The Summit Brewery!

Spring break continues... we went to our very own hometown craft brewery, Summit Beer! The lone factory for this great lager is in St. Paul, right along the Mississippi. It has been in operation only since 1986, but already has a national reputation with its 11 varieties. The Winter Ale is my favorite!

The tour gave us a view of the giant copper vats from Germany, the bottling and packaging center and the "hot room" where the hops, water, yeast and, er... one more ingredient is added.


Luke really enjoyed the giant stacks of empty bottles, all ready to be filled up and shipped out... 80% of Summit - which gets its name from the historic Summit Avenue area of St. Paul - is consumed in this state, and the rest has a following around the country.

The kids couldn't sample the beer at the end of the tour... but did get some great, ice cold root beer instead!