Surly Bender

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

16oz can-pours a retaining creamy light brown head and dark brown with ruby red. Aroma is medium/dark malt-sweet/chocolate, dark fruit-cherry, faint citrus hops. Taste is lots of malt and hops, nicely balance with a lot going on. Medium/dark malt-sweet/chocolate, nutty, dark fruit-cherry, faint citrus hops. OK carbonation.

Can looks awesome!!!! bonus points there....pour is brownish with lots of ruby red highlights and a dense sticky brown head...smell is lightly toasty and has hints of cocoa...nice rich and chewy mouthfeel...taste is sweet and toasty with lots of cocoa and nutty flavors...light bitterness adds a little sharpness that clears out the sweet chewy flavors and feel...what a treat from my asshole friend fly!!!

Big thanks to Quake1028 for bringing this cool 16oz can along.

Pours very deep amber with nice tan head. Slightly sweet caramelized malt and slightly nutty aroma. The aroma is a bit on the light side. The flavor has that nuttiness along with a soft rye-ish quality that I’ll take as being the oatmeal. Tasty brown ale with plenty of interest.

Ah, the $205 glass of beer. I wouldn’t have had a chance to try Bender, but for missing a flight to NYC (and $100/each in fees for my wife and I to get on a later flight.) So with an hour suddenly free, I remembered that Surly’s website mentions that you can get Bender at Ike’s in the airport, so off we went. It was really fun that even the 60-something waitress there also knew they had Surly, and was happy to talk about this exciting new local brewer. (It strikes me as a really healthy sign for the craft beer movement when what the "normal" craft beer fan looks like is less and less predictable.)

On to the beer. Gold highlighted-brown, small sticky cap of light tan. Coffee, brown bread aroma--creamy and fresh. Dry toast flavor, caramel, robust bitterness, lingering rustic bread sweetness. An unpretentious beer, done with skillful, bold strokes. Yum.

Fantastic beer! Hard to find though--a few liquor stores in the Cities carry this stuff. It is not pasteurized so keep it cold! FYI It only comes in cans.

Thanks to mcbackus for bonusing this one to me. Pours a light brown body with ruby red highlights. Thin head. Nutty aroma, with malts, roast and hops. Pretty thick mouthfeel for a brown ale, with roasty, nutty flavors dominating. Long, dry finish. Surprised to find this one has oatmeal in it, probably where the thick body comes from. Very nice.

can from brewso: pours a dark brown colour with a 1inch foamy tan head.aroma is roasted nut,malt and sweet fruit hops. flavour is nutty with some raosted chocolate and sweet malts with a touch of bitterness in the finish. the palate is very nice and smooth.

Can obtained from DBL in Minneapolis- poured into a Russian River tulip glass. Pours out a cola/rootbeer colour. Not much head to speak of. Smells nutty and some hops. Mouthfeel is very smooth (from the oats) with moderate carbonation. Very tasty brown ale, the hops add nice flavour without too much bitterness. Typical brown ale malt- nutty, roasty without heavy body. The oatmeal adds texture and an added taste dimension. This is a good session brew- not up to the level of Furious, but a great effort.