Summit Beer Blog

Saga pub crawl hits Minneapolis

We had a grand time in St. Paul last week, now it's time to share our love for the new Sága IPA with Minneapolis. Somehow the bold bitterness of this beer works so well with Minnesota Nice!

Join us for a special Sága IPA Pub Crawl on Thursday May 24. The Summit brewers and team will be hitting the town to celebrate the release of Sága IPA and we want you to join us!

We'll be stopping by the following bars around the time listed: this is a Pub Crawl so all times are what you would call "estimates".   Be sure to follow us on www.twitter.com/summitbeer to find out where we are and when prizes will be given away! And don't fret, Sága (aka Betsy, our Visitor Services Coordinator) will be with us again, resplendent in Norse mythological garb, throwing back beers.

4:30pm    Republic
5:30pm    The 508/Gluek's
6:30pm    8th Street Grill/Hell's Kitchen/The Local
8:00pm    Butcher and the Boar (who recently just received 4 stars in the Star Trib-congrats!)
10:00pm    Burger Jones (Uptown)

Sága IPA Pub Crawl and All Day Beer Specials

Join us for a special Sága IPA Pub Crawl this afternoon, May 17! The Summit team will be hitting Saint Paul to celebrate the release of Sága IPA and we want you to join us! We are excited about this new brew and want to celebrate with some of the bars and restaurants who pour our beer and with our Summit fans.

Beer specials abound! So do free pints glasses! Starting at bar open, the first 48 Sága IPAs sold at each bar get to keep the pint glass! (One per customer.)

We'll be stopping by the following bars around the time listed: this is a Pub Crawl so all times are estimates of course. Be sure to follow us on Twitter to find out where we are and when prizes will be given away! www.twitter.com/summitbeer

If you are lucky you might even snag a picture with the namesake Goddess Sága!

Noon    Fabulous Fern's    $3 Pints All Day
1pm     Groveland Tap       $3 Pints All Day
2pm     Eagle Street           $3 Pints All Day
3pm     Amsterdam            $3 Pints All Day
4pm     Billy's on Grand      $3 Pints All Day
5pm     Sweeney's             $3 Saga Pints All Day

We hope to see you there, beer in hand, toasting to the divine hop aromas.

One more thing-mark your calendars for the evening of May 24, we'll be hitting up Minneapolis that day!
More details soon. Skål!

Brewer Mike and Visitor Services
Coordinator Betsy dressed up as
Odin and Sága. Adorable.

Summit helps to assemble meals to feed 363 kids for a year!

A few weekends ago we closed the brewery for tours - we do this once a year to transform the Ratskeller into a mobile food packing center for Feed My Starving Children. This organization puts together highly nutritious and nutrient packed meals for children in hunger-stricken areas. The meals aren’t fancy, but they provide the necessary calories and nutrients that these children lack on a daily basis. You can volunteer at several permanent sites around the Twin Cities or at a mobile packing weekend like the one held at Summit.

In total we had 482 volunteers who packed 612 boxes of meals which totaled 132,192 meals. This means that 362 kids will be fed for a year just from the meals packed at the brewery that weekend. This was the third annual Feed My Starving Children packing event held at the Summit Ratskeller and our founder Mark Stutrud was on hand all weekend handling the logistics and packing meals himself. He was very impressed by the turnout and how many folks will give up a few hours of their weekend to pack meals.

One of our brewers estimated that he scooped about 3,000 pounds of rice – a nice change from the scoops of hops he pours into the brew kettles on a daily basis. It is fun to enjoy beers and a few laughs at the brewery but it is so rewarding to see the space being used to make meals that will feed so many children over the next year. Another food donation program we do is taking "payment" for our public tours by way of packaged food donations to Second Harvest Heartland. We average about 300-400 lbs of food a month, which provides 200-300 meals!

We have a few other fun service projects planned for the summer. In a few weeks you can honk at us as we clean up our adopted section of 35E, always exciting to see what people have thrown out their windows since last fall (yikes).

Until then, Skål!

Emily from our Sales Dept and her husband Adam
sported the requisite hair nets as they volunteered.

Patio Season

My thoughts on some of the best patios in the cities to take in the spring sunshine and usher in the summer with our new Summer Ale.

