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 . . . .
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