Surly Bender

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

Tap at Barley Johns. Brown Coloring with Good White Head. Nice Hop Aroma Detected Initially...Toasted Malt, Not Too Dry...With Age Seems to Round out a Bit More..Soft Chocolately-ness....Light Oats and Hops to Really Round This one Out. Big Flavor for a 5% Brew. Easy to Critic With Great Waters, Town Hall and Barley Johns Brews so Close, but Surly Promises to be a Heavily Enjoyed Brewery in our State.

16 ounce can split by cdumler with Alraomon and myself. Thanks! Pours a clear reddish brown color with a medium head. Average head retention and lacing. Aroma is chocolate, hops and a slight nuttiness. Taste is caramel, chocolate and mild bitter hops in the finish. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bodied.

There’s a lot of wood in this one, and a slight astringency. Ruby color. Fairly dry. I didn’t like this as much as the Furious.

Can from brewfiend, poured a dark brown-mahoganey color with a 0.5cm thick head, thinning fairly quickly to a thin covering. The lacing was decent, though, spotty rings all the way down. The aroma was roasty cocoa, caramel, and bubblegum. The flavor was rather porter-like, roasty to slight ashy dry chocolate, some caramel, slight bubblegum, lactic/milky notes with warmer temperatures, finishing quite silky dry, much like an oatmeal stout would. Upon reading the description a few minutes later, indeed, the oatmeal wasn’t just an impression, it’s really there, neat stuff. Certainly, this beer defies a brown ale or oatmeal stout style, could certainly be an oatmeal porter in my mind. Mouthfeel isn’t as fully as that achieved in an oatmeal stout, but the oaty dryness and silkiness is indeed there. Good stuff, Surly, and thanks much, Brad! Re-rate of second can at the end of the month: Not much of an opinion change: oatmeal porter, firm roastiness more noticeable this time.

Can courtesy of Stine: Poured a cloudy dark brown color ale with a nice foamy head with better then average retention. Aroma of caramel malt with light bitter hops. Taste is also dominated by caramel with some light bitter hops. Body is quite full with some great carbonation. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this one considering the brilliance of the two other offerings I had from this fine brewer.

Can from Brewso. Pours a fairly clear, dark cherry color. Its really a borderline deep ruby-purple hue. There’s a decent off-white head that quickly dissipates to a thin, patchy film. Small amounts of spotted lacing dot the glass. The aroma is of dark roasted malts, burnt caramel, cocoa beans, and the slightest hint of dark rum. The flavor is very malty up front, with caramel and cocoa showing strong. There’s also a bit of oakiness and some lightly smoky, Scotch Ale type flavors. A decent amount of herbal hops add a nice bitterness that balances this brew almost perfectly. Medium body that goes down very smooth, with a lingering burnt caramel aftertaste. Awesome brown ale!

thanks to xnohatex for this sample. pours dark and creamy tan head. nose is nice with brown sugar, vanilla, and toasted malts. flavor is rich and complex for a brown ale, notes of vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. tasty stuff for sure.

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!!!