Summit Unchained Series Batch 20 – Sticke Alt – A First Sampling

I always love it when a care package arrives at mybeerbuzz headquarters from Summit Brewing.  I’m really fond of what Summit is doing, and I really enjoy trying all of their Unchained Series brews…so when I opened the box and found Summit’s new Sticke Alt, I couldn’t wait to try it.

We brought you an early peek at this beer, and the release details, but nothing beats sampling the actual beer.

This beer was created by Summit brewer Mike Lundell after a trip to Oktoberfest in Germany and it is a

Düsseldorf-style Sticke Alt.  If you’re not familiar with an Altbier is is a German-style brown ale and these beers were typically conditioned for longer periods of time.  “Alt” meaning old in German, these beers were typically softer, smoother and more delicate…and this is pretty accurate for Unchained Batch No 20.  The Sticke version of an Alt is typically stronger, darker and hoppier than your average Altbier, which is also accurate for Summit’s version which hits 6.3%-AbV.

Sticke Alt pours a really gorgeous copper brown color with a light tan head.  The nose has some complex malty aromas with some hoppy goodness in the background.  Sticke Alt uses Czech and German malts as well as German Hallertau and Mittelfruh hops, and they are prominent in the aroma and flavors.  I thought this beer had a more soft malty flavor and a more subtle hop presence.  Sticke Alt finishes dry with a slight spiciness and delicate sweetness that I really enjoyed.

Ironically enough, we just whipped up a batch of German potato-salad Thursday night using our fresh harvested fingerling potatoes….so we had to pair it up with this beer.  It turned out to be a really nice match with the sweetness of the beer matching up well with the potato salad and the dry finish cleaning up the potato salad well at the end of each sip.

We really enjoyed Summit Unchained Series # 20 Sticke Alt and the German-beer history lesson we found inside the bottle.  This is a really good beer and a really interesting style that you need to try.  Be sure so sip some Sticke Alt from Summit and let me know what YOU think.