While walking the dog a few months ago down our street on the West side of Saint Paul, picking our way through the slush and ice, I commented to my husband how I loved winter but couldn’t wait for “Patio Season.” What I love about Patio Season is the utter lack of dates or rules. Patio season is whenever you can sit outside comfortably while sipping on a beer – this year’s record breaking March meant that we were enjoying the patio before St. Patrick’s Day! Luxurious. While I write this I am sitting on our beautiful patio here at the brewery – sipping on Summer Ale. The Kölsch style ale was designed for patio drinking, the truest of session beers, fresh, lightly hoppy with a subtle fruitiness that is never fatiguing. Try one!

My Favorite Patios (in stream of consciousness order):

Do you have a favorite? Post in the comments!

Tin Fish: Lake Calhoun. The perfect place to watch all sorts of athletes, dogs and families enjoy the lake – while you enjoy a Mini Tin (my Favorite) and an EPA. I also had the shrimp nachos recently – finally someone who understands a proper chip to cheese ratio!

SeaSalt: Minnehaha Falls: Our Summer Ale packaging features this Minneapolis landmark – the Summer Ale and seafood are a match made in heaven. Briney Heaven.

Sweeny’s: Saint Paul: Is there anything finer than this patio? YES! The Happy Hour prices on Summit Every Dang Day! This is also my go-to for the Unchained Series.

Moscow on the Hill: Saint Paul: This is more of a courtyard –which makes it an ideal place on a blustery day. The selection of small plates is amazing. Caviar? Yes Please!

Salut: Saint Paul: Great location on Grand Avenue. Happy Hour Summit. Steak Tartar. Great Soundtrack.

Patrick McGovern's: Saint Paul: Have you seen the new retractable patio roof?!

Grumpy’s NE: North East Minneapolis: Have you ever sampled a whole pig stuffed with sour kraut? You should head to their patio on May 18^th for a Firkin of Summer Ale ( Hopped with Summit grown hops).

Muffaletta: Saint Anthony Park: This is the patio you want to be on if you want to sit back, sip your beer and contemplate how nice it is to be in Minnesota.

Jax Café: Minneapolis: April – October you can catch yourself a Rainbow Trout out of the stream that winds through the patio. That is all I need to write – it is idyllic and makes me want to catch my own at the DNR pool at the Fair this year…

Kieran’s: Minneapolis: A good place to see folks and be seen. Watch the shoppers and the best-dressed of the Twin Cities while you while away the evening.

Rooftops: Not technically Patios – but the appropriate Sun to Beer ratio applies. * Beer note* When imbibing in the sunshine – try to shield your beer from the rays – beer skunks very quickly in direct sun. Enjoy your beer under an umbrella – your beer and skin will thank you.

Uptown Cafeteria: Uptown Minneapolis: The hit spot for the hipster scene – the perfect place to get a great photo of the sunset on your Instagram. The retro menu and beer selection can’t be beat.

Crave: Minneapolis: Where the young and beautiful come to enjoy a libation – listen to the music and enjoy being young and beautiful in the city. Oatmeal Stout on draft – yes please.

Brit’s Pub: Minneapolis: The original rooftop.

The Liffy: Saint Paul: A fabulous view of downtown Saint Paul – this is a great place to enjoy the slower pace of Saint Paul at one of our great Irish establishments. The first time I was on the patio – I thought I would never leave.

The great thing about Minnesota is that there are an infinite number of awesome patios, way beyond this list. Let us know your favorites!

Cheers,
Betsy

A Major Award (or two)

One of the most common questions I hear on tours is, “Can employees drink on the job?” We can, and do, enjoy a glass or two of our finest liquid on a break or at the end of the day. But beyond the beer breaks, Summit is a great place to work. I’m not just blowing smoke either, we were recently named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the Minnesota Business News! The 100 Best Companies to Work For competition salutes Minnesota organizations that are setting the standard for leadership, benefits, best work environment, innovative training programs and employee happiness. In February, the independent research group Gilmore Research gathered information from employee satisfaction surveys filled out by thousands of employees from hundreds of companies. We're pretty excited that Summit rose to the top!

Mark Stutrud even commented on how important keeping his employees happy and healthy was on a recent appearance on the national Fox News.

