Summit Extra Pale Ale

Brewed by Summit Brewing Company
Style: American Pale Ale
St. Paul, Minnesota USA

Pours a clear orange. Aroma is lightly hoppy with characters of citrus fruit and grains. Taste is a a slightly tilted balance between malt and bitterness -- a little tilted toward the hops side, which is expected and welcome. Further flavor characters include grapefruit and lemon. Ends with a finish of floral hops. A solid brew, but seems a little lacking in potency of flavor and aroma compared to some other pale ales.

Pours amber with a small, fast diminishing head. Nose is malt, caramel, pine, fruit and toffee. Taste is malt, grapefruit, and moderate hop bitterness. A nice APA.

Another brewery new to the sunny state of Florida, though not new in general, is Summit Brewing out of St. Paul, MN. They have been brewing since 1986 so Summit is definitely not new to the craft scene. They specialize in brewing fresh, hand-crafted sessionable beers where they focus on quality ingredients for a quality beer. Up to bat today is their Extra Pale Ale, a style which I used to mistakenly think stood for extra pale and extra tasteless. Oh, how wrong I was.

She poured a clear sunny orange with soft amber highlights while a puffy white head burbles and froths to the surface. Already, little clumps of clingy lace decorate the sides of my glass while a gentle breeze of oranges, soft fields of grains, cereal, and hay tickle and tease my nose. A zip of lemon rushes in at the finish for a playful nip as a gentler side takes me to the tropics where I bask in the sun with a plate of freshly sliced peaches, apricots, and mango with a drizzle of fresh honey on top. Delightfully inspiring, I am already seeing that extra pale doesn’t have to be extra dull, but will her palate hold up to the promise of her nose? As I draw deep of her bounty, more clumps of lace mark her shrinking path as a soothing rush of sweet grains topped with honey gently woo my tastebuds. After her initially soft impressions of cereal grains, a second round of crispness grabs the tip of my tongue and doesn’t let go; lemon zest lightly dries in the process. As I enjoy more cereal grains and some sweet rolls, an undercurrent of tropical fruits make their presence known by gently weaving in and out of her cereal grain prominent palate. More grain and malt forward while hops offer support from the background, I am enjoying my Summit Extra Pale Ale far more than I expected too, which proves to be my downfall in only one regard; she disappears all too quickly.

Once more I am shown why preconceptions are simply a waste of time, especially when based on misinformation, or even ignorance, proving that I had nothing to be concerned about in the first place. Summit excels at great tasting, easy drinking brews which, in a world of ever expanding big, bold, and complex brews, makes for the perfect counterbalance when all I am looking for at that moment is good drinking with less thinking. Next time you come across a sixer of Summit Extra Pale Ale, fear not, and be sure to bring one or two home with you. Pop the cap, pour, sup and enjoy.

poured golden with an off white head. flavor was hoopy to start with a smotthing aftertaste. decent beer.

On tap at Otto’s Bar and Grill in Lombard, IL. Poured to a shaker a chill hazy golden amber that clarified as it warmed. The head was off white, lasting foam with a solid coat of lacing that reduced to some web-like strands after a while. The nose was some toasty malt, light hop aroma, and a hint of fruit sweetness. The flavor added an appropriate hop bitterness to balance off the smooth malt. Solid Pale as most of Summit’s offerings.

With medium body and average duration of flavor, it is one of the better extra pale ales out there. The hops taste is about just right...not overbearing.

Reddish copper, thin beige head. Caramel and brown sugar aroma, with some notes of citrus, plus some vanilla. Taste like citrus, caramel and pine. Nice mix of sweet and bitter, fairly well balanced and tasty.

Poured a nice amber color with a dense, almost creamy off-white head. Good lacing. Nice aroma of citrus comes forth at the onset. Finds good balance between the citrus and some piney hops and light sweetness. The flavor is equally well balanced between citrus, pine, light peppery spice and caramel sweetness. Easy drinking mouthfeel. Pretty good.