Summit Winter Ale

Dark ruby red pour. Light aroma, might be too cold right now. I’ll revisit that in a tad. Taste has dark fruits upfront that finish with a dry, chalky feeling. Some light chocolate makes itself known but provides little change in the overall flavor. Taste gets increasingly dry as it goes on. Fruit has dark plum, easy citrus and bitter grapes. After quite an amount of time has passed, the aroma expands to a smelly grape must. Well didn’t get much better.

Draft at Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. Definitely of the winter warmer style. Pours brown with smallish off-white head. Spice minimal here, which is good. British malts and mild hops. Some toffee and grainy malt. Mild sweet fruits. Not bad.

Poured from bottle into Nonic Imperial Pint. Reddish chestnut brown with small off-white head and slight lacing. Smells like toffee, spicy English hops, molasses, cherry and plum. A rich sweet malty smell that only somewhat remains throughout. Somewhat sweet toffee and fruit malt backbone taste, with notes of molasses, nuts and spicy hops. Could have used a little more spicy hops, but overall a nice malt character. Relatively low carbonation, smooth and creamy somewhat full body. This is really a rich, sweet and malty Brown Ale. Quite nice overall, but a little dull for a Winter Ale.

Draft: Pours dark brown with a finger of creamy beige head. Nice lacing. Light aroma is roasty and a bit sweet. Tastes rich with roast and evena little burnt malt. Some toffee, caramel, and earthy notes. Nice.

(bottle). Pours a dark brown color. Medium tan head. Malty aroma. Roasted malt flavor with light alcohol. Avg duration. Spare lacing. Slick texture. Soft carbonation.

A very tasty seasonal ale from Summit. Pours medium brown with a nice creamy head. Good blend of caramel and sweeter malts balance out light toffee and chocolate.

The arrival of a new brewery to the neighborhood is always a joyous occasion, whether they are a local brewery or a distant brewery whose hand of distribution now reaches mine.

She poured clear copper-brown with amber shining bright where the light pierces through. Her peak is but a mere whisper of a dream which is quickly reduced to a thin patchwork of bubbly film. An encouraging swirl does nothing to stir her stubborn depths, though it does release a warm bouquet of winter spices and seasonal blessings. Pumpkin, ginger, brown sugar, nutmeg, and all-spice sway in a gentle rhythm with raisins, figs, and prunes while warm breads provide gentle support. She shows a sweeter side with maple, molasses, and crunchy milk chocolate. Spellbound, I am drawn in for a wet, lingering kiss which is full-bodied and contradictorily thick with a soft effervescence. While her nose was spice-forward, her palate is less-so. Dancing delightfully about my tastebuds are brown sugars, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a pleasingly meaty note of pumpkin. After I finish my first couple quaffs, I notice the chocolate in her aroma with each finishing breath. A bright lemon zest tingles across the top of my tongue like a chill of electricity while thick, sweet, molasses mingles with spice. About halfway through I notice a pleasing dryness to my palate. A bit more chocolate as she warms along with some creamy pecans creeping into what has turned into an exquisite blend of spices, dark fruits and breads, pumpkin, and caramelized sugars.

I was not sure what to expect, but I was very pleased with the Winter Ale from Summit Brewing. Their goal is to create well-balanced beers with great flavor and easy drinking ability. While I can’t speak for their other beers, I can say they achieved exactly that with their Winter Ale. May I have another please? Old man winter isn’t quite done yet.

One from the backlog. Pours a deep brownish red almost burgundy color with a nice tan head. The aroma is nutty yeasty and roasty with a light fruitiness. The flavor is roasty and a little chocolaty, mildly nutty with some good bitterness. Much better than I had remembered but not exciting per say.