast and tootsie roll lead off with a bit of caramel adding sweetness. Rye spice comes in the middle. Bitterness is moderate, with spicy hop flavors that are almost prickly on the tongue. Light citrusy (lime?) and almost-lactic-tart notes peek furtively in and out of the background. Layered. Finishes quick and dry with lingering toastines, like toasted bread crust. Clean, crisp, and Lager-like.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium light body. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: What a tasty, easy-drinking beer. The toasty malt at the forefront puts this one right in my wheelhouse. It’s Altbier-like, except with the wrong hop flavors. It’s a winner in my book.

 

 

2011 GABF Interview with Summit Brewing Company brewers Nate Siats and Sam Doniach

Summit Brewing Company. What more really needs to be said? Summit was one of the pioneers of craft brewing, not just in Minnesota, but in the whole Midwest. Since turning 25 last year they have been making a lot of changes at the brewery. Old brewers have left for other opportunities and new ones have come on board. They released Saga, a new American-style IPA to accompany the original India Pale Ale, an English version of the style. A pilot system was installed in the brewery that allows the brewers to experiment with small-batch releases or test new recipes. And on September 28th they had the official opening of their long-awaited taproom.

At last year’s GABF I caught up with brewers Nate Siats and Sam Doniach (one of the brewers who has moved on). In the interview they talk about some of these changes; at the time still changes-to-be. While in Denver they were researching other breweries’ taprooms to get ideas for their own. They were also eagerly anticipating using the new small-batch system. It’s fun to look back.

Summit Unchained #10: Belgian Style Abbey Ale

Summit Brewing Company’s Unchained Series hits a milestone today with the release of its tenth beer, Belgian Style Abbey Ale. It’s a Belgian Dubbel style beer brewed by Summit brewer Nate Siats, who also brought us the fifth beer in the series, Imperial Pumpkin Porter. Belgian styles are sometimes hard to pull off for American brewers. Many domestic renditions don’t quite live up to their Belgian models, often ending up too sweet or too boozy. Did Siats do justice to the dubbel? Here’s my notes:

Belgian Style Abbey Ale
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Belgian Dubbel
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Bread crust and subtle dark fruits; dates. Prominent banana and sugary cotton candy (as I call that Belgian yeast character). Background of pepper and allspice.

Appearance: Clear amber/red with some chill haze early on. Creamy, ivory head with very fine bubbles that was moderately persistent; a ring of creamy foam remains around the edge of the glass all the way to the bottom. Nice lacing on a clean glass.

Flavor: Herbal hops kick things off, but quickly give way to bread crust and melanoidin sweetness. Dates, pears and raisins join in and linger into the finish. Highlight notes of sour fruit, like tart cherries. Moderate cotton-candy Belgian yeast character. Alcohol is apparent, but not hot. Dry and slightly tannic in finish with lingering notes of tea leaves.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium body. Effervescent high carbonation. Warms on the way down.

Overall: I love bread crust malt flavor in beer and that is the predominant flavor in this beer (at least on my palate). You have to let this beer warm just a bit to let that flavor come through. In fact, there is a tight temperature range for this beer; too cold and it comes off harsh and slightly sour, too warm and the flavors become murky. The tannic character that I get in the finish detracts a bit, but overall it’s a nicely balanced beer that is dangerously drinkable in the best Belgian tradition.

This new Summit brew can be sampled starting today at launch events throughout the metro.

Summit Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen

I don’t often drink dunkelweizen. I like dunkelweizen, so I’m not sure why that is. Maybe it’s because there aren’t many of them to be had in the Twin Cities. Those that are available are mostly imports, and German wheat beers, whether light or dark, are best consumed fresh. The long trip across the ocean and then halfway across the continent doesn’t always treat them kindly.

Or perhaps it’s the near-overwhelming diversity of beers available these days. Whether you know too much or you don’t know enough, a trip to the beer store can leave you locked in a paralysis of indecision.  Distracted by all the “bright and sparklies” on the shelf it’s maybe difficult for me to find my way back to the two bottles of dunkelweizen gathering dust amid the pilsners.

Whatever the reason, I just don’t often think about dunkelweizen.

I should think more about dunkelweizen. It’s a great beer to pair with food. Like its lighter sister it is great with salads especially those with more substantial flavors like candied walnuts.  Toasty-caramel melanoidin flavors make for scintillating combinations with the darker flavors of Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes with mole or roasted Poblano peppers. Pulled pork anyone? Okay, now I’m craving Tex-Mex and beer, but it’s only 9:30 am…

I really should give dunkelweizen more consideration.

Summit Brewing Company has pushed the style to the front of my crowded brain with the release of Unchained #9 – a dunkelweizen created by brewer Eric Blomquist. So now there are three examples on the shelf. But one of them is made in St. Paul. For those of us in Minnesota, it can’t really get much fresher.

