Surly Bender

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

16oz can Recieved this in a recent trade with mully, thanks Matt! Bender pours dark mahogany, bordering on a dark brown, that glows when backlit. The craggy beige head grew to a finger on the pour and left good lacing on its way down. Big aromas from a lower abv brew. Big whiff of brown bread off the bat followed by a touch of rye like spiciness. Coffee, caramel and a swirling of vanilla join the party and make for an interesting brown. Mildly spicy fruity hoppiness toward the back. Lots of complexity in the nose! The flavor mirrors the aroma nicely. The only difference I come across is a (more than the nose suggested) generous hopping that are all at once fruity and spicy. I even get a touch of that leathery goodness found in some other brews. This is an exciting brown ale and I don’t think I’ve ever said that before. The oats add a nice creamy texture that really helps this beer stand apart. Medium bodied and incredibly smooth. The drinkability is way up there. The low(er) abv and big flavor make for a great session beer. Another home run from Surly! This is an exciting, delicious brown ale. Keep it up over there guys. 3/30/08

Bender pours a dark opaque brown. Aroma is a nutty syrup and roast malts. Taste is of roasted malts, sugared coffee and nuts. Mild carbonation. Smooth going down.

looks like coke with a thin tan head. smells like chocolate and coke. tastes like 3 day old coffee with a nutty flavor. that being said, i still enjoyed it. weird.

Nice hop aroma found in the same “location” as in the Darkness; if it were a 3D object the hops in the aroma would where the engines are in the Star Trek Voyager if you flipped it upside-down, with the bulk of the ship being the malt & everything else. Subtle notes of vanilla & chocolate. Flavor composition is like the Darkness as well in that each flavor comes at you separately, rather than as one mixed substance; works very well in these instances. Mouthfeel is very smooth with just the right amount of body. Great finish.

Pours a deep brown-black with a creamy, medium-tan head. Aroma contains some fruity hops, roasted grain, and some additional malt fruitiness. Toasted malt flavors with some hops are most prevalent in the full mouthfeel which finishes surprisingly soft--most likely due to the lower alcohol level. Quite an easygoing, enjoyable beer.

Original rating, 12-19-06: 16 oz. can. The aroma is strong, hoppy, yeasty, and complex. It smells like a much stronger beer, perhaps a barley wine, imperial stout, or Belgian strong ale. It pours a dark mahogany brown with a red glow and a large amount of fluffy, tan head. The delicious flavor contains bitter coffee, chocolate, and roasted nut notes. The taste reminds me of that of the classic Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter. It also has a good, bitter aftertaste. This medium-bodied brew is crisp and lively in the palate and quite drinkable. <P>I first drank this beer at the Happy Gnome in St. Paul, MN. The other beers I had that night were Rochefort Trappistes 8, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, and La Trappe Quadrupel. Surly Bender more than held its own against this stiff competition. <P>This is a superb, genre-defying, and unforgettable beer. Surly describes it as an "oatmeal brown ale," and that’s an apt characterization, but in the end it tastes most like an interesting, excellent porter. Bender is an exciting product from what is quickly emerging as one of America’s great microbreweries. Good work, Surly! Keep it up! <P>8:5:9:14:18 ==> 4.4 <P>Re-rate, 1-15-08: I had this on tap at The View in St. Louis Park on 1-14-08. I’ve realized for awhile that I had overrated this beer, but every time I have it, it’s so delicious that it has been hard for me to rate it down. I still consider this an excellent beer, but it doesn’t blow me away quite as much as it used to: <P>8:4:8:4:17 ==> 4.1

Can: pours a very dark brown with a tan head, chocolate, malty aroma, taste of chocolate, malt, vanilla, coffee, medium mouthfeel. This is a really nice brown. Probably one of the better ones I’ve had.

Can. Pours deep ruby brown with thick, khaki head. Aroma is sweet and fruity oranges and berries, along with lightly coffeeish malt scent. Satiny, sweet malt flavors upfront - roasted coffee, vanilla. Flavor also has a fruity, floral hop bitterness and just a touch of sourness. Not my favorite style but probably the most simple and cohesive of the Surly beers I’ve tried.