The Time Summit Brewer Mike Lundell Went to Germany and Stutrud Wasn’t Wearing Any Pants

This is a story about Summit Hefeweizen.

Say hello once again to your old friend Summit Hefeweizen. First introduced in the early ‘90s, this classic German wheat beer had a stranglehold on area tap handles all the way till 2011, when Summit Summer Ale came busting in like the new hotness. 2017 saw Hefe’s return, however, and we had so much fun last summer kicking back with its familiar aromas of banana and clove, we just had to brew it again this year. We hope you won’t mind.

HEFE IS BACK
Returning inside the Summit Boundary Waters Box — alongside Summit Lazy Sipper, Skip Rock, and Golden Fruited — we’ve tweaked this year’s Hefeweizen just a bit. Brewed with US Pils and US wheat malt, plus legit Tettnang hops, we’ve cut out the Carapils and Carawheat malts used in the most recent brews, and we’ve decreased the hop bill slightly, too. What’s left is a Hefe recipe almost exactly like those produced way back when we were brewing liquid goodness on University Avenue. Two-thirds wheat, one-third pale malt, three-thirds “Fantastich.”

Clocking in at 4.5% ABV and 18 IBU, Summit Brewer Mike Lundell says “those University Avenue brews were friggin’ identical to this, DudeBroMan.” He’s even got the old handwritten brew sheets to prove it, but we’re not gonna show you those. (They’re under lock and key ever since another brewer, no longer with Summit, tried to throw them away.)

THE BEER IS PRETTY GERMAN
But back to the beer! Brewed the week of March 5^th and then canned two weeks later — the same timeline as our world-champion Extra Pale Ale — our Hefeweizen is pure and delicious and unfiltered, though a small amount of beer is spun through the centrifuge before being blended back in with the rest of the unfiltered beer. This process, thoroughly in sync with the great German brewers over in, uh, Germany, gives our Hefe a color and cloudiness similar to another traditional German beer you should be drinking on the daily: Summit Keller Pils.

All this talk of Germany reminds Brewer Mikey of the time he hopped on a plane and flew over to — you guessed it, Germany — to drink beers with Summit Brewing Co. Founder and President Mark Stutrud.

“I don’t remember what year this happened, it could’ve been five years ago or 500, but I landed in Munich and walked all over this airport looking for Stutrud. He was supposed to be there to pick me up, and he said if I couldn’t find him, I should look at the brewpub at the Munich airport. Except he wasn’t there either.”

So, Mikey called Mark and the phone rang and rang without an answer, and after waiting an hour at the airport, Stutrud finally called him back. “I’m putting my pants on right now, Mikey!” he said. “I was out late with friends, but I’m on my way!”

From the airport, the two reunited drinkin’ buddies hustled over to the Prison Restaurant in Freising and sat down for an 8 a.m. breakfast of Hefeweizens, Weisswurst, and pretzels the size of your head.

LIKE, REALLY GERMAN
“We sat next to this 90-year-old woman eating her breakfast sausage and washing it down with fresh Hefeweizen,” recalls Mikey, “and I just remember thinking: YES. This is what it’s all about. I want to be like her!”

Now, you don’t need to go all the way to Germany to do breakfast like a 90-year-old woman, because our guys Stutrud and Mikey have a delicious true-to-style Hefe on tap just for you at the Summit Beer Hall. Bring your own Weisswurst. Or just pick up the beer at your favorite liquor store in the Summit Boundary Waters Box, available now.

With a creamy mouthfeel, effervescent foam, and a dry, refreshing finish, Summit Hefeweizen offers up a toasted breadcrumb base, Tettnang hop spice, and honest-to-god mouthwatering aromas of banana and clove, provided by a tremendous German yeast strain. Yes, yeast can be tremendous, and it’s no wonder why this beer won’t last long.