The last one is minor. I came down sick Friday night, missed work Saturday, stayed in bed all day. Felt better the next day, and could have written some reviews if I'd had the beers on hand, but I didn't. Because when I had the time, I didn't have the money, and when I had the money, I didn't have the time, either to shop for beers or to write about them. But, wait, you may be asking, didn't you say you had Sunday off? If you had the money, didn't you have the time? No, silly, this is Minnesota, we don't get to purchase beer to take home on Sunday, for absolutely no good reason at all!
"Just plan ahead", say the ones who like this idiotic law, and I say "why should I have to?" I don't have a lot of time Friday and Saturday afternoons before work, and can't often run to the store on my break. Sunday is the perfect time for me, one of my few days off. But, the liquor stores and their lobbyists just don't wanna do it. "Just drive to Wisconsin!" they say, and I wonder, don't they want businesses here to succeed? I don't own or drive a car, I just want to walk a few blocks away and support my local business. I want to take my bike or the bus to the brewpubs and take home a growler.
Also, they will say, "why do you need another day to get drunk?" And I say that I have no intention of doing so, but I want to enjoy life to the fullest, and that includes having any beer I want, when I want, and the Lord shouldn't mind at all.
Last year, Andrew Schmitt of MN Beer Activists asked me to write a letter supporting Sunday sales for his website. I hoped it would help, but the legislature didn't pass then, with too many narrow minds listening to too many closed ones. You can find that letter here. It's one of the top hits, I noticed, when I Googled myself. (Don't give me that look, you do it, too!)
Speaking of time and money, I wrote the following notes Thursday night/Friday morning, but haven't posted it yet due to a lack of time. And I purchased a 12-pack of this new one from Summit because it was only $11, what a steal. I'm keeping a closer eye on expenditures, these days, to make up for times when a turned a blind eye to cost, and am now paying for it. So, hey, who's got free samples for me?
Anyway, on to the notes for the newest Summit offering:
Summit Frost Line Rye. "Break winter's grip with a robust, spicy ale." Sounds good. Ingredients: Water, Barley malt, rye malt, yeast, hops. Brewed and bottled by Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, MN, 12 fl. oz. ale. No ABV given. I'm going to guess it's between 5 and 6.Clear, auburn-hued, with a solid, creamy white head.
Aroma: lightly hoppy, malt-forward, rye spicy. Bread-y malt and floral hops co-mingle.
Taste: Rye malt takes center stage now. Spicy, bread-y flavor cover over all else. Tingles the tongue, delights the palate. Stays long in the mouth, begs for another sip and gulp. Just enough of a warmer, without being too deep or dark.
We're still in the thick of it, and it's still the kind of winter that demands dense, mightily malty ale or stout. But, maybe we're out of the woods. Maybe we're getting into double digits soon? Then, a lack of a thick, chocolatey, toffee-ish ale won't be such a glaring omission, and a slightly substantial "in-between-seasonal" ale like this will fill the bill.
Hey, how about some gobbledygook from the 12-pack packaging? "Hidden in the cold ground in the dark of winter lie little seeds of hope. So, to help hasten the spring thaw, we give you an ale bursting with the spicy goodness of malted rye and floral, citrusy hops. An in-between-season seasonal, if you will. Enjoy!"
I do enjoy. It's a good beer, and I can drink it. Very session-able, very warm, peppery, and tasty. Indeed, it's a fine in-between-er. Not quite this, more than that. It also dances around style designations in an admirable way. I like it.
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