Summit Beer Blog

Last minute ideas for Valentine's Day

You might have forgotten Valentine’s Day – and you are probably too late to score a dinner seating at the many fine restaurants of the Twin Cities. However, with a little ingenuity, a trip to your local cheese vendor and some Summit you will have a tasting they’ll tell grandma about. We all know that beer and cheese go together like peas and carrots without being peas and carrots (whew!) Certain beers pair better with some cheeses than others, and like beer, small and local is the way to go. The cheeses mentioned are available here in Minnesota; but the flavor profiles hold true for other cheese makers in your area (you might find a new favorite).

I’ll start with our EXTRA PALE ALE. This balanced ale pairs well with sharp cheddars and soft ripe cheeses. On a recent cheese field trip I spoke with a local cheese purveyor about what he might recommend for citrusy ales with biscuit notes.

Caves of Faribault Fini (MN): This two year old sharp cheddar is finished in sandstone caves for a sharp flavor with earthy notes that pair well with this English style ale.

Alemar Bent River Camembert (MN): This soft ripened cheese is made from Cedar Summit Farms milk – you can taste the fields around New Prague in addition to the ripe and mushroom notes in this cheese.

HORIZON RED ALE – if your sweetie loves American hops then pair this American IPA and Amber hybrid with tangy cheeses.

Point Reyes TOMA! (CA): This semi-hard cheese has a creamy texture and buttery flavor, with a grassy-tangy finish.

Caves of Faribault St. Pete’s Select Blue (MN): This blue cheese is aged in caves to draw out the moisture and create this award winning tangy blue cheese that is described as “complex, complicated yet delightfully intimate™” (sounds kind of like a night you’d like to plan). Shameless plug-they also make a version of the St. Pete's Select that is bathed in Summit beer!

MAIBOCK – pronounced “My-Bock” this spring seasonal is malty and smooth with a touch of spice. It pairs well with both white cheddar and smoked cheeses.

Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze White Cheddar (IA): This well-aged dry cheddar, sweeter than traditional cheddar cheeses, has a butterscotch bite and a pleasant tang at the finish.

Carr Valley Apple Smoked Cheddar (WI): This apple smoked white cheddar is rubbed with paprika – the smoky flavor and the spices from the paprika pair well with this sweeter lager.

Roth Käse Van Gogh Gouda (WI): This cheese balances a rich and buttery taste with caramel notes and a lingering earthy flavor. A WI State Fair Champion!

So head over to your local cheese shop and put together a tasting plate to rival the fanciest digs in town – oh and remember that our Great Northern Porter pairs fantastically with dark chocolate. Happy Valentine’s Day from Summit!

Don’t Panic – We’re here to help!

Ladies and Gentlemen – it has snuck up on us again – that most careful to consider holiday, Valentine’s Day. Does your significant other really mean it when they say Valentine’s Day is “No big deal”? Is it really worth the risk? We at Summit are here to help with suggestions of some of the more romantic or special occasion restaurants in the Twin Cities that offer culinary delights AND Summit on draft-places that might not come to mind when you think of beer! Since we are a Saint Paul brewery we will first be sharing some of the capital city’s finest then moving on to our twin.

In the city of Saint Paul:

Heartland: This farm to table restaurant boasts a different menu everyday - the Valentine's four course menu lets you choose from Forest & Prairie, Rivers & Lakes and Farms & Fields. Give your sweetie a sustainable meal from Chef Lenny Russo and be sure to order them an Extra Pale Ale to pair with their Heritage breed pork tenderloin.

Moscow on the Hill: This Cathedral Hill Russian eatery offers Summit on tap in addition to its lengthy list of vodkas. We recommend the Siberian Pelmeni and the Borsht, perfect comfort food in this dark and sexy restaurant. Russian meals are meant to be lengthy affairs – so sit back and enjoy the caviar. Na Zdorovie!

Muffaletta: This St. Paul restaurant boasts one of the most beautiful patios in the city – but their hearty winter menu will make you want to cuddle up with your honey and enjoy their made-from-scratch food, including a cup of beer cheese soup!

St. Paul Grill (stay at the Saint Paul Hotel too!): If you are looking to impress your date, the St. Paul Grill has been the place to have an amazing meal in Saint Paul. Even better is the convenience of booking a room overlooking beautiful Rice Park – the perfect way to spend Valentine’s night.

