Week 5 of 52
Summit Winter Ale
January 28th thru February 3rd
Brewer's Description
This unique beer has its origins in British neighborhood pubs where villagers gathered to shake off the damp chill of the English winter. Winter Ales is brewed in the tradition of those winter warmer ales, with a robust, full-bodied flavor that can take the chill out of even the coldest nights.
Made with 2-Row Pale, Caramel, and Black Malts and Williamette, Fuggle, and Tettenanger Hops. It's 6.2% alcohol and 36 IBUs.
Overall Rating based on 43 reviews
3.84 of 5 stars
Brewery Information
Summit Brewing Company
Saint Paul, Minnesota
summitbrewing.com/
Interesting Fact
In June of 2007 Summit launched a site that shows videos of groups that do interesting things: The Social Element
Photography
Courtesy of Erin Reichelt. View more on her flickr set.
Rett says Wait, did I grab the EPA?
February 1st, 2008
Not because of the taste, this definitely tastes different, and I really liked it. But when I was at the liquor store I had to double check to make sure it was the Winter and not the EPA. They just look so similar. From a brand perspective it’s important to have consistency across beers, but I’d like to see a bit more uniqueness.
Schell Snowstorm was a great example of a seasonal beer that you look at and instantly know it’s Schell’s and know it’s their winter beer. Summit Winter has that same yellow label that I instantly associate with their EPA. I was seriously confused.
Also, I’ve really appreciated that most beers we’ve sampled have a description on the bottle/can that tells you a bit about the beer, what flavors to expect, and maybe some food pairing ideas. I guess for Summit Winter we’ll just have to wait until Erik does his review.
Feb 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Rett,
I like the fact that you’re the only one using the jump feature you suggested. Keep leading my example!
Josh
Feb 1st, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I tried to, and it jumped the whole thing!
Feb 1st, 2008 at 8:55 pm
btw, I remember they used to have a more distinctive design, with a red label, a snowflake pattern, and snow hanging on the barley of the logo…sad that they changed it. Same with the tap handles, they all look the same, with only the words different. Used to be different colors, sometimes differenent shapes…for years, the Oktoberfest had a cool sculpture of a jolly German. No more.
Feb 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 am
I have an IPA handle with an elephant, and the hefe with a lemon. I love unique handles!
Feb 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
I would love to see that IPA!
Feb 4th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Ok Al, as soon as I left my comment I was struck by a feeling that maybe it didn’t have an elephant, so I checked. so if you really care, on the top of the handle there’s a piece of plastic that says “india pale ale” and on the bottom of the handle there’s a picture of an elephant. so i guess i was mixing images. anyway, i still think its cool, and its still better than the current summit ipa handle.
Feb 4th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
the only one I’ve seen, before the current crop, is the baseball-bat shaped handle, purple, with repeating elephants as the background…you must have an earlier version than mine.