8 Fun Facts about Summit Sága IPA

It appears 2020 is the celebration of the India Pale Ale (IPA). Though, to be fair, in the craft beer world, when isn’t it a celebration of the IPA?

At Summit Brewing Co. specifically, we’ve had quite the year toasting to the beloved hoppy brew.

We started off 2020 with our Mixed Pack IPA Edition, introducing our new spring seasonal – Twenty-One IPA, and a limited edition – Elderflower IPA. Next, in May, we announced the release of our Triumphant IPA in the 2020 Summit Block Party Box. Quickly after that, we shared it will be a new year-round beer, making it our third year-round IPA. Finally, just last week we shared the beloved Slugfest Juicy IPA turned one-year old.

But we’re not done praising this bitter beer just yet! We have one more occasion to commemorate. Sága IPA is turning eight.

So, in celebration of yet another IPA birthday we wanted to share some lesser known facts about this popular ale!

Did You Know…

1. It took 8 – 9 months to develop the beer and 6 months to name it.
2. Sága IPA got its name from the journey it took to discover it. According to CEO and Founder Mark Stutrud Summit employees were having a hell of a time trying to find a name for this new brew. One day, after much research, Stutrud said “Well, this has turned out to be one saga!” After ensuring no other beer had this name, it was discovered that it had Nordic roots, giving it a connection to Minnesota. Also, based on Nordic tradition, Sága is the drinking partner of Odin and Odin was Stutrud’s father’s name. All these factors pointed to using Sága as the name.
3. Summit brewed its first IPA – Summit IPA – in 1993. After the introduction of more hopped up IPAs in 1997 – 1998, Summit received several requests from consumers and distributors for a hoppier IPA.
4. The beer is a nod to the 25^th Anniversary beer, Silver Anniversary.
5. It utilizes two of the three hops from Silver Anniversary, while adding in Rakau, Amarillo and Bravo. It also has similar notes of mango and grapefruit, but adds in kiwi, passionfruit and apricot.
6. It was released on May 14, 2012 alongside Summit Summer Ale, our previous Summer Seasonal.
7. One of the main hops used is New Zealand Rakau, which at the time was a highly sought-after hop for brewers.
8. According to head brewer Damian McConn, when the team first dry hopped a fermenter of Sága, they added the hops while a fair amount of CO2 was still in the solution. They forgot to close off the hop addition valve on the top of the fermenter tank. What resulted was an eruption resembling Old Faithful!

If you ask Stutrud why drinking a Summit Sága IPA is great he’ll tell you, “I like it because it has layers of complexity in the hop aroma and characteristics. It’s not a linear experience. Also, I like to drink more than a couple beers in a session. The more moderate ABV means I can have a few more beers!”

I think we can all agree it’s always great to enjoy a few more beers!

Summit Sága IPA is available in 12-packs and 6-packs of cans and bottles, 4-packs of 16oz cans, as well as on draught in select locations. Find it near you!