Here’s my notes:

Unchained #9 – Dunkelweizen
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Dunkelweizen
Serving Style: 12 oz bottle

Aroma: A balanced blend of banana and clove that leans just a bit more heavily on the spice. Bread and caramel form the base with raisiny fruit filling in the cracks. Overtones of lemon citrus pop out of the glass like the tiny fizz splashes on soda pop. And do I detect the subtlest hint of smoke?

Appearance: Beautiful to look at. It pours dark amber to mahogany; murky and opaque. The long-lasting, fluffy, ivory head falls slowly to thick foam on the surface that lasts all the way to the bottom of the glass. Effervescent bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass.

Flavor: Let it warm up just a bit. Fresh from the fridge it is surprisingly bitter with a citrusy hop-like flavor that sits in the middle of my tongue. As the temperature rises, so does the flavor of melanoidin; like burnt brown sugar. And there are those raisins re-visiting from the aroma. The yeasty banana character steps to the background, allowing clove to come to the fore. The citrus from early on backs off toward the end, but leaves a final calling card at the back of my throat on the way out.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied, yet thick and chewy – pillowy. Effervescent – tingly on my tongue.

Overall Impression: A good beer for the kind of weather we’re having; not quite the summery quaff of a hefeweizen, but not as dark, rich and wintery as a weizenbock. It’s a delicate in-between. Let it warm a bit before you start drinking to let the malt character that makes if a dunkelweizen come through. Dark fruit and toasted brown sugar flavors work wonders with the yeast.

Unchained #9 comes out in bars the week of March 5th. Check the Summit website for details of release events. Bottles will appear the week of March 19th.

Summit Unchained #8: Black Ale

Whether you call them Black IPAs, Cascadian Dark Ales, or American-style Black Ales, bitter, hoppy, black beers are becoming more and more popular with brewers and beer fans alike. What had been a fringe phenomenon has become a true emerging style. Production breweries and brewpubs are turning them out all over the country.

Honestly, it is a style that I have had difficulty embracing. The combination of high-level bitterness, intensely-citrusy American hop flavor, and acrid, roasted malts creates an unpleasant partnership in my mouth. There are a couple examples that I like – 21st Amendment’s Back in Black comes to mind – but in general, these are not beers that I am likely to pick up at the store or order at a bar.

It is with this caveat that I offer my impressions of the latest offering in the Summit Unchained Series, Black Ale. Here’s my notes:

Unchained #8: Black Ale
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Black IPA
Serving Style: 12 oz bottle

Aroma: Light chocolate and roast underlie citrusy orange and grapefruit hops. A bit of bread crust.

Appearance: Ample, creamy, tan head that sticks around, maintaining a foamy layer from start to finish. Very dark brown to black.

Flavor: Sharply and somewhat astringently bitter, with intense grapefruit and orange hop flavor. The hop bitterness is enhanced by the bitterness of roasted malt. The malt character is primarily coffee-like roast with light sweetness that increases as the beer warms. The finish is dry, lingering on coffee and juicy grapefruit. The bitterness grabs hold at the start and is the last thing to let go.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with prickly carbonation. A touch astringent.

Overall Impression: This beer has that particular combination of bitterness, black malt, and citrusy hops that sits uncomfortably on my tongue. The high level of attenuation enhances that. I could do with more malty sweetness to balance the hop and roasted-malt bitterness. A hint of chocolate would give the citrus a pleasing foil. As it is, it is a well-made beer, just not one that suits my tastes.

Summit Brewing Company Interesting Rumblings

At the Summit Silver Anniversary party on Saturday I had a most interesting conversation with one of the hard-working and talented Summit brewers. While exchanging pleasantries over compostable plastic cups of Silver Anniversary Ale, I said that I was glad to see EPA, the old comfy-blanket of many  a Minnesota beer nerd, brought in to the new millennium with this recipe. Many people have the impression that while Summit makes great beer, they have been making the same great beer since 1986. Things like the Unchained Series and Anniversary Ale are helping to polish up the brewery’s image. That’s when things got interesting.

This brewer revealed that Summit is taking delivery this week on a two-barrel pilot brewery specially designed to mirror their big system. This new toy will give the brewers a place to play. What interesting new Summit flavors will come from that?

One plan is for regular special/limited releases following on the tails of Silver Anniversary Ale. When I proposed the idea of small-batch, big-bottle beers this brewer said, “That is a possibility, hypothetically speaking of course.”

I look forward to seeing what the next few months and years will bring.

Summit Silver Anniversary Ale: A Sneak Peek

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.

Summit Unchained #6: Gold Sovereign Ale

Photo by Mark Roberts

Deadlines! Deadlines! I’ve had a lot of writing deadlines lately; deadlines for pieces that require me to taste certain beers. Meanwhile, many new and new to Minnesota beers have been sitting neglected in my refrigerator, begging…no, crying out for my attention without satisfaction.

