Summit Extra Pale Ale

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

Bottles, tap, kegs at summer BBQ’s and weddings. A great session beer from my hometown. Carmel orange color with a nice white head. Smells of pine, citrus, and grass. One of my first micro brews and still a go to beer years later.

Orange, effervescent pour with a creamy white head. Fruity, hoppy aroma. Flavor is sharply bitter, with some grassiness maltiness. Very carbonated. Ok, a bit to much like eating grass.

On draught in the Sheraton Bloomington. Pours amber with a thin lacey head. Nose has toffee, hints of hops and a disconcerting overlay of pineapple. Sharp bitterness lingers on the edge of the tongue, unlike the swiftly passing notes of honey and malt. Good clean aftertaste, but too gassy.

12oz bottle from Total Wine (Tampa, FL). Pours a hazy dark golden amber color with a one finger creamy white head that settles slowly and heavily laces the glass. Aroma is sweet and floral with notes of citrus, grapefruit, caramel, honey, grain, bread, yeast, some hints of pine and grapefruit. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of caramel, grain, bread, yeast, some hints of floral hops and citrus. Generally light to medium body with a generally malty finish. Surprisingly few hops in this beer.

The pour resembles a slightly hazy dark iced tea with two fingers of head that diminish to a creamy off-white skin. The nose is of sweet caramel malt with an odd dish soap note. Medium-bodied (full for the style) and grainy, it has a bitter and tannic/astringent finish. The flavor is of earthy hops and a pecan shell-like bitterness over a toasty caramel malt body. It’s pretty rough at first, but it becomes more palatable as your tongue becomes accustomed to the astringency. IMO, this beer seems more like a bitter ESB than an APA. Irregardless of style, I found the astringency to detract from what would otherwise be an enjoyable session beer.

Bottle pours a clear, copper/amber color with a thick off-white head that clings nicely to the side of the glass. Aroma is sweet, caramel malts, and pine hops. The flavor is initially more sweet than bitter. The bitterness comes through in the aftertaste, but fairly subdued compared to some American pale ales. Nice, easy drinking beer. This would be a good transition beer to convert someone over from the macro dark side. Good flavor, but nothing over-the-top to scare someone away.

Clear amber body with a thick, clinging off-white head. Somewhat light but pleasant aroma of citrus, pine, and sweet malt. Surprisingly creamy and smooth mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. The sweetness of the malt presents itself first. Caramel and cereal. The hops come in but don’t overpower. Grapefruit, grass, and a hint of pine. A tasty beer that goes down easy.

Bottle. Pours an amber color with a decent, clingy, white head. Taste is of hops, pine, citrus and caramel. Similar aroma Has a slight sweetness and bitterness to it. Thin body. Smooth, easy to drink, refreshing and unoffensive.