Minneapolis:

Bar La Grassa: This popular eatery deserves all the praise it receives – Italian food that is cooked with obvious care and the option of half-orders make this a great places to share (a la Lady and the Tramp!) Pair your fresh pasta with a Summit and you’ll be on your way to Valentine’s bliss!

Loring Kitchen: Start this one with a romantic stroll through Loring Park to work up an appetite as well as just a good excuse to hold hands. Pair a Summit Maibock with the double bone pork chop!

Barbette: If you don’t have the scratch or time to fly over to Paris for romance – you can make Minneapolis your city of lovers with a visit to Barbette for French cuisine. Though, I do have to add that their Brie and Herb omelet is the perfect way to start February 15^th…

Well good luck and make your reservations soon, those romantic tables fill up fast!

Cheers,
Betsy

Get to the Bottom of It Winners

Our "Get to the bottom of it" question contest soldiers on with the creativity of our fans! The winner of the December/January contest is Tracy Gibbons of Cottage Grove, WI. Tracy asked "How many sips does it take to get to the bottom of a Summit brew?".

If you missed it, our October/November winner was Mitchel Finnegan of St. Paul with "Why does beer taste better outside?" (perfect question as the Winter Carnival finishes up this weekend with their outdoor Ice Bar serving our beer!).

A reminder of how the contest works:
You submit a "deep" question via our website.
Every two months we narrow down the submissions to what we think are the best questions.
We put a call out via Twitter (#GTTBOI) and Facebook for the public to vote for their favorite.
The winner gets a $50 gift certificate to our gift shop.
All questions get a shot at being in one of our ads or on a billboard.

See-super easy, free fun. Submit your question today!

Reading and Beer

What’s the ticket to a free Summit? Your library card!

A great use of our weekly blog is to promote some of the partnerships we have with local nonprofits. This week we are focusing on a brand new sponsorship with the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Libraries are more important than ever, providing a free resource for everyone in our community as technology and information is changing at a break neck speed. What better way to get adults reinvested in this precious resource than offer them free beer?

"Book It: The Party" is a new series that offers attendees a chance to experience the library while enjoying great beer, some of the best of the local music scene and music trivia. The series will take place over four Thursday evenings at the James J. Hill Reference Library in downtown St. Paul. Tickets are $15, or $10 for members of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library or the James J. Hill Reference Library. All attendees over 21 who bring a current library card from any library system will receive a free Summit. Library staff will be on hand to register city residents for library cards.

Jeff Kamin, moderator of the bar-hopping Books & Bars book club, will open each event with music trivia at 7:15 p.m. featuring prizes donated by local bars, restaurants, shopping and cultural venues for the top three teams.

Music starts at 8:15 p.m. The series kicks off with local act Black Blondie on January 26. Murzik performs February 2, Chastity Brown performs February 23, and We Became Actors closes the series on March 8.

Tickets are available online at www.TheFriends.org or by calling the Friends at 651-222-3242.

Cheers to reading and drinking-we hope to see you there!

Women and Beer

On Wednesday night our brewing intern Deb and I got the opportunity to speak on a panel about women and beer. The occasion was the screening of The Love of Beer, organized by the Better Beer Society. The panel discussion only just scratched the surface of this issue, we probably could have talked for hours, but it was a good public forum for this very important topic. The film was about women in the beer industry, from brewers to bar owners. The panel was comprised of local women who also work in the industry. The film and panel brought up some interesting questions:

Is the industry and beer scene changing as it relates to women? Where will we see changes first?
It is changing and craft beer is at the forefront of that change. A place you see these changes most clearly is in marketing. When you look at craft beer marketing, the vast majority is gender neutral. Most marketing focuses on the beer itself, often with a sense of fun thrown in. That being said, the people depicted in the ads are still mostly men. The television ads for the big brewers still generally rely on male-based humor (Man Up?), but even there it seems like you are seeing less pure sexuality based marketing. Well, I guess there are still the Miller Liteguards in their Eighties style bathing suits, but that sort of thing is less common these days. That shows already the trend is changing and I believe will continue down that path.

We're also seeing more and more women at festivals and beer events. It used to be that most of the women there were just dragged along by their male mate, but now we're seeing women really step to the front with inquisitive palates and minds. Then when you have a woman serving those beers, you set a great example that women do indeed know about beer and are here to stay in this ever evolving world.

