Summit Great Northern Porter

Summit Great Northern Porter

Relevant Links:
Summit Great Northern Porter (Summit Brewing Company Website)
Summit Great Northern Porter | Summit Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)
Summit Great Northern Porter (RateBeer.com)

20150829:
After finishing the Summit Pilsener, I moved on to the Summit Great Northern Porter.

The porter had an immediate and clear chocolate taste. This taste, however, eased off a bit as I drank more.

After returning to shore, I finished the beer and it still tasted like a porter, but had a slight sour/watered taste. Overall, it was good, but the Summit Pilsener was more consistent.

Website Information:
Summit Great Northern Porter
Next stop…Malt City

Originally named after London market workers who popularized this brew, we dubbed our Porter with a nod to the majestic railway stretching from St. Paul to Seattle. Roasted malts offer up coffee notes leading to a slightly sweet, chocolatey finish. All aboard!

Specs:
Brewed Year-Round
Original Gravity: 13.3° P
Alcohol by Weight: 4.3%
Alcohol by Volume: 5.4%
Color, (deg. L.): Black, 60° L
IBUs: 51
Malts Utilized: 2-Row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Crystal
Hops Utilized: Northern Brewer, Fuggle, Cascade
Yeast: Ale
Established: 1986

Reviews and Accolades:
First Place in the "Porters" category at the 1987 Great American Beer Festival®
Gold, 2003 World Beer Championships

Food Pairings:
Soft, creamy cheeses, hearty soups, stews, smoked foods, chocolate

Serving Tips:
50-55 °F, in a Pint glass or a Nonick tumbler.

Summit Pilsener

Summit Pilsener

Relevant Links:
Summit Pilsener (Summit Brewing Company Website)
Summit Pilsener | Summit Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)
Summit Pilsener (RateBeer.com)

20150829:
The other day I had a Summit Oktoberfest and today I tried the Summit Pilsener.

As far as pilseners go, the Summit Pilsener was real refreshing. It had a nice taste down to the last sip.

I later had a bottle of the Summit Great Northern Porter and felt the Summit Pilsener was more consistent.

Website Information:
Summit Pilsener
Czech, please.

Authentic Saaz hops from the Czech Republic give our Pilsener just the right amount of spicy floral aroma. With a crisp, refreshing malt backbone and lightly spiced hops, it’s a taste of the Bohemian life. Now available in 12oz cans!

Specs:
Brewed Year-Round
Original Gravity: 11.0° P
Alcohol by Weight: 3.6%
Alcohol by Volume: 4.5%
Color, (deg. L.): Golden, 5° L
IBUs: 23
Malts Utilized: Moravian 37, Caramel
Hops Utilized: Vanguard, Saaz
Yeast: Lager
Established: 2001

Conversation Starters and Awards:
Brewed exclusively with two-row Moravian 37 barley grown on the North Dakota family farm of Summit Founder Mark Stutrud’s cousin Jim and his son Todd.

Silver medal winner at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival for Bohemian-Style Pilsener
The 20 Best Pilsners in the World by Men's Journal, 2015

Food Pairings:
Havarti cheese, poultry, seafood, Asian food

Serving Tips:
40-45 degrees °F in a Flute, Slender Tulip/Pokal, or a Stange glass.

Summit Oktoberfest

Summit Oktoberfest

Relevant Links:
Summit Oktoberfest (Summit Brewing Company Website)
Summit Octoberfest Marzen | Summit Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)
Summit Oktoberfest (RateBeer.com)

20150827:
While it's great to try new beers, its even better when the beer I try is local*, thanks Jack!

The first sip had a slight pumpkin taste, but then the flavor plateaued to a milder winter ale. Afterwards, there was a pleasant mild sugary mouthfeel. 10:38PM CT

*Summit Brewing Company is located in St Paul, MN

Website Information:

Summit Oktoberfest
Hold the bottle up to your ear.
You can almost hear the polka.

Brewed in the classic Märzen style with Northern Brewer hops from Germany. Rich, toffee malt flavors up front with a clean hop finish as crisp as the autumn air. Unfortunately, like the fall colors, this seasonal beer is gone before you know it. Now available in 12oz cans!

Available in the Fall
Also featured in our Autumn Sampler Pack

Specs:
Seasonal
Original Gravity: 16.0° P
Alcohol by Weight: 5.7%
Alcohol by Volume: 7.1%
Color, (deg. L.): Bronze, 15° L
IBUs: 25
Malts: Moravian 37, Crystal, Munich, 2-Row Pale
Hops: Northern Brewer, Tettnanger, Saaz
Yeast: Lager
Established: 2001

Reviews and Accolades:
Two-time Grand Champion at the U.S. Beer Tasting Championships (2002, 2003)

Food Pairings:
Swiss cheese, turkey, spicy food, bratwurst, wild game

Serving Tips:
45-50 °F, in a Nonick tumbler or Stein.

Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlua, Coffee

20150825:
So I've previously had Baileys Irish cream and coffee, and today I'm taking the drink up a notch.

However, without a double blind taste test, I don't really know what the Kahlua contributes to the drink in terms of taste. In fact, my single note on the drink fixates on one aspect: the drink's warmth. I wrote: "Mmm... warm."

