Archive for the 'Summit' category
Summit Scandia Ale
I’ve managed to exit North Dakota without trying all of the Summit beers that I hoped to drink. However, I couldn’t cross state lines without having a taste of their Belgian witbier. So, on my last night there, I loaded up a six-pack of the good stuff in my checked baggage and brought it on back. So, here I sit back in NC, having a taste of my smuggled goods.
This beer pours a light golden color that is full of dense debris. There is also quite a lot of carbonation here, enough that a thin white head maintains for the entirety of the drink, and there are perpetual streams of festive bubbles rising to the surface. The aroma of this beer is mostly citrus, although there is also a sweet wheaty aroma and that trademark yeast scent that comes with any good witbier. The flavor of this beer begins with a carbonation burn early on the tongue that quickly segues into a sharp and sweet lemon zest. This citrus flavor blends with a sweet yeast flavor and then merges into something that is more akin to an orange and coriander than any lemon. This new flavor sticks around and lasts all the way into the aftertaste where that citrus burn sticks around in the throat in a good way. Altogether, it’s a pretty simple but accurate Belgian witbier. There is a lot of citrus here, and I like the way it transitions from the lemon zest to an orange and coriander flavor. There is also a lot of that characteristic yeast flavor and enough sweet wheat to even everything out. I like this beer, and I’d say it’s a good score for Summit – I’m glad I smuggled five more back with me…
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Well, folks, I’ve arrived in North Dakota, and I’ll likely be here for a month or more. So, as such, I’ll hopefully be finding a few new brews to review for you, adding a bit of spice to our current selection and pushing us over the 700 review mark (that’s a lot of drinking, friends). Tonight, on my first night in town, I happened over to Rhombus Guys, a local pizza joint with a small but decent beer selection. There, I enjoyed an entirely-too-large glass of the Summit Extra Pale.
This beer pours a clear deep golden color and smells deeply of floral hops. Sometimes I have some difficulty telling the difference between an Extra Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale. However, in this instance, I think Summit has done a great job to stick to the pale ale genre while turning it up to ’11′. This beer is fairly consistent through the mouth with a single flavor that blends lots of biscuity malt with a load of floral Northwestern hops. This makes this beer very big, exceedingly flavorful, and very accessible. There are a ton of hops here, enough to scare off a lightweight beer drinker. However, the balancing sweetness of the malt really buffers any abrasiveness, leaving us with the pleasing floral characteristics while cutting through any biting bitterness. Personally, I really enjoyed this beer. I found it big but not overpowering, and it paired wonderfully with a rather spicy pizza. This is the first offering from Summit I’ve found, and it only excites me to try some of their other brews.