Should breweries market directly to women?
This is a tough question. As a woman, I definitely don’t want a brewery making a special kind of beer just for ladies, complete with pink packaging. I also don’t want ads that play off of some idea of what woman are interested in, like showing a bunch of gals taking in some suds post shopping or manicures. So if you don’t play off of stereotypes of women, how do you structure a campaign that is specifically for women? I just think you don’t. I think you focus on the product you are selling and don’t rely on masculine stereotypes, which are often just as insulting to males as well. When you focus on the product, you can escape so many of the pitfalls of gender based marketing. If you make something good, there is no need to sugarcoat it with sophomoric humor and sex.

How do we get more women to be involved with beer?
So if we don’t design ad campaigns directly for women, how do we reach them? There are definitely ways to think about beer differently that might speak to women. Beer dinners, where you focus on beer and food together, are a great way for women to think about beer in a new light. Focusing on the art of beer-the craft behind it, the people who make it, the details of serving it properly from glassware to temperatures-these are stellar ways to access the wonderful world of beer. I’m a firm believer that there is a beer for everyone, so it is taking the time to get women to experiment, to try new things, and to definitely not cast them off because they haven’t liked beer up to this point. If women truly prefer wine or cocktails to beer, let’s find beers that mirror some of the flavor profiles of those types of drinks. It is often the bitterness that is off putting to a new beer drinker, so we can look to estery wheat beers or smooth malty beers or fruity bright beers. That is what is so great about beer-the vast myriad of styles to suit all tastes. I find that once you start trying things and finding what you like, your palate starts to open up and soon enough you are a bona fide beer lover. One of the best things about beer is also the social aspect, sharing it with friends. Organizations like Barley’s Angels are an even more formalized way to bring women together to discuss and learn about beer. They get together for tastings, tours, and more in a fun female environment. Great way to meet new people too!

As a female and a craft beer lover, I am optimistic about the future of beer and women. All of my female friends love beer, but I know there are scores of women out there that have yet to experience the joy of what a great beer can be. Let us all make it our personal mission to share the pure pleasure of beer!

Cheers,
Carey

Summit gals enjoying a beer on the town (the matching green was just a snazzy accident)

Behind the Scenes II

Last time we took a tour of the bottling line – we figured it wasn’t prudent to ignore the other side of packaging – Racking. Racking, or kegging, is a great way for us to get beer into your glasses. When we opened in 1986, you could only get Extra Pale Ale in a keg at a few local pubs. Today, about 50% of our beer is put into kegs for your enjoyment. I find the keg line fascinating – and though the guys who do the racking (rackers) are a bit camera-shy – I was able to capture the process of putting EPA in a keg! We own our own kegs; our kegs have a Summit Brewing Company sticker around the center. We keg in three different sizes, ½ barrels (15.5 gallons) ¼ barrels (7.75 gallons) and 1/6 barrels (5.16 gallons). All these kegs are made from stainless steel and we have kegs that have been filled for over 13 years.

Our kegging line was purchased in Germany, there are all sorts of fantastic German words printed on it. Two folks operate the line, the unsung heroes of a delicious craft beer pour. A keg is sent down the line about every minute – though a keg takes 10 minutes to complete the full cycle.

The first step is receiving the kegs back from homes, bars and restaurants. You can see keg mountain in the photo above – these will be filled with beer by tomorrow. One of the rackers places a keg – upside-down – on the rack. The reason it is upside-down is that all the cleaning and filling is through the coupler on the top of the keg. The first step is simply an external keg-washer, we don’t know where they have been (sometimes we don’t want to know) and we want to make sure the outside is clean.

The second portion of the kegging line is where all the action happens. This is where the keg is first emptied (yes, sometimes beer is left behind), then it is cleaned by a caustic, then an acid and finally with hot steam. This is going to leave the keg absolutely clean and ready to be filled with delicious beer.

The final step involves the keg being filled from the bottom to the top with beer and set on the conveyer belt to be weighed (to make sure it is filled perfectly). It then gets flipped over and loaded onto a pallet by one of the rackers. They have an arm that takes some of the 160 pounds of keg weight – but for many years these folks used their pure brawn to lift the keg onto those pallets.

They also put a paper collar on the keg that tells us, and you, how long the keg is good for. The kegs of EPA below are fresh until May 28^th 2012 – 150 days. So drink up!

