Summit Brewing Company is a regional craft brewery in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that brews a wide selection of popular beers. Currently the 25th largest craft brewer in the U.S., Summit Brewing Co. produced approximately 115,000 barrels of beer in 2017, with a capacity of 240,000 barrels per year. Their flagship beer, an English Pale Ale is especially popular in the Twin Cities area. The brewery was founded in 1986 by local homebrewer Mark Stutrud and a group of his friends in an old auto parts warehouse on St. Paul's University Avenue. Their beers quickly became local favorites, and the company began to grow rapidly. In 1987, the Great Northern Porter won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival and was featured on the cover of Michael Jackson's New World Guide to Beer. By 1998 the company's beer production had exceeded the capacity of the original University Avenue brewery, and a new brewery, designed by architect Peter O'Brien, was built on the west end of St. Paul, overlooking the Mississippi River. Still in operation, it was the first new brewery built from the ground up in St. Paul since before Prohibition. Having outgrown its original brewing equipment, Summit sold its 1938-vintage brew house to Mt. Shasta Brewing Company in Northern California. They then purchased an all-copper, authentic German brew house built in 1971 from the Hürnerbräu Brewery in Ansbach Germany. , Summit beers are available from distributors in 5 U.S. states. The brewery currently brews seven year-round styles, a variety of seasonal styles, and limited release beers. 2018 saw the launch of new year-round beers such as Summit Dakota Soul, a traditional Czech-style Pilsener; Summit Skip Rock, a white ale; and Summit Keller Pils, an award-winning, unfiltered German-style Pilsner. In July 2018, Summit Brewing Company completed a renovation of the Summit Ratskeller, its public bar and patio area. The Summit Ratskeller features Summit's entire lineup of beers, plus exclusive beers serves only on site, tours, and the Summit Brewing Co. Gift Shop. , Summit Brewing Co. remains the second-largest brewery in Minnesota, after August Schell Brewing Company.