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20150830:
On my return trip from MSP to SFO, I added Baileys Irish cream and Kahlua to my cup of coffee from Caribou Coffee and thought it added a nice touch. I did not, however, make any notes on how the combination tasted.

As an observation, there was a higher Kahlua-to-Baileys+coffee ratio in this cup than that in the cup on 20150825. 7:18PM CT

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Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlua, Coffee

Relevant Links:
Baileys Website
Kahlua Website

Fieldwork Hanging Valley

Fieldwork Hanging Valley

Relevant Links:
Fieldwork Brewing Company Website
Hanging Valley | Fieldwork Brewing Co. (BeerAdvocate.com)
Fieldwork Hanging Valley (RateBeer.com)

20150818:
After rock climbing today my friends and I went to Elevation 66 for some food and drinks. To drink I got a pint of Fieldwork Hanging Valley, a friend got a pint of Elevation 66 Esther's Vanilla Stout, and two others got a cider.

The Fieldwork Hanging Valley has a banana smell and tastes the way I expect a banana smelling beer to taste.

As a minor detail, I didn't have time to spit out my gum before cheering and taking a sip. In this case I don't think the gum altered the taste of the saison.

In any case, I liked my saison. The entire drink, from beginning to end, was solid.

There was no bad aftertaste, and the drink felt a bit dry.

Calicraft Oaktown Brown Ale

20150815:
This beer had a cloudy, dark brown color and a mildly malty smell.

Calicraft Oaktown Brown Ale - draft pour in a plastic cup (20150815)

Overall, it had a nice carbonated, sugary taste. 8:30PM PT

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20170307:
The beer had a nice fizz. It also had a sweet taste. It was an excellent beer. 11:02PM PT

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Calicraft Oaktown Brown

Calicraft Oaktown Brown Ale - draft pour in glass (20170307)

Relevant Links:
Year Round Beers Page (Calicraft Brewing Co. Website)
Oaktown Brown Ale | Calicraft Brewing Co. (BeerAdvocate.com)
Calicraft Oaktown Brown Ale (RateBeer.com)

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Website Information:

Oaktown Brown
Deep & Soulful
Brown Ale
6.7% Alc/vol

Not your traditional brown ale. This is a big, bad, bold brown. It’s the intersection of a cabernet and an IPA. Or, say, 19th and Broadway. A blend of three oaks added during fermentation creates a red wine-like structure. California Cascade hops bring the local flavor that goes from roasted and bitter on first swig to a soulful, chocolate finish. Generally speaking, not for wussies. But who are we to say?

Drink up: on a Saturday night or a cool day.
Pair with: a slab of steak, strong cheese, backyard barbecue.

Grimm Super Going

Grimm Super Going

I've decided that no post should go without a picture.
So I will start introducing random/relevant pictures.

Relevant Links:
Super Going (Grimm Artisanal Ales Website)
Grimm Super Going (RateBeer.com)
Super Going | Grimm Artisanal Ales (BeerAdvocate.com)

20150807: [20150909 Edit]
This beer had a nice sour taste and yellow appearance.

My friend said it had a honey taste; giving the beer another sip, I found this feasible.

I guess it also tasted like lemonade, except mildly tart.

Overall, it tasted good. 8:18PM PT

Website Information:
Super Going
Style: Dry Hopped Gose with Orange Zest and White Oak
Strength: 4.8% ABV
pH: 3.4
Color: SRM 5

Hazy and richly aromatic. Aggressively dry hopped with new German aroma hops Mandarina Bavaria and Huell Melon; orange zest to boot. Lightly toasted white oak provides tannins and mouthfeel. Assertively tart, with light sea salt appearing on the finish. Citrus and hop flavors galore. Absolutely mouthwatering.

Devil's Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale

Devil's Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale

Relevant Links:
Full Boar Scotch Ale (Devil's Canyon Website)
Full Boar Scotch Ale | Devil's Canyon Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)
Devils Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale (RateBeer.com)

20150801: [20150908]
This beer had a nice and standard carbonated, malty taste. It was sweet. It appeared to have a dark red color. 4:45PM PT

Website Information:

FULL BOAR SCOTCH ALE

Full Boar™ Scotch Ale is deeply malted and caramel apparent with overtones of chocolate and a slight hint of a mild, smoky flavor.

Our Full Boar Scotch Ale’s proprietary malt blend, lightly smoked with peat moss, imparts subtle hints of chocolate, caramel and smoke in a beer that drinks astonishingly smoothly.

First-Class chefs pair this Wee Heavy style ale with the finest cuts of meat, yet it has been infused into everything from artisanal cheeses to ice cream.

Type: Strong Scotch Ale (BCJP 9E)
ABV: 7.4
IBU: 12

Bronze Medal 2013 – Triple Rock 11th Annual Firkin Festival
California State Fair – Commercial Craft Brewery Awards

2012 – Gold Medal
2010 – Gold Medal
2009 – Bronze Certificate
2006 – Bronze Certificate
2005 – Silver Certificate
2004 – Silver Certificate
2003 – Gold Medal