We have 56 people who craft, sell and support our beer - many of whom are women.   Speaking of women, we have another award to brag about today. Our CFO, Kelly Larson, was named one of 25 “Women to Watch” from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Kudos to Kelly and the great leadership she brings to the brewery.

And as usual, we couldn’t be a great place to work if it weren’t for all of your support these past 25 years. Cheers!


         Some of our proud employees at our 25th Anniversary Party.

Community Giving

Summit has been brewing beer for almost 26 years and we have always enjoyed being part of the local community. Because, as our founder Mark says, we didn’t make ourselves a success – our customers did. We like to make sure we give back to the community that has allowed us to live our dream of making beer for 25 years. We have a beautiful brewery in Saint Paul, which if you haven’t stopped by, please reserve a spot on a tour and make the trip down. In this brewery we built a lovely space called a Ratskeller; a great room that keeps in the tradition of a meeting space with a bar for the community. The basement of the state capitol once had a Ratskeller that had German phrases and hops painted on the walls and ceiling (painted over in Prohibition).

When we built the brewery we wanted to build a true Ratskeller that would be available for the community to use for meetings and fundraisers. We donate the space, bartenders, and samples of beer to groups that use the space for the greater benefit of the local community. This keeps our Wednesday and Thursday nights pretty busy, but we are so happy to give this back to the folks that once gave us a leg up by asking for Summit beer.

Here are a just a few examples of fundraisers we have donated in 2012:

Minnesota Environmental Partnership Green Expo Launch
Gardening Matters Fundraiser
West 7^th Fort Road Federation Meeting
Rotaract Alzheimer’s Fundraiser
Family Tree Clinics Fundraiser and Film Screening
Graduate Women in Science Meeting
People Incorporated Fundraiser

One of my favorite donated events here at the brewery was for a local family who were dealing with the costs of a debilitating illness and care of a family member after a bone marrow transplant. Friends of this family reached out to the brewery to hold a fundraiser here at Summit to raise money to help this family through this tough time.

I’ll let Allison Breininger explain what this event in the Summit Ratskeller meant to her and her husband Sean:

“People came from 5 hours away to be with us, folks from Sean’s old and current jobs, my current and past jobs, friends from college & childhood, neighbors, friends, people from our church, our daughter’s teachers and principals, and even our financial planner. There was a live auction with the final item being “lunch with Sean”, this was sold for $500. A ridiculously generous and humbling amount of money was raised that night. An amount that makes it hard for me to breathe when I think about it because I can’t even being to understand what happened that evening and how. We are entirely overwhelmed by the love and support that was shown. We are filled with gratitude through and through. Just tonight my brother-in-law brought over a 12 pack of Summit and said, "I only buy Summit now because they were so generous at the benefit!". Our friend Mackenzie, said it well when she said, “We all want miracles and want it to look like they did in the Bible, but I really think what happened that night was a miracle.”

The Benefit for the Breiningers raised over $25,000.

Our Ratskeller

Great Northern Porter Bread Pudding

Another entry in my cooking with beer series – this one is a riff on a recipe from Chuck’s Day Off on the Cooking Channel. I served it at the Chili Cook-Off and it was wolfed down by those already sated by chili. I will make this again and again; it was so easy and so delicious.

Ingredients

1 12oz bottle of Summit Great Northern Porter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 baguette cut into roughly one-inch cubes.

Whipping Cream

1 cup whipping Cream
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine Great Northern Porter, whipping cream and ½ cup sugar to a simmer in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then remove from heat. Add one cup of the chocolate chips and use a whisk to melt them down and then cool this mixture.

Wisk the four eggs and the vanilla in a bowl – pour in the cooled beer and chocolate mixture. Toss in the bread cubes, remaining chocolate chips and toss to coat the bread. Transfer this to a greased 13 X 9 or other large oven safe dish (I used my Guardian Ware). Sprinkle the top with the two tablespoons of sugar and bake.

I baked mine for about 45 minutes – a knife came out clean. Let this cool while you make the whipped cream.

Pour cup of whipping cream into your bowl or mixer (if you put the bowl in the freezer for 20 minutes prior it will yield a better cream). Beat until stiff peaks form and then add the powdered sugar while blending until combined.

Serve the warm bread pudding with a healthy dollop of the fresh whipped cream – pour a glass of Porter – and enjoy.

