Crack Open a Summit Lazy Sipper and Let Those Creative Juices Flow

Greetings, Thirsty People. Remember last summer when we let all you beer drinkers take a swing at naming our beer for the Minnesota State Fair? In a single week, you submitted over 520 entries in our “Craft the Name” contest, nearly breaking our email for good. Fortunately, Summit Lazy Sipper cruised to victory before our servers shut down completely.

Because we so enjoyed letting you name our beer, we’ve decided to beef up our Outlook Mail software and invite you all to do it again this year. That’s right: Craft the Name 2.0 is on.

In conjunction with the Brewers Association’s 13th Annual American Craft Beer Week, which celebrates small and independent craft brewers in the U.S. and runs from May 14–20, we’re asking all you loyal Summit beer drinkers to punch in and give a rad name to Summit’s beer for the 2018 Minnesota State Fair. So, if you’re still steamed that your brilliant submission didn’t win last year, now’s your chance to make things right.

CRAFT THE NAME 2.0 CONTEST

To participate, please send your full name, phone number, address, and your proposed name for the beer* to [email protected] between May 14 and May 20.

*Please make sure your beer name hasn’t been used by another brewery. You can do this by searching for the name at Ratebeer.com, BeerAdvocate.com or Untappd.

From the suggestions, we’ll choose a few of our favorites and then host a public vote on one of our social media channels later in May. (This way we can avoid ill-advised names like Curd Herder and Hair of the Corn Dog Ale.)

THE PRIZE

If you win our Craft the Name 2.0 contest, you’ll brew our next beer for the Fair with Head Brewer Damian McConn, right here at Summit Brewing in St. Paul, MN (Date TBD). And if you don’t break anything, you’ll be invited back a few weeks later to be the first person to taste the new beer. Before everyone else. Which is a pretty big deal.

That said, if brewing and drinking beer don’t tickle your fancy, perhaps you can trade your prize for some Seed Art in the Ag-Hort building.

DETAILS ABOUT THE BEER

Low in bitterness with a sessionable ABV of 4.2%, Summit’s beer for the 2018 state fair will be a light, refreshing one meant for hot, sweaty days at the Great Minnesota Get-Together — and we think a Helles-style lager will fit the bill perfectly. Our recipe, though not final, will include Scarlett malting barley, experimental hop TRI2303 from YCH, and a touch of fresh blood orange.

The end result ought to offer tangerine, blood orange, and stone fruit characteristics, with a clean, light mouthfeel and a hint of sourdough breadcrust from the barley. To play up that orange note, Head Brewer Damian McConn says he’ll also “dry hop the $%&#” out of the beer with German hop variety Mandarina Bavaria.

“The Fair is ultimately the Great Minnesota Get-Together,” says McConn, “so we’ll focus on providing a refreshing, low-ABV beer people can enjoy while out at the fair with their friends and family, eating obscene amounts of delicious fried foods.” After all, the beer you drink at the Fair shouldn’t keep you from filling up on deep-fried pickles and mini donuts.

ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL HOP TRI2303 FROM YAKIMA CHIEF – HOPUNION

Bred for pale ales and lagers just like this Helles, Summit Brewing Co. may be the only brewery in the U.S. with a supply of YCH experimental hop TRI2303. We expect it to provide “floral notes and stone fruit, with other hints of citrus, pine, and grass,” according to YCH.

DRINK THE BEER AT THE MINNESOTA STATE FAIR BEGINNING AUGUST 23

Summit Brewing Co.’s special beer will be served exclusively at the Summit on a Stick Booth at Shanghaied Henri’s, located in the Minnesota State Fair’s International Bazaar. We can’t wait to see you there!