Surly Bender

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

a dark reddish brown beer with a fluffy tan head that fades quickly into a ring. very mild aromas of toffee, malt and nuts. the taste is amped up malty along with toffee, wood, nuts and some citrus and earthy hops. the finish is lightly bitter and dry while the short lived aftertaste is of coffee and some chocolate. medium body/mouthfeel. the carbonation is a bit on the high side but it’s acidity is pleasant.

Can. Pours a clear brown with a thick light tan head. Aroma of sweet malt and some coffee grounds. Flavor of slightly roasted malt with a touch of creamy smoothness. Thankfully, this is a brown ale that’s not dominated by super sweet malt. Pleasant and easy drinking, certainly one of the best brown ale’s I’ve had. 7/4/7/4/15 (3.7/5)

Bottle sample at a tasting. Thanks David C. Dark amber-brown color with a beige head. Nutty aroma with malt, flowery hops, some tropical fruits and pine needles. Bitter piney flavor with some sweet malt, bread, oatmeal and caramel. A pleasant bitter finish. Medium-bodied.

Pours a great looking deep chestnut brown with a sturdy khaki head. Nutty and light spice malt notes on the nose with a bit of hops. Nice creamy palate. Slightly sweet nutty taste with a twinge of hops in the middle, yielding to a mellow malt finish. A great brown ale and a real nice-looking beer.

On tap at Maproom. Pours a dark dull brown with thick sudsy beige head. Good amount of green hops in the aroma over some chocolate and sweet molasses. Very hoppy taste, chocolate, fair amount of roast, some caramel, on the dryer side. Thicker than Flossmoor’s Pullman Brown and definitely more hoppy.

Black pour with a quickly diminishing dark tan head. Aroma is roasty like a porter with touches of hops hiding in the background. Flavor is roasty, chocolatey, tangy sweet, with a bite of hops in the finish. Nice body. This is no brown ale, but I’m not sure what it is other than delicious.

16 oz can shared with willblake thanks to allendodd. Pours a deep dark ruby brown with an average head. Aroma was sweet roasted malts like a funky chocolate covered cherry, reminded me of Reaper Ritual Dark Ale. Thin body that seemed almost a little watery, I might have expected more from the darkness of the beer. Flavor was nice with some malt notes and hardly any bitterness. Seems like a good session beer.

On-tap at the Blue Nile: Murky mahogany color with a ruby glow at the bottom and edges. A mediumish sized capping of soft, light cocoa colored foam sits a top with good stamina. Fades to a thin collar and the lacing sits well across the glass in a broken sheeting. Aroma is fairly solid of dryish black malt and chocolate malt husks. Tipping towards a sweet side with dark caramel malts and a milky powdered cocoa sense. There’s a nice little grassy hop note feathered into the husky tones thats quite nice. Taste is rounded and immediate with a fairly full maltyness of caramel sliced with vanilla slivers, dustings of brown sugar, and breadish sweetness. Stays in place for good length adding oat barley flakes in there for some extra girth of sweetened breadyness before the sublime finish where it drys out with one fantastic realm of black malt-like grainyness and chocolate malt fluffyness. Slightly doughy but holds dry with a finely set tone of husk-like dryness. Very natural tasting and has a perky little hint to some grassy hops mixing in with the chocolatey dryness. A very nice taster. Nearly porter-like in stature. Feel is fairly full and well-rounded; balance is slightly tilted in sweetness but then the finishing areas slide in with its intricately woven dryness pulling the sweetness off the tongue only leaving reminders of what once was. What’s left is a bready smooth porter-like soothingness with a small grainy, dryish, chalky, chocolatey milken texture. Unique and wholey acceptable in its sensibility. Fully drinkable and sessionable. At around 5% this stuff can be had at the bar for a good long while and then some, and not get to terribly tiresome either due to its intriguing finishing qualities. A very nice American Brown/Porter-esk hybrid of a beer.