Chili Cook-Off!

The results are in from the annual Summit chili cook off! As spring has just sprung, we can still expect a few more weeks with a chill in the air-perfect for a Sunday afternoon chili day. This year we had 7 entries from our esteemed food loving staff. A panel of employee judges did their best to rate the chilis-a task that gets harder and harder every year. The only prerequisite for this year's cook off was contestests had to use Summit beer in the recipe. Below are the winning recipes by our employee cooks. Try them out and let us know how it turns out!

BETSY'S SUMMIT CHILI "BOWL" WINNING CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN CHILI
Note from Betsy: This is all approximate; I add things as I go along. I was so surprised when I won!

Ingredients:
4-5 bone-in chicken thighs
4 cans tomatoes with chilies
1 can red kidney beans
2 cans black beans
1 can Mexican style corn
1 small can Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce (I use the one with the lady on it)
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 cup chicken broth
2 medium white onions
2 fresh jalapenos
1 green pepper
2 slices of bacon
1 12oz. bottle of Summit Great Northern Porter
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
½ teaspoon of oregano

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken thighs in roasting pan and cover with Great Northern Porter. Finely chop one chipotle chili from the can and add to chicken and Porter. Roast chicken thighs until cooked, about 40 minutes. Remove chicken thighs to cool. Shred the chicken finely with a fork and set aside. I cooked a few extra thighs, shredded them and tossed in BBQ sauce for dinner that night, they were AMAZING.

Chop the onions, green pepper and jalapeños. Cook bacon in pan, chop bacon and add to chicken. Cook the chopped veggies in the remaining bacon fat.

In a crock pot combine the beans (black and kidney), tomato soup, corn, tomatoes and chicken stock. Add cooked veggies, shredded chicken and bacon to the chili. Finally add the adobo sauce and one chopped chipotle pepper to the chili (you will have excess chipotle peppers in the can).

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. 30 minutes prior to serving add chili powder, cumin and oregano.

EMILY'S 2ND PLACE "BEST PLACE FOR MY LAST WINTER ALES" CHILI
Note from Emily: This process was so hard for me because I don’t ever measure anything and I rarely follow a recipe!

Ingredients:
2.5 lb. beef bottom round rump roast
4 cloves garlic
2 - 12 oz. Summit Winter Ales
3 tablespoons butter
1 can Mexicorn
4 cups of vegetable stock
6 cups of water
3 oz. whole dried Ancho chilies
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 large onion
1 red bell pepper
½ green bell pepper
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes (petite diced in Adobo Sauce)
1 can black beans
Juice of 1 lime
½ cup sour cream

Marinade:
¼ cup cumin
¼ cup chili powder
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons dry mustard
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 beef bouillon cube
2 cups water
salt & pepper

In a Ziplock bag, combine ingredients for marinade and add Rump Roast. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 325° F. Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in large Dutch Oven over medium high heat. Add roast and brown on all sides. Transfer to a plate. Add 4 cloves garlic (peeled & smashed) and stir until softened but not browned. Carefully pour in 2 Winter Ales and bring to boil. Cook until reduced to about 1 cup. Add roast and juices back to pot along with 4 cups vegetable stock and remaining marinade. Reduce heat & bring to simmer, cover pot and transfer to oven to braise (about 3-4 hours).

Bring 6 cups water to boil with 2 beef bouillon cubes. Add whole dried ancho chilies and reduce to simmer until skins are visibly peeling. Remove from water and let cool. Reserve liquid. Peel ancho chilies and remove stems and seeds once cool. Set aside. Chop onion and bell peppers and saute with 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft. Add a splash of red wine vinegar and Mexicorn. Heat through and add mixture to crock pot with 2 cans of tomatoes.

Remove meat from Dutch Oven. Add liquid from ancho chiles (strained) to braising liquid and the reserved chilies. Blend with immersion blender. Cut meat into large cubes and add to crock pot along with braising sauce from Dutch Oven. Add 1 can black beans and the juice from 1 lime. Cook in crock pot for several hours on low. Before serving, stir in ½ cup sour cream.

