Summit Brewing (St. Paul, Minnesota)’s Sága Imperial IPA pours with a rich brownish-red coloration and a good amount of tenacious white head. The effort ends up very well-balanced, tying together bold, piney hop presence with a dollop of wheat (the brewery’s mentions a honey malt base). While this imperial India Pale Ale is fairly heady (it clocks in at 9.0%) ABV, the constellation of flavors flows nicely. In fact, Sága Imperial IPA would work as a solid counterpoint for any sort of strongly-flavored cuisine, be it BBQ, stew, or something like a fiery Indian curry. The cohesion of Sága here is considerable – the chorus of tastes are able to maintain their cohesion no matter where finds themselves in each 12-ounce can.
I’d venture that even those individuals that typically avoid IPAs and their ilk would find something that they can appreciate here, especially during the chilly winter weather that is currently present in much of the United States.
Keep an eye on our beer review section in the weeks and months to come for additional articles about Summit’s Sága India Pale Ales. These efforts are currently available through the entirety of Summit Brewing’s footprint in both canned and draught versions. Give their website a go if you wish to learn more about the company, their year-round and seasonal efforts, and any other relevant dates coming down the pipeline.
Rating: 8.6/10
We’ve covered a number of Summit’s efforts over the years, including their Unchained #15: Make It So, Hopvale , Hop Silo,Unchained #17 : Harvest Fresh IPA, Old Blaggard Barleywine, Unchained 15: Fest Bier and Unchained 21: Us & Them
Sága Imperial IPA (Summit Brewing Co.) / 9.0% ABV / 80 IBU / www.summitbrewing.com/ /twitter.com/summitbeer / www.facebook.com/summitbrewingcompany / Instagram /