Summit Amber

Formerly brewed at Summit Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Draft at Barley’s Alehouse #2. Amber color with small white head that diminished quickly. Small hopppy aroma. Light body. Medium hoppy flavor with small bitter finish. Average amber.

On Draft at MSP airport, 7/5/05. Reddish tinge and a sweet cookie-like nose. Flavor follows as anticipated ... sweet malt and a hint of caramel and a lightly bittered finish. Average.

Had this on tap at the Groveland Tap, a pretty swell Summit taproom. Amber color (duh) with a medium foamy head. Pretty soft aroma of grains. The taste is solid for an amber: fresh fields of barley, very mild hops, and a bit woody. It’s not a world class brew, but tasty enough and a good session.

The only amber quality is the name. There is a light hop aroma, and a medium body American pale ale taste of mildly bitter hops. A ok beer. I am disappointed they didn’t try something more interesting for their special beer. Last year’s oatmeal stout was much more interesting.

(Draft: 2005 Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland, OR) Well, I only have a few tokens left, so let’s try this place. Wait, St. Paul, Minnesota? What are they doing at the Oregon Brewers Festival? Smells grainy and I suppose slightly roasty. Hmm, tastes like a generic, dry amber beer with light bitterness. Average body and just not doing anything on the palate. Clear, amber color. Light tan head. Wow, just nothing of interest to report with this blasé beer. Not a good way to end this festival on, so off I go in search of a good beer.

I found this on tap at the Bulldog in Uptown Minneapolis, while actually looking for a different beer, not expecting this one. The keg had just arrived today. I was alerted by a poster whose copy read: "Amber and You. (I’d give it six months)." A clever way to hint at the limited nature, but not a compelling way to sell the beer. The pint arrived clad in dusky amber tones, topped with a slim, soon-gone head. Nose is soft and malty, but mainly muted, with undertones of dark fruit and grain. Grainy taste at the front, too, more malt, little hops. Smooth is the order of the day, an easy guzzler for sure, but teetering too close to thin in the body and moutfeel for my. Crisply carbonated, light to medium bodied, with a quiet, grainy, nearly nutty finish. In the flavor, fruit stands on top, dark ones, cherries and apple, grape, even. Very clean, and an okay fit for an amber, but unimpressive, really. I’m glad Summit is continuing to try out new beers, but this one failed to make much of an impression on me. There was talk that this was a resurrection of the Alt Bier recipe from years ago, but I can’t trust memory for that comparison.

Draft at MSP airport. Nice that they had something from these guys there. Particularly nice after being at a conference held at a dry casino. When I’m not a gambler. Ugh. Medium amber color, slight head. Faint hop aroma. Light biscuit malt flavors with a balancing hop bitterness. No real hop flavors were defined, however. Light bodied, but overall it was an inoffensive quencher.

On tap at the airport in Minneapolis. Deep amber color with a foamy light beige head that left nice lacing. Wet grain nose. Mild grain astringency with some caramel sweetness. The finish was a little tangy, like turned orange juice. Not bad with my food.