Summit Station Restaurant & Brewery - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Don't Miss
- Brewmaster Mug Club -
at Summit Station!

Visit our Sister Restaurants

Gaithersburg Gazette - April 18, 2001
The brews of Olde Towne
By: Steven Frank and Arnold Meltzer

The historic Mercantile Building on Diamond Avenue in Olde Towne Gaithersburg houses the county's oldest brewpub. When Brewer's Alley in Frederick took over the Olde Towne Tavern & Brewing Company, it reopened in June 1999 as Summit Station.

The first floor has a long bar on one side, with the remaining two-thirds of the floor allocated to the dining space. The main dining room's high ceilings, ceiling fans and white walls give it the appearance of a converted old southern bank. Upstairs are a mezzanine with nine tables and a separate room with a bar and tables, the site of weekend entertainment. The menu includes salads, pizza, sandwiches and nouveau American entrées with a Cajun flair.

Summit Station's brewmaster, Joe Kalish, is a graduate of the Siebel Institute brewing school and has been brewing professionally for more than 30 years. Kalish started brewing with Jones Brewing, a small brewery in his home state of Pennsylvania, and then moved on to Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz and Wild Goose. He came to Olde Towne in 1993.

While several of the standard beers are common to both Summit Station and the parent Brewer's Alley, each pub brews them separately and, therefore, the tastes are somewhat different. In addition, each brewer has its own seasonal beers depending on the customers' tastes.

The basic set consists of the Great American Beer Festival award-winning kolsch, an India Pale Ale, a nut brown and a stout. The seasonals include Irvington Pale Ale, which is more like an India Pale Ale; Long Mane Pony Cream Ale, a hefe-weizen, the famous blueberry wheat, Gus McLeod's North Pole Porter, a maibock, a scotch ale, a barleywine, a pumpkin ale and Ebenezer's Christmas Ale.

The kolsch is a clear dull amber with a muted fruity bouquet. This moderately bodied brew has a restrained sweet front, a savory malt middle with sweet and floral overtones, and delicate floral hops in the finish and aftertaste where the malt attenuates. Quite delicious and characteristic of the style, we both rated it 8 on a scale of 10.

The Irvington Pale Ale, a clear reddish beer, has a tangible bitter hop aroma. A short sweet malt front is followed by a tantalizing malt middle with a touch of bitter hops. The bitter hops dramatically leaps in the finish, becoming zesty and pronounced, staying into the aftertaste where the malt somewhat moderates it. Drawing its lineage from the hoppy Sierra Nevada pale ale, we agreed on 7.5.

The Long Mane Pony Cream Ale has a clear wheat color and a soft, sweet aroma. This modestly bodied beer starts quite early with a teasing sweet front that segues into a smooth, creamy, mellow medium malt middle that lasts into the finish and aftertaste. With a wonderful mouth feel, the cream ale is like a slightly alcoholic cream soda. Our ratings were 7 and 7.5.

The garnet-tinged nut brown beer has a subtle malt, delicately hopped and distinctly nutty aroma. The early splash of sweetness is followed by a crisp malt middle. The nut demeanor grows in the finish where it merges with a tempered bitter hop that increases in the aftertaste. Again we agreed, giving this medium bodied brew a 6.5.

Home - History - Menu - Events - Beers - Beer Dinner
Bars - Banquets - Directions - Employment
Reviews - Contact - Tell a Friend