Many people ask about the carbonation and how the beer gets out of the keg. Kegs are filled and held under pressure to keep the dissolved C02 in the beer. When a bar taps a keg – it uses C02 to push the beer out of the keg. Basically, the C02 displaces the beer which has nowhere to go but up the center spike in the keg, up the line, out of the tap and into your glass. The C02 keeps the beer fresh and pressurized for the time it is in the cooler. Now, you might have experience with a “pump-action” tap at a party. This is fine for a party – however – you are displacing the beer with OXYGEN when you use this pump. Oxygen + Beer = cardboard tasting not-so-tasty beer. SO – if you use that pump – make sure you invite enough guests to finish the keg that night!

I hope that gives you an insight into how Summit gets from our tanks to your pint at the bar – yum.

Cheers,
Betsy

Behind the Scenes

It is so darn hard to think about writing for the holidays when, at least here in Saint Paul, we are in for a brownish greenish Christmas. So instead of writing about outdoor fun or the magic of the season, I am going to write about what we all think about around the holidays – the amazing people and engineering behind our bottling line. Seriously, I could watch those beautiful machines whirr in harmony for the better part of a winter‘s day. Probably the best part about it is that the end result is cold, delicious fresh beer waiting to be opened and enjoyed. I recall loving the portion of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood where Mr. Rogers guided us gently through the production of saxophones, pianos - and the greatest of all - crayons. Recently one of our bottlers, Ben Mena, made a video that allows you to see our bottling line in action. Now, it won’t have the soothing voice of Mr. Rodgers explaining what happens step-by-step, but it does feature two tunes from our 25th Anniversary Party performers The Prizefighters.

A little background of course; our bottling line can bottle around 500 bottles of fine Summit beer per minute or about 1,200 cases per hour. It was purchased from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in 2007 - our old line now bottles beer for the New Holland Brewery (Yes, craft beer is one big “hoppy” family). During the video you are going to see everything from the bottles being unloaded, to filling, labeling and finally being boxed and sent off to you for your holiday enjoyment. So relax, find a spot in the house without your family, crack a Winter Ale and enjoy watching the craft of bottling Summit Beer.

Watch video now.

Cheers,
Betsy Faber

Best Holiday Films. Ever.

Today we’re going to speak about a very personal issue. Today we decide the short list for greatest holiday films ever. Now, do we have some sort of expertise in the analysis of the moving picture? Not really. We have opinions, purely based on emotions, memories, the era and places we were raised. That’s the great thing about the discussion of anything related to the holidays-we always have so many emotion attached to this time of year, whether they be good or bad ones! Now that we have established that this is a highly scientific process, Betsy and I are going to pick our personal favorites, including TV specials. You probably should crack a beer for this-turns out our short list is actually rather long.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Carey: Simple, lovely, and a bit melancholic in that Peanuts way-but doesn’t that sum up the holidays? This one is still a classic. The Vince Guaraldi Trio soundtrack is clearly one of the best Christmas albums ever. I don’t want to name names, but someone who is co-writing this blog has NEVER SEEN IT. What?!
Betsy: Yes, yes I am terrible Minnesotan.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) vs. the black and white A Christmas Carol/Scrooge (1951) with Alastair Sim vs. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) vs. Scrooged (1988)
Carey: As a kid, Mickey’s Christmas Carol was one of my favorites. I think it was the setting that the classic Disney animation created-the snow covered London, the candlelit rooms-that appealed so strongly to me. It created a nostalgia for a time we never experienced. The Alastair Sim version didn’t grab me when I was little, but watching it when I was older I realized how awesome his performance was-pretty much a perfect Scrooge. It has been quite awhile since I’ve seen Scrooged, but I remember loving it when it came out and watching it A LOT. Come on, it has Bill Murray!
Betsy: I must disagree with Carey on this one… 100% the Muppet Christmas Carol – though I do have a very soft spot for Sir Michael Caine (I about died laughing while watching Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon compete with dueling Michael Caine imitations in The Trip (2010)) I am just thinking about that movie and I already have the “Here Comes Mr. Humbug” song stuck in my head. Some other versions make you think harder about the plight of the underclass and the perils of selfish capitalism – but this one answers the age old question of what happens when Kermit and Piggy actually get together (they don’t produce freakish Frog Pigs after all). But Scrooged has Bobcat Goldthwaite…so there is that to consider.