Close up view of the coveted "Chili Bowl"

JOE'S 3RD PLACE "MY GRANDFATHER'S RECIPE" CHILI

Ingredients:
½ pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
Couple o’ pours of Crystal Pepper Sauce
1 bottle Summit Great Northern Porter
1 ½ red bell pepper
1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
28 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
6 oz. can of tomato paste
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 chopped dried chipotle pepper

Brown beef and pork in pot. Add a couple shakes of the Crystal Pepper Sauce and the Summit Great Northern Porter. Bring this all to a simmer and add all of the spices, the chopped pepper, onion and garlic cloves. Finally, add the tomatoes and tomato paste and allow to simmer for several hours.

BREWER HARPER'S HONORABLE MENTION "CHILI TO FEED YOU FOR A WEEK"
Note from Eric: This recipe makes WAY too much chili

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons bacon grease
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 jalapenos, minced
3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
2 yellow onions, diced
1 head garlic, minced
1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 teaspoons granulated onion
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons hot paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
12 ounces Summit Winter Ale
1 cup chicken stock
2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, with juice
2 (15.5-ounce) cans kidney beans, with juice

In large stock pot over high heat, add butter and bacon grease. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, chilies and onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté a minute longer. Add chuck and brown. Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much. Cook until meat is nicely browned and cooked through, about 7 to10 minutes. Add in granulated onions, granulated garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in beer and chicken stock. Add beans, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.

The winners (from left to right): Harper, Emily, Betsy, and Joe

St. Patrick's Day Fun

You probably haven’t noticed, but it appears that St. Patrick’s Day is upon us again. We would be remiss to not share with you a few thoughts as we head into what some consider the ultimate beer holiday.

Item One: Saint Paul is having a parade at noon on Saturday. The weather is going to be pretty incredible. Let’s go out and celebrate! A few things to look for in the parade: Our Norwegian-American founder Mark Stutrud as Honorary Irish Person AND the All-Star Summit Kazoo Band. We are number #12 and #13 in the line-up, so look for us towards the front of the line. And before you ask, no, we are not handing out beer samples from the parade route. If only we could!

Item Two: No reason to drink green beer tomorrow. Seriously. We would love for you to drink our beer, Finnegan’s, or any other great Minnesota beer. Be truly green and keep it local for St. Pat’s this year!

Item Three: BE SAFE. Be responsible. Don’t drive. Have fun, but not TOO much fun. And remember to drink water. A lot.

Item Three and a Half: Metro Transit is free tomorrow starting at 6pm. So take the bus or light rail. For inspiration, listen to local musician Jeremy Messersmith’s ode to public transportation (even better, buy it!).

That’s it-short and sweet. Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!

Brian Boru Irish Pipe Band serenading the Summit staff and the kind folks at Rahr Malting. Sláinte!

The REAL Hunger Games*: A Reflection on My 25 Days on the Summit Beer Fast

(*Not affiliated in any way with the hit Tween book series)

Now that the countdown to Easter has begun, there has been renewed interest in the story of J. Wilson, the Iowa beer enthusiast that completed a 46 day long beer fast during Lent in 2011. Wilson subsisted on bock beer, which is a complex, malt-rich lager that generally skews a bit higher on the alcohol scale. This style of beer originates from fourteenth century Bavarian monks, who brewed the nutrient-laden beer, a veritable "liquid-bread," to serve as their sole sustenance during the Lenten fast. There have been quite a few "Bockfests" that have sprung up during early March in reverence of this milestone in beer. Summit's very own spring seasonal Maibock is brewed in recognition as well.

Wilson embarked on his journey based on a wish to connect with history, and to experience firsthand some of the ancient Monk tradition. As for me, I started down my own path based solely on a whim. I was familiar with the history of bock beers and their role in Lenten fasts, but I was now emboldened by the fact that this mythical "beer fast" had just been replicated - I now knew that it could be done. Taking it a step further, I started convincing myself that I was an ideal candidate for a similar feat. I had some of the important parts down for sure: 1. I've long been interested in fasting and have engaged in a handful of 1-3 day fasts in the past. 2. As an employee of Summit, I certainly had easy access to the required beverage. 3. I'm pretty sure that I had unwittingly lived on beer alone for at least a week or so during my "Haight-Ashbury days." 4. Last but perhaps most importantly, I had just turned 30 at the time, and I was looking to "test" myself in some way. After thinking it all over, I decided that if this J. Wilson fellow could do it, "Why not me?"

