Thursday, March 19, 2009

DEDICATED TO SIR SCOTT'S STORY OF SUMMIT'S SAMARITAN EFFORTS



that up there is a picture of my good friend, the sir scott of jason. in this picture he sports a memento from his evening with the brewers of summit brewing company (see comment by zoesjourneyhome). he says they are fine people. samaritans perhaps. for this, i bless them. and for this, because i love my friend and his bride, i would wear that hat gladly, but i may not purchase much of their beer, even for a good story. however, in honor of jason's story, i purchased one more little bottle of summit extra pale ale (5.3% abv) just for the trying. 

at first sniff and sip i realize, this is an english pale ale: lots of yeasty bread and biscuits. ironically, i spoke out against summit IPA's need for a little more bread and biscuit, just something malty to hold up the drooping hop vines burnt and sagged into my glass, and now i'm drinking the crummy outer edges of a frickin' dagwood sandwich. from one extreme to the other here, people. however, beneath all that super yeasty loaf action rests a nice sliver of coppery hops. i prefer a crisp floral hop, a la two-hearted or boulder's mojo, but when the malts are this large even melted pennies weigh in good for balance. 

this ale reminds me of a poem i penned just the other day. my brother from another mother, myles werntz, sent out a line by the hipster of spinsters, dan quayle: "We have a firm commitment to NATO. We are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe." i don't know what he's all on about there, but i penned the following verse in response.

I am no bit committed to Europe,
as to what they brew and bottle.
Though the Queen's men invented IPA,
US ale rules o'er this wattle.

with that said, i would not award summit's extra (english) pale ale any medals anytime soon; although, they deserve something fine and dandy in the humanitarian department. Lord, knows i could have used some of that sobering treatment back when i . . . . 

6 comments:

  1. A fine, post, sir! I'm sorry that you once again had to endure the pain of a Summit beer. Here's a challenge for you though, in case you ever feel the need to prove your manhood to the world. If the Extra Pale Ale is too bready, and the IPA is too hoppy, would a 50/50 mix of the two yield perfection? Or something that is remotely drinkable?
    This isn't a joke. I find Leinenkugels (sp?) Berry Weiss way too sweet and fruity, and their Honey to be just "ehhh". But up in Wisconsin, they make a "Honey Berr", a 50/50 mix of the two, and I'll be the first to admit, the end product is greater than the sum of its parts.
    [sir scott throws down gauntlet]

    ReplyDelete
  2. sir scott -

    i see your gauntlet,
    thrown upon the ground,
    and i accept your challenge
    of a 50/50 round.

    will keep you posted.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is time well spent and words well used. Thank you Hampster.

    ReplyDelete
  4. felix - there is no "p" in hamster. it's our jacked up oral vernaculars that add the accented "p" at the end of the first syllable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Leinenkugels? Ass sweat! But seriously, an interesting point zoesjourneyhome makes with the 50/50 split. I never think to do the 50/50 split. I like black and tan but never think to pour one.

    Funny how Leinenkugel's serves the mix. Is that the only way they can sell the two?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Church Key, don't write off ALL Leinenkugels as bad. Have you had their Sunset Wheat? Two words for you... Fruity Pebbles. I challenge anyone to taste it (heck, even SMELL it) and not be reminded of the cereal. A fantastic warm weather brew. And if you doubt my opinion, the expert panel at the 2008 Great American Beer Festival gave it gold as the best wheat beer. One of my favorite wheats.

    On the topic of 50/50 beers, I have a homebrew that just turned out TOO big in every respect, to the point where it simply wasn't drinkable. We had a keg of the stuff, and in a drunken Superbowl party this year, decided to try to water it down with some Michelob Ultra. Despite how it might sound, that makes this utterly challenging homebrew quite tasty and drinkable!

    The moral of the story is quite simple... don't knock it till you try it.

    ReplyDelete