Why not take in a few free locally-brewed beer samples, have fun and learn something all at the same time? Summit Brewery offers tours free with a food-shelf donation to Second Harvest Heartland—the only catch is you’ll need to make an advance (on-line) reservation (and apparently on most days the tours are quite popular).Depending on what you’re expecting, you may find the tour a little short, somewhat non-technical and a little boring (compared to say historic Leinenkugel’s Brewing in Little Falls, WI). Included is a brief video of the company’s relatively short, but highly successful history--shown before the tour begins--with interesting factoids; for instance: Did you know the land this brewery was built on was purchased from the city of St. Paul for the whopping price of one dollar?The tour guide, bartenders, and other staff were pleasant and welcoming, and certainly the price is right. I only wish more attractions would forego the price of admission for food-shelf donations!Four free beer samples are yours along with the tour plus there’s a gift shop. The event is family-friendly & fun, and the brewery is very easy to find--a convenient location just off 35E south of downtown.There is a large gathering hall adjoined to the taproom, featuring 'championship' bean bag toss, a sunny tasting area and lots of seating – and it’s now open 4-9pm Fri & Sat with specialty food trucks just outside the front door, happy hour, and even entertainment.
This is a great way to spend a free afternoon in St Paul. The tour was educational, fun and includes 4 ample samples of beer -- for free! Great stop and if we wouldn't have had dinner reservations would have stayed for food trucks. The gift shop had all reasonably priced merchandise, which was is unusual and led yo a few fun finds -- dog collar with beer opener anyone? Nice job Summit!
We took the 3:00 tour at Summit on a Saturday afternoon. There was quite a large group that pretty much filled the beer hall, which was then divided into two groups for the tour. Prior to the tour we watched a short video and learned the basic information about how Summit started. They kept it short and interesting. The tour took around 30 minutes, we saw the bottling area which doesn't operate on the weekend, the refrigerated area where the beer is stored, the copper brewing kettles. The tour is all inside and all on one level - no stairs. They gave each person 4 tokens to get samples from the bar, and they were generous samples - probably around 8 ounces. I got a glass of root beer which was very good. They have a ton of board games that we played for about an hour after the tour. Around 4:30 a Mexican food truck came in that had fabulous burritos, around $9 each. It was a really relaxing couple hours!
This is a nice indoor activity if you happen to be in the area. You get a video and a presentation, then you can see the factory (which, admittedly, is quite small and not incredibly interesting, but it's a short tour). Then you get 3 generous glasses of beer. There is a variety to choose from, and you learn a bit about each in the presentation. Root beer is also available. You can enjoy your drinks and visit the gift shop or play a board game.
I love craft beer and have visited lots of craft breweries in several states. This is near the top of the list in my experience. Great history here and a very interesting and well delivered presentation and tour. Did I mention the beer?? Wow...Great tasting room experience. Nice patio seating. Cool little gift shop. And great food trucks to feed you. I will visit here every time I'm in St Paul.
Took the family here for a little visit and had a very nice time seeing everything they brew here and tasting a few things as well! We had a FANTASTIC tour gal. I think her name was Beverly, and she was AWESOME!! We got to watch a video, wee the production area, the brew tanks and have four, lovely, complimentary samples of what was on tap. We also purchased some beer soap in the gift shop and a couple of beer bread mixes. The soap makes a nice gift. We already tried one of the beer breads at home and have had better, so would not necessarily recommend this specific product. We did enjoy learning about the different brews and history of the company. The kids had unlimited 1919 FREE Rootbeer, while the adult enjoyed the real thing, They have a very nice guide that describes the beer and hop combinations. I would recommend and go again to try new items. They also have a game corner. It seems they are open Friday/Saturday evenings with very reasonable beer prices. People hang out, drink beer and play games. What more could you want for a good time? No fee, but they do appreciate a canned food item, which they donate to a local pantry.
Our family took the tour and found it well worth the time. The tour was very informative - both the history of the brewery as well as seeing the production area. It was also interesting to hear about their upcoming expansion for their canning line.
Enjoyed our 10:00am brewery tour in a Saturday morning. Great way to start the day! Rachel our tour guide did a very good job. She likes beer too! We made our reservations online. There was no charge but did request you to bring canned goods that would be donated to the food bank. You were not turned away if you didn't bring any. We enjoyed the samples, 4 of them. Fun times!
Having been to dozens of microbreweries throughout North America, we were underwhelmed by Summit. Here is the detailed lowdown on the Summit experience:Great that Summit encourages food donations for all taking the free tour.Spacious indoor bench seating in the tap room with a large capacity renders immediate suspicion of a mass influx of regulars simply in for the free beer. This was confirmed both on the tour (with zero internationals and virtually all locals) and in the largely one-dimensional reviews that proliferate here with biased, non-critical 'hooray for free beer' thank yous to Summit.Here is what you can expect. A long wait for Summit to accommodate late arrivals, followed the bulk of the tour sitting on a bench watching a long, tedious 40-minute slideshow. This is followed by a rushed 8-minute view of two small areas in the actual facility.On the plus side, minimal walking. Legs happy, but the eyes and minds of real beer aficionados will be left underwhelmed.You are given four tokens to sample 4-oz shots, only one of which you can sample prior to or during the tour. Strange. Almost all quality microbreweries actively encourage those touring to have a sample while taking the tour while a gregarious guide/host joins in. Here it is seemingly forbidden, or at the very least greatly discouraged.Rather, Summit prefer that everyone crashes the bar immediately following. Hardly worth visiting for one pint total, only to be told when to drink, with no opportunity to pay for samples.Summit beer is generally 7/10 in quality & taste, slightly above average, though still a neophyte in the process, blown out of the water by many other microbreweries.Staff are generally representative of Minnesota: warm, friendly and eager to please, with a couple snobbish types mixed in.Small, slightly overpriced gift shop relative to comparable microbreweries.Located in a bland industrial area with nothing of interest within walking distance. Far from public transport. Our cabby got completely lost, even with the benefit of a printed map.
Called on Tuesday for Friday evening tour spot and was happy to find enough room for our group of four. Been quite a while since I have seen my brother and his wife so choosing to start with Summit tour is fun way to reconnect. We both homebrew and going to such a successful midwestern brewer is just the best. They have a great story to tell, they do it in a nice facility with a chance to see the bottling line and finished products but not close up of brew kettles. Their new tasting room/Ratskellar is nice place to sit and visit both before and after the tour. The samples on tap are always fabulous. We got in on the early release of new style brewed with Rye. Very tasty and likely to be another success for them. 5 different beers on tap to try after tour.