Garfield Christmas (1987)
Betsy: This one is a classic on the old “taped off the TV in 1987” tape that gets watched every Christmas at our house. I think it has a really good heart and Garfield’s constant cynicism makes the sappy story palatable. I actually makes me tear up every year when the grandmother character talks about the love of her late husband and how she misses him most at Christmas – yes, Garfield makes me cry.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Carey: Full disclosure, I have never seen the live action version with Jim Carrey, but I just find it horrible. I can’t bear the thought of watching it. The cartoon is so great, no need to make another version in my mind, especially such a garish interpretation. Come on, the cartoon has Boris Karloff!
Betsy: The animated one also has the great version of “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” that features my favorite insult of all time: “Your soul is an appalling dump-heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable.” Very useful in your tense holiday political discussions.

Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Carey:  “I’m cute, I’m cuuuuute!” That pretty much sums it up. Adorable little stop-action puppets, Burl Ives, the Abominable Snowman and Yukon Cornelius. It actually is a bit of a trippy story. And a little sad. But it all works out in the end, as any good holiday tale should.
Betsy: Toy Story also pulls on your heartstrings regarding unwanted toys – but I always felt so bad for the Island of Misfit toys in this movie. They do get rescued in the end – but for how long have they lived alone in toy purgatory? I laughed so hard when Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me finally put to rest what was “misfit” about the rag doll;   Severe physiological abandonment issues.

A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987) with guest stars the California Raisins.
Betsy: The pièce de résistance of the aforementioned 1987 tape is clearly the commercials, but the Claymation Christmas Celebration is my hands-down must-see each Christmas. It is absurd, from an outsiders perspective; it is hosted by dinosaurs but has a clear Christian message.   Walruses on ice skates, raisins being transformed into a reindeer team (with a sleigh made from a dumpster) & bells that toll by hitting themselves in the head with a hammer really get me into the holiday spirit.
Carey: I only saw this special once, in 1987, but I remember loving it. For years after I lamented the fact that they never seemed to re-air it. Needless to say, I’m very excited to watch Betsy’s video this season.

Elf (2003)
Carey: I don’t’ think this movie is one of the best ever, however, this one gets a shout out because it is the rare movie made past the Eighties that actually has a timeless feel and celebrates the holidays in a charming, not overly cheesy way and still manages to entertain both kids and adults. It is also when we all discovered that Zooey Deschanel sings. Oh fer cute.
Betsy: I actually am not a fan of this one. Ferrell’s Elf is sweet and the epitome of child-like holiday cheer – this causes him trouble in our cynical world – repeat for 90 minutes.   I know some of you are lighting your torches and grabbing your pitchforks but the whole movie makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable in a way that also makes me hate Meet the Parents.
Carey: For the record, I’m also not a fan of the Meet the Parents movies.

Sound of Music (1965)
Carey: Not really a Christmas movie, however, my family watched this every December growing up when they ran it on TV. There was a long desert from viewing this film and I finally watched it again a few years back. Turns out it is still a really great movie. Julie Andrews is perfect, Christopher Plummer is dashing, and the music is timeless. We kids used to sing “Do-Re-Mi” at the top of our lungs. I still have our family’s original 1960s vinyl album. I’m totally going to listen to it tonight and infect the house with its earworm tunes.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Carey: Only Tim Burton could blend Halloween and Christmas into one great, creepy, beautiful story. I always forget that Henry Selick was actually the director, who also did the wonderful Coraline a few years back. If you’ve never watched a behind-the-scenes of how they do the stop-motion animation, drop everything and watch one now. The attention to detail, the painstaking process-it is just nuts. But awesome.
Betsy: What I love about this one is the ability to watch it for three solid months without judgment!

A Christmas Story (1983)
Carey: I saved the best for last. I never watched this film as a kid for some reason-the first time I viewed it I was 22 years old and instantly fell in love with it. Nowadays it gets a bit overkill with the marathon showings that are the trademark of cable TV, but this movie is still simply the best. It has everything-nostalgia without being saccharine, a heartwarming family story, great acting (by even the kids!), and just crazy funniness. The first time I saw the scene with “Momma’s little piggy”, I laughed so hard I cried. Just the best. This movie also received multiple nods from other Summit staff.
Betsy: I also saw this one in my 20’s – I never had cable so it just never came up.   Now I cannot read the word fragile without mispronouncing it my head and when our dog busts through the back door we always curse the SOB Bumpasses!