This particular brainstorming session occurred during the last weekend of July 2011, so, rather impulsively, I decided that Monday, August 1st was a perfect starting point. When it came to ingesting nothing but beer, I might as well roll up my sleeves and get to 'er. Now that I had a half-cocked idea and a starting point, I needed an idea of how long I would take this beer fast. As I looked down at the Silver Anniversary Ale in my hand, 25 days suddenly seemed like a real no-brainer. It would be my little tribute in salute to Summit's 25th Anniversary. Twenty-five days also made for an easier sell on my wife, because I could always fall back on the fact that Wilson had endured his own fast for nearly twice as long with no real detriment to his health (I can't overstate how important this part was). Lastly, if this was going to be a real celebration of Summit, I decided that I would stick to only Summit beers, and water of course - I didn't want to die. All the pieces were falling into place.

I quietly began the fast that Monday. I decided to keep it somewhat quiet initially, sparing myself any embarrassment if I ended up failing miserably early on. I thought it would be best if I stayed true to the proven formula of bock beer, but now that it was August, Maibock season had long since run its course. Summit's Oktoberfest, the delicious, malty cousin to Maibock, was going to be my go-to brew. Grabbing that first Oktoberfest of the morning felt a bit strange, like I was still living in the dorms, but I quickly got over it and quite enjoyed my "breakfast." Making it through the rest of that first day was a struggle, I'll be honest. Resisting the urge to eat when hungry goes against all human instincts. I persevered by having a 'Fest every three hours, give or take. To further drown out the growing hunger pangs, I usually sandwiched my beer with a few glasses of water. This onslaught of liquid seemed to provide a sense of fullness, if only for a brief time. The last few hours of the day were a real grind, but I gritted my teeth and enjoyed an extra "midnight snack" beer before hitting the hay with a huge sense of accomplishment. Looking back on it now, surviving that first day was the key moment of the entire experience. Abstaining from food for a day really reinforced my sense of willpower. It also provided me with some personal insight. I realized that hunger was a passing sensation. If I didn't eat, life would go on. My body was going to adapt to work with whatever fuel I gave it, even if it was only Summits and water.

The second day wasn't easy by any stretch, but beer has a knack for putting a good face on most situations. This led to another profound realization: fasting without beer would have been exponentially more difficult and less fun. Anyway, by the end of that first week, I felt like I had really found my niche. Plus, I had gained a notch on my belt. One clear advantage I had over Wilson was the fact that I wasn't limiting myself to one style of beer. Oktoberfest had served me well, but craving some variation, I felt I should extend the menu to include the full palette of Summit's offerings. I tended to start each day with an Oatmeal Stout, but it was totally random after that. Just like most folk bring a dose of variety to their meals, I mixed things up by consistently switching Summit brews. Things were going smooth, and I felt like I had established a rhythm. As the third week was pressing on, my quest had become common knowledge around the brewery. Knowing I was closing in on the end (and at my wife's behest), I wanted to make sure I was taking in enough nutrients. The Summit brewers recommended beers with higher yeast contents. Thankfully, the season's last Hefe Weizen keg was still on tap, along with Sam Doniach's Honeymoon Saison, giving me two solid yeast-rich options to ride out the home stretch feeling energized. August 25, the end of the line, was an all-EPA day, capping my run with a tip of the hat to the beer that started it all.

Over the course of the 25 days, I averaged five beers a day, and I lost 22 pounds, which pretty much returned over time - bummer. On the plus side, since the beer fast, I now drink more water than ever, and have become more conscious of what I choose to fuel my body. And, obviously, my admiration and appreciation of Summit Beer has been taken to another level. To another 25 years!

-Tim "Numbers" McQ - Guest Blogger/Inventory Guru/Shipping Magnate

Comments/Questions/Angry Condemnations? Drop me a line. I can field any in-depth queries at tmchugh@summitbrewing.com

Note: I feel fortunate that, for me, hunger can be easily remedied and eating is a choice. I know that there are scores of people worldwide that don't have this luxury. In fact, part of the "mission statement" of my fast was to stop taking food for granted.

Also note that the brewery does not condone/sponsor/advocate/suggest/encourage beer fasts. As always, please be responsible when consuming alcohol!