Friday, March 26, 2010
Sampling the Summit "Spring Sampler"
The Summit brewery is just a few blocks away from my apartment and as I love all local comestibles, it's fitting I should try the brewery's Spring Sampler.
Great Northern Porter: 2.5 I'm not a fan of porters, too sweet and thick. But this porter doesn't seem very porterish so it's not horribly unpleasant. It seems a nondescript for a heavy beer. Maybe a heavier mouth feel if you're into that, I like a fizzy mouth feel.
Maibock: 2.9 Meh. Strong hops character, but not one I enjoy - maybe they're European hops. Also a bit too sweet for my liking. This would taste good after a workout, goes down quickly.
Extra Pale Ale: 3.2 If one knows one's beers a bit, one knows the difference between a lager and ale. Lagers and ales are differentiated not only because of the way they're brewed (fermenting temperature and type of yeast mostly), but also by the ressulting tasre. If you like water with alchol in it, but don't want to taste the alcohol, lagers are for you. If you like flavor, go with ales. You already knew that.
This beer, although the name would imply it's "special" seems suspiciously close to an American lager like Budweiseer as far as ales go. Maybe it's a bit thicker in mouth feel and has significantly more interesting hop character, but not too significant. Still, it's often the best tap beer in Minnesota restaurants, so I have it more than occasionally.
India Pale Ale: 4.1: Winner! Oops, I forget how carbonated this is, poured too quickly. I'm a troglodite and usually prefer to drink straight from the bottle and without a napkin. This has been for years my standard beer to buy unless I want to try something new or buy a Bell's brew at 150% or more of the price. Its biting hops character is exactly on the cusp of of being interestingly flavorful and too bitter to be repeatedly and enjoyably drinkable. Also, this is a strong beer at 7.5% alcohol by volume. The alcohol is a discernible character, so if you don't want to taste the ethanol you're drinking, stay away. My taste buds say the strong and bitter hops character combines with the alcohol character to make it an asset. A beautiful beer. My favorite style is American India Pale Ale, and again, this is my most frequently purchased beer, so that it came out on top is no surprise.
Now I'm going to go to beeradvocate.com/ and compare my evaluations with those from much more talented and knowledgeable connoisseurs. Up next: btmcelrath.com/ chocolate bar showdown. Absolutely love all three of their offrerings I've tried, especially "Salty Dog".
// posted by Erik @ 3/26/2010 07:30:00 PM
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