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October 10, 2006
It's not just about the beer
Keg stands, card drinking games, and beer pong: Summit beer likely has a weekly role in all of these well-known party activities for those daring individuals willing to avoid "the Beast" and pay a little more for beer. However, Summit is more than just a supplier of fun times on Friday and Saturday nights for college students.
What most don’t realize is that behind all of the good times, there is a local company that gives back to the community. Summit Brewery, based in St. Paul, strives to make an effort to improve the Twin Cities. And, of course, it promotes the use of designated drivers too.
“Mark [Stutrud, Summit founder] buys malts locally from Shakopee,” Summit guide Theo Patron said. “He wants to support the local farmers and buy their goods.” Malts are an ingredient in Summit’s beer recipes.
Summit donates back to the Twin Cities through charities and sponsored events, but the company does not heavily publicize its contributions, so most go unnoticed by the public.
Patron said Summit frequently contributes to charitable causes. Normally, beer and gift shop merchandises are up for charitable auction.
Besides auctions, Summit is also present at many Twin Cities events, including some that are not beer-related. The company is a sponsor for the Twin Cities Inline Marathon (held last August), and the Wild River Music, Comedy, and Film Festival on Harriet Island (held this year on Sept. 6-10), just to name a few.
The brewery also sponsors a three-day Happy Hour and BBQ at the Dubliner. According to Summit Co., “all proceeds [for this event] benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and The National Philanthropic Trust for the Twin Cities Breast Cancer Walk.”
Summit could not sponsor any of these events without help from the local community. Since it was founded in 1986, the brewery has received support from the local bars and taverns of Twin Cities, allowing it to flourish into the famous micro brewery it is today.
Patron said local bars gave Summit a chance when local distributors would not. The beer was an immediate success with customers, so distributors took notice and began selling Summit in liquor stores.
This year marked Summit’s 20th anniversary, and it was celebrated in a big way. On September 30, at Harriet Island, there was a ten-hour Big Brew concert with numerous bands; the headlining acts were Cake and Soul Asylum.
Patron says the Big Brew was Summit’s largest event of the year and had an excellent turnout.
According to Patron, Summit is one of the more successful micro breweries in the US. It does not distribute beer nationally, but it does supply for the Midwest and for a few states on both coasts. Summit sells kegs, ponies, bottles and drafts, but is not packaged in cans.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 P.M., people are welcome to visit the brewery in St. Paul to take a tour and learn about the process of producing Summit beer. At the end of the tour, people who are of legal drinking age are given three wooden coins to trade for glasses of Summit on tap.
For more information about Summit, or the brewery’s involvement with the Twin Cities, visit www.summitbrewing.com.
Posted by dwright at October 10, 2006 10:49 PM
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