I had a great time visiting the Summit Brewing Company brewery in St. Paul. It’s such a gorgeous facility, and the team at Summit is cranking out some delicious beer right now. I love the new Saga Pale Ale (it’s pronounced like you’re at the dentist: saaahhh-gaaahhh), and I’m really excited to drink more of the 11th Unchained beer, Old 152.
“The malt profile is very different from any of the other brands we make,” said brewer Eric Harper. Eric’s a great guy—he’s worked at Summit for about three years; before that he was at New Glarus, brewing some of the delicious Spotted Cow and Fat Squirrel and all those beers we love to pick up in Wisconsin.
Old 152 is a throwback to the original style of American brewing, before the lager came onto the scene, inflicting Budweiser and Miller from coast-to-coast. The style was called Kentucky Common. Eric used Cluster hops in his beer, one of the only hop varieties you could get in the U.S. in the late 1800s.
I really like Old 152. It has a really citrusy aroma, which makes the flavor really surprising.
“I like to think of it as a chestnut color, ambery brownish tinge and it has a slight haze, I left some yeast in the beer,” Eric said.
It’s toasty, and a little spicy because of the rye. It’s crisp, clean, slightly bitter, and really a nice fall beer.
The Unchained series is one of my favorite things about Summit right now. Eric said that he didn’t have a budget, so he could go out and get whatever ingredients he wanted. He contacted the suppliers, he set it up, he brewed it, and he sends Summit President and Founder Mark Stutrud the bill.
They make a load of it—two giant fermentation tanks-full. That’s 20,000 gallons of beer—about 600 kegs and 100,000 bottles, according to Eric.
I’m running a story on the new beer on WCCO-TV Saturday morning (at 8 a.m.—tune in!). In the meantime, you can get your hands on it starting Monday wherever Summit is sold. Or you can visit these events:
Oct. 18: Beer Dinner – Kincaid’s in St. Paul, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 23: Bean bag battle with Harper for Summit prizes – Sweeney’s, 4-6 p.m.
Oct. 25: Beer Dinner – Gold Nugget Tavern & Grille, 7 p.m.
It’s a nice beer, and it’s got Eric’s signature right on the bottle. So don’t let him down—go buy the man’s beer!
