Surly Bitter Brewer

Brewed by Surly Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota USA

This was genius. An absolute highlight of Dark Lord 08. Unbelievable squeezed orange juice flavor in an ESB Are you even kidding me? It barely even tastes like an ESB, but in a good way Surly does it again.

Poured from can into Nonic Imperial Pint. Dull orange-gold, very thin head, looks flat but expected for style. Citrus due to dry-hopping, leading to a stronger smell than typical for style. Also, faint malts detected. Clean toasted, tea-like malt taste balanced by metallic hop bitterness. Light citrus flavor that is less evident in the taste than smell. Low carbonation, firm and dry. This is where most American attempts fall short; Surly nailed it. Very easy to drink and at 4% abv, it is an ideal session beer.

Had quite a few samples of this at Arborfest 07. This is an "American Style Bitter", but no category for that. Great flavor for a 4.2 abv brew with low IBU’s. Good hop bite up front, not much hop burn left on the pallet. I thought this was like a lighter version of Furious. Very drinkable, probably more session-able then Furious. I havent drank many of this style, so im no expert. Probably the easiest drinking Surly Brew to date. Thats not saying that I wont drink 5 Furious’ in an evening though too. Hoppin Mad won the vote for the name, but Omar found out that it was already taken, so Bitter Brewer took the prize. Good stuff!

lit this back at arbor fest (first release unoffically, old c in uptown next week). light in color white head. aint had to many ESB, much less ASB as they are calling it. superbly dry and bitter up front but finish very niceley with not alot of hops for the palate out back. low abv would make this a great alternative for SAB/AHB junk. very good blanced beer. look for it on tap next week i beleive! GET SURLY

Two pint glasses on tap at Mac’s Industrial Sports Bar in Nordeast Minneapolis. Wonderful, hoppy, sweetly fruity and remarkably floral aroma features apricot, grapefruit, and peach scents (by the way, I wrote that before reading the commercial description). Pours a hazy, sparkling brass with a small amount of off-white head. Very appetizing appearance. The flavor is dominated by good, solid, adventurous American hops. The taste matches the smell, with a heavy pitted fruit presence. Bitter brewer is very hoppy and far from well-balanced. Take away the hops, and this is a forgettable beer. But why would you ever take away the hops? They’re awesome! Bitter hops aftertaste. Medium body. Stunning crispness that I have experienced before only in the best lagers and never in another ale. <P>Surly has done it again! This is my kind of beer! It has less malty goodness than Furious but even better hops. I have scored all four Surly beers that I have tried well into the fours. Honestly, I was hoping that I would not have liked this beer and would have been forced to have given it a bad review, because I do not want to come across as a homer. But, like Bender, Furious, and Darkness, it is just so damn good that I can’t help but give it another rave. I just can’t help but love this beer. I do echo badgerben in saying that, despite the name, I would classify this as an American pale ale rather than any variety of bitter.

can from tