After Resisting The Taproom Trend, Summit Opens The Rathskeller
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Summit Brewing Company has been in St. Paul for more than 30 years, in a building near the river for the last twenty. It's a company built largely thanks to sales at bars and restaurants.
"They're our backbone," said founder and CEO Mark Stutrud.
When taprooms became the trend, Summit resisted, instead focusing on maintaining good relationships with on-premise retailers like bars and restaurants, rather than competing with them.
"I'm not interested in being in the bar business," Stutrud said.
But for Summit to stay relevant to the craft beer drinker, Stutrud felt he finally had to pull the tap handle. Seven years after Lift Bridge opened Minnesota's first taproom in Stillwater, Summit is doing the same, opening for limited hours in their brewery.
"It really is a personal experience for beer drinkers," Stutrud said. "They want to touch it and drink it and they want to be in the environment so to speak."
The Rathskeller is only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. There will be no private bookings or events, other than the nonprofits that Stutrud has welcomed in for years.
"I'm not interested in having Pat Mancini from up the street saying, 'Hey Stutrud! Why are you having wedding receptions?' We're not good at that, we're good at making fantastic beer," he said.
But he is interested in revitalizing and rebuilding Summit's fan base. New furniture and giant photos connect the Rathskeller to the beer.
"See the grain over there, that's my cousin's barley field," Stutrud said, pointing to two giant photos on the wall. "That's the local elevator he takes it to."
Stutrud's cousin's barley is a key ingredient in the new beer Dakota Soul. And it's easier to tell that story and make the connection just steps from the copper brew kettle where the brewing process begins.
He also can dispel some misconceptions about Summit.
"That we're huge. That we're like the Budweiser of Minnesota. Which is... a stretch," Stutrud laughed.
In 2017, Summit produced 115,000 barrels. That is about one of every six craft beer barrels sold in Minnesota, a little behind Schell's Brewing. Budweiser sells 13 million-plus barrels of just regular Bud.
Moreover, Stutrud says retailers are starting to thin the huge variety of beers available in the coolers. Summit is focusing in on their big sellers in the marketplace, showcasing other beers in the Rathskeller.
"We have Rathskeller-exclusives, maybe barrel-aged beers, maybe experimental we do in our pilot plant which is two barrels per batch instead of 150," he said.
"The direction this industry is going is you'll find the wider variety or wider portfolio in-house," Stutrud said, "and people can see where every batch starts right in St. Paul."
Summit Rathskeller, open Thursday and Friday 2-9 p.m., Saturday 12 p.m.-9 p.m., and Sunday 12 p.m.-6 p.m.
Summit Rathskeller
910 Montreal Circle, St. Paul MN 55102