Those deadlines have been met, at least for a few days. I can finally get to the bottle of Summit Unchained #6: Gold Sovereign Ale that has been waiting in the fridge; the bottle that has been taunting me since last week when I interviewed brewer Damian McConn at the brewery.

I have been especially anticipating this Unchained Series release. I am a fan of English style pale ales and IPAs, more so than their American counterparts. I also have a more than passing interest in the history of English beer and brewing. The idea that McConn would reach back into old brewery archives to craft something according to a 19th-century recipe intrigued me to say the least. His decision to put a modern twist on it by using only recently available ingredients made it even more interesting.

McConn said that he was led to that decision by the practical impossibility of replicating an old recipe. “The problem with recreating a beer like that is that we can get a pretty-good, rough idea of the hopping rate, the original gravity, fermentation temps, mashing programs, and stuff like that, but we can’t replicate the ingredients.” He also cites modern brewing equipment as an impediment to accurately recreating these beers. Different processes and fermenter types will yield different tasting beers, and modern breweries are very different from their 19th-century predecessors. “The more I investigated beer from that time, the more I thought that I just wouldn’t be able to do it justice. I’m an all or nothing kind of brewer. I thought, ‘if I can’t do it as closely as possible to what it would have been like back then, then I want to try and put an interesting spin on it.’”

Although the ingredients and processes are new, they do cast an eye back to the old. McConn chose organic, floor-malted barley to reflect the labor-intensive malting practice that would have been standard at the time. In a nod to the cask-conditioning of beers, which was the norm back in the day, he opted to leave the beer un-filtered. The bit of yeast remaining in the bottle will allow the beer to further condition. It’s up to you whether or not to pour the yeast into your glass.

Here’s my notes:

Gold Sovereign Ale
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: 19th-Century English IPA with a modern twist
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Bready yeast comes first. The malt gives a light touch of grainy sweetness. Fruity hops are dominant, but not intense; orange citrus and stone fruits. A background of earthy hop aromas keep it grounded.

Appearance: The ample, rocky, white head sticks around for a while. Deep golden color, veering toward orange, with a dense haze (I chose to pour the yeast).

Flavor: Hops are the star of the show, starting with a sharp, crisp bitterness that carries through and is accentuated by a dry finish. The beer is bitter, but the emphasis seems to be on later-addition, flavor hops. Juicy fruits explode from the glass; tangerine, oranges, and peaches. Especially peaches. Malts form a grainy-sweet, graham-cracker crust beneath the fruit. The malt character was so clearly expressed that it reminded me of chewing on grains of malted barley (without the husk). Faint, earthy, hop flavors appear in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Sharp, dry, and crisp. Medium carbonation.

Overall Impression: If this is what East India Pale Ale tasted like in the 19th century, then it is no wonder that English expatriates rhapsodized about it. Gold Sovereign is an extremely well-made beer; crisp and clean, with distinct layers of flavor. This is one of the best of the Unchained Series beers.

Summit Unchained #5: Imperial Pumpkin Porter

Imperial Pumpkin Porter, the fifth beer in the Unchained Series from Summit Brewing Company, had it’s draft-only release in bars last week. The pre-Halloween timing of the release seemed appropriate for an ominously black pumpkin ale. According to the Summit website, the bottled version will be released the week of November 15th.

Brewer Nate Siats describes his beer as “a dark, chocolaty, full bodied beer with a slight bitter after taste. Evenly spiced with a hint of pumpkin, you would think you were sitting down for thanksgiving dessert. Perfect for a cool, fall afternoon or a holiday feast!”

Here’s my notes:

Unchained #5: Imperial Pumpkin Porter
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Imperial Pumpkin Porter
Serving Style: 12 oz Bottle

Aroma: Sweet caramel, coffee and chocolate. Malted Milk Balls. Molasses. Faint hints of spice come in as the beer warms.

Appearance: Black. Low, dark-tan head that dissipated relatively quickly.

Flavor: Roasted malts dominate; chocolate and coffee. Like the cookie part of an Oreo Cookie. The roastiness is countered by sweet, creamy caramel and molasses. Moderate bitterness from hops and roasted malts. Spicy and herbal hop flavors accentuate the subtle flavor of actual spices. Cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg notes add intrigue and complexity without being in any way overpowering. Pumpkin flavors are almost non-existent, coming in only as a vague pumpkin pie flavor in the long-lingering finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied. Creamy. Low carbonation.

Overall Impression: As this beer is made with pumpkins, it can be called “pumpkin ale.” Based on flavor, however, that designation is a stretch. Brewer Nate Siats stated that he wanted just a “hint of pumpkin.” In that he succeeded. I would like more. This criticism does not mean Imperial Pumpkin Porter isn’t a good beer. It’s mighty tasty, with balanced roasty and sweet malt. And I love what the subtle spicing brings to the flavor.