Surly Bender

Brewed by Surly Brewing Company
Style: Brown Ale
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota USA

Perfect pour into a nonic. Deep opaque brown with a perfect crest of tan foam. Gobs of lacing on the glass, and pretty nice retention. Great sweet malt aroma with a dose of nuttiness and a hint of hops. Malt flavors up front with toasty caramel and a bit of chocolate, then nutty/oaty notes wash through, leaving a mild hoppy finish. This would make for an incredible session beer if I had more than one here in California. Really smooth in body and taste.

Can from Tyler! Brown/amber color. Good head, and nice lacing. Smell is malt and some sweet hops. Taste is the same. Caramel gives it a sweet after taste. Smooth. Meduim texture. Top 3 in the brown ale catagory. Really good beer!

Pours a hazy brown - darker than most brown ales I have tried. A bit of caramel in the nose. Nice malty taste. Some nuts in the middle and just a bit of citrus in there somewhere. Very smooth and drinkable. Maybe my favorite brown ale.

Pours a nice dark brown with a tan head. The aroma is thick with malt, vanilla, toffee and oatmeal. The flavor is very nicely balanced with a good amount of malt sweetness, coupled with lots of vanilla and a very pronounced velvety oatmeal flavor. That oatmeal smoothness carries over very nicely to the palate, lending the brew a very smooth mouthfeel. Overall another great brew from Surly.

16oz can from iowaherkeye. Thanks Joey. Served at cellar temperature. Poured a lovely clear dark brown-garnet color. Head was thick, creamy, and light brown with good retention and lacing. Aroma was predominantly of milk chocolate and malted milk balls with whiffs of raisin and peanut. Delicately sweet, medium bodied, and fairly smooth. Tasted of milk chocolate, nuts, subdued flowery hops, light raisin, and a touch of caramel. Yum. Not your typical brown ale.

One of the best brown ales I’ve had. On tap at Kuma’s in Chicago. Very distinct brown characte, quite malty/chocolately. Not so roasty it hurts, but very nice. Heavy body with the roastiness and the hops to balance it out. Had a couple pints it was just that damn good.

16oz can - Extremely dark for a brown ale. Black like a dark porter. I’ve read other discriptions sayings its clear brown or dark red, i only see black or a super dark brown. Faint fruity sweet scent. A bit of a metalic taste, caramel nuts, and sour, bitter, dry finish. Nothing really overly enjoying IMO.

Can thanks to tytoanderso. Pours a deep brown color with ruby highlights in the light and a beige head that receded to a ring. Nice malty aroma with some hints of caramel, chocolate, and a nice oat and nuttiness. Definitely one of the better brown aroma’s I have encountered. Nice, chocolaty malt entry gives way to sweet, caramel flavor with nice oat and even coffee undertones. Pretty creamy body for 5%, and thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks Tyler, I liked it a lot.