Much of the success of Rogue Ales can be traced to their bearded Brewmaster, John Maier. This man is beloved by every Rogue fanatic. The Rogue website goes on to say … The Alaskan Brewery in Juneau hired John as an Assistant Brewmaster in March of 1987. He left in May of 1989. John was there for the very first brew at the Rogue Ales Brewery in Newport, Oregon. He has since brewed over 100,000 pints of Rogue Ale and his ales have won over 500+ awards for taste and excellence.

We’d like to say Thank You to John for his hard work and for running an superb operation out there in Oregon. Cheers, Bearded One!

Summit Brewery Tour from The Perfectly Happy Man on Vimeo.

The sun shone through the bright green leaves as our car crept into the small parking lot. The building’s gray siding gleamed like a beacon of peace, serenity and hope. Ok, maybe not quite, but we knew the products of art it crafted and our little hearts were beating with joy.  Here we were, standing at the front door of Summit Brewery, a ironic icon of the American dream, founded by a chemical dependency counselor in 1986.

The land on which it stood was bought for a single dollar from the city government on the condition that Summit’s employees would all be St. Paul natives. Upon this dollar the brewery was built, to the modern grandeur of craft brewery status and 85,000 barrels a year of pure bliss. Most of Summit’s brews are sold in its home state, almost 80%, with their flagship, the Extra Pale Ale, as the number one seller. But don’t fret, if you reside outside The Land of 10,000 Lakes you can pick up a sixer in any of 18 other states.

The process is typical and so I’ll let the video do the talking, but a fact unique to Summit is their commitment to brewing in strict accordance with the Bavarian Purity Law. From four simple ingredients: hops, malt, yeast and water, every single bottle of Summit is created. The water comes straight from the City’s line, purified and filtered a bit to make it ready for the next fine bottle or keg. As you can see in the slideshow, the bottling room (purchased from Sierra Nevada in 2006) was the highlight, a roller coaster mess of metal, guiding each bottle along and working hard to churn out an astonishing 500 bottle each minute.

The guide was wonderful, the technology awe inspiring, but truthfully, the best part was the beer. Three generous pulls of your choice cap the tour, as you cash in the nostalgic wooden chips. While at many breweries you can simply drop in and join the next group of beer-lovers looking for a walk-through, beware with Summit, because most tours are booked two months in advance!

The video reminds me of what I love about beer: the community and connection the craft naturally eminates between men and women brewers and aficionados all over the world. I think this video does a good job demonstrating that through a diverse set of individuals. Voices, faces, and environments. Thanks to Stone for a great video.

Our “PHM Beer App” can be found at the Apple iTunes App Store. Essentially it feeds users our RSS Feed (click here for a scoop if you don’t know what RSS is), as well as our Top Rated Beers and our wonderful, witty Twitter feed. Another great feature you’ll see is the option to email, Tweet, or post to Facebook anything on the app that you think is worthy.

Hopefully you iPhone users will have a chance to pick up this – did I mention it’s FREE? – great application for your phone and leave us some comments, questions, and love for how much better it makes your life. Be sure to check out the screen shots below for a peak at the app interface.

Cheers!