Summit Brewing Co.

Summit Brewing was founded in 1986 by Mark Stutrud in St. Paul, Minnesota in an old auto-parts warehouse, making it the first brewery founded in Minnesota in over 120 years. A true pioneer of Minnesotan micro brewing, Summit’s story is a Cinderella one; going from the only brewery in the Twin Cities to one of the top 50 breweries in the country. In its very first year of brewing, Summit’s Great Northern Porter won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival, helping the brewery explode on to the craft brewing map. As demand continued throughout the 90’s, driven by the dominating regional popularity of Summit’s Extra Pale Ale, the brewery expanded in 1998 and upgraded its brewing equipment.

In 2009, Summit launched its Unchained Series, where it gives its brewers the freedom to brew any beer they want. The brewery feels that, like any artist, a brewer needs to be able to personally manifest their creativity every once in a while, or else they might become trapped in convention.  Summit produces over 240,000 barrels of beer a year, but it also realizes that you cannot make good beer without a healthy planet. Diverting waste to local processing and recycling plants, reducing energy usage by utilizing the freezing Minnesota winters, and constantly replacing old and energy-inefficient equipment are just some of the ways that Summit helps keep our planet clean and beautiful.