On Saturday October 25th I went to St. Paul, MN and to the Summit Brewery to take the tour of the facility and try some beer. It is pretty easy to find and it was actually a lot bigger and nicer than I expected it to be. This is the second brewery tour I have taken, with the first being the Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston. I was suppose to take this tour a couple years ago, but one of the guys I was going with procrastinated in making the phone call reservation and it was too late, but this time the person I went with was not a procrastinator.
They started out with a history of Summit beer and how the brew master and founder Mark Stutrud came up with his Extra Pale Ale and how it developed into the beer it is today. We then took a tour of the facility and the different rooms where the beer is fermented, bottled, and stored.
We were given three tokens each because at the end of the tour we could have our choice of beers. I tried the Summit Winter Ale, Great Northern Porter, Pilsner, and the Oatmeal Stout. The best for me out of the bunch was the Winter Ale and I actually didn’t really like the other three. The Oatmeal Stout was tough to put down. Overall, Summit beer is a very bitter tasting beer and I’m not a big fan of Summit, but I think that it is a very good idea to take the tour and decide for yourself. It’s something to do on a Saturday if you are going to a Minnesota Wild game, but remember to take it safe and make sure you are sober when you drive away. It was a fun experience and I hope to take more brewery tours in the future.
Brewery Tours
Tuesday and Thursday @ 1:00
Saturday @ 10:30 and 1:00
Call and make a reservation or email (651)265-7800 or tour@summitbrewing.com