Judging by this list, it seems the Sixties were quite the hey-day for holiday films, but the Eighties got a lot of things right too. Also of note-we asked our founder Mark Stutrud his favorite holiday film and he said Blue Velvet (1986). When pressed, he confessed that he got in the tradition of watching the film in the early days of the brewery when work was an intense 24/7, straight thru the holidays ordeal. Watching Blue Velvet was a good way to “rattle his cage” and remind him that life wasn’t all that bad. While severed ears aren’t what most people think of when reminiscing about the holidays, I think Mark’s sentiment is about right. He also put his votes in for the 1951 A Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story.

Time to share your favorites-we know there are many, many we didn’t mention. Some other honorable mentions from an informal polling of Summit staffers: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Prancer (1989), Home Alone (1990), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977), and Die Hard (1988). Your turn!

Happy Holidays!
Carey and Betsy

Beer Cookies

Beer in my cookies? Yes please!

I love cooking with beer. I make chili with beer, ribs with beer and have even made a mean loaf of spent grain bread in my time. I have never, however, ventured into the sweet side of beer cooking. After looking on the internet for a beer cookie recipe, I came to realize the landscape was pretty bleak. There was one from the Food Network but it wasn’t the kind of cookie I wanted to make. My desire was to bake a spicy, nutty cookie with Winter Ale-so I decided to modify that recipe to my own specifications...and it turned out pretty good. The original recipe called for 24 ounces of beer – which I had to modify due to my husband thieving one of the two bottles I brought home. Reminds me to get some his and hers labels for the beer in the fridge. Though I do think he did me a favor in shortening the time it would have taken me to reduce the beer.

WINTER ALE SPICED COOKIE

12oz bottle of Summit Winter Ale

2 tablespoons of honey

1 ½ sticks of butter

1 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 ½ cups all –purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon all-spice

Zest of one orange

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 cup sugar for dipping.

FIRST STEP: Combine 12oz bottle of Summit Winter Ale with the Honey in a small saucepan. Boil this over medium heat and reduce by approximately half. You will need to remove foam throughout this process. This process takes around 20 minutes but doesn’t require constant attention. You will have around a half a cup of sweet liquid at the end of the boil. Note: You will boil off the alcohol during this process – so you won’t get an “added bonus” from these cookies.

If you are from Minnesota – you are in luck – you likely have an easy way to cool this down to room temperature. Just be sure to bring the dog inside – I nearly forfeited mine to my inquisitive pup (were all the boys in this household out to sabotage these cookies?). You will combine this wonderful reduced beer to your recipe later.

STEP 2: Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add egg, vanilla and beer mixture. Mix together baking soda and flour and combine with the liquid ingredients. Finally, add the spices and nuts. I might add dried cranberries or golden raisins to it when I make this recipe again.

BAKING: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll one-inch balls of dough and dip in cinnamon sugar mixture. Flatten lightly with the palm of your hand. I was able to fit about 12 cookies on each pan. If the mixture is sticking to your hands – wet your digits lightly and continue.

Bake for 15 -20 minutes – until lightly golden.

Makes around 3 dozen cookies.

THE RESULT: Fluffy and cake-like cookies with a really nice spice flavor that went EXCELLENTLY with freshly poured Winter Ale. I brought them into work – they survived for around 5 minutes - not that I was timing it. I imagine this recipe would also be excellent with the Great Northern Porter.

I tend to cook with malty beers. Hops don’t seem to come through in cooking as well as the roast flavors in malt beers. Which gets me to thinking about modifying this recipe for year-round use. Oktoberfest with pumpkin pie spices – maybe cold-pressed espresso and chocolate chips with the Porter – oh and Maibock with lemon curd frosting…but I digress. Happy Baking!

Movember Wrap-up

Wives, girlfriends and Barbasol® stockholders rejoice – December is here and with it the end of Movember.
Folks here at the brewery were growing mustaches to bring attention to men’s health issues and the month culminated with a fine evening of nachos, mustaches, Rock Band® and Burt Reynolds films.  Below are a few choice photos, but like the noble sasquatch, capturing a clear photo of wily mustaches on film is more difficult
than one imagines. Here is hoping Summit drinkers are inspired to grow their own crumb catcher next year
and maybe even throw a mustache party of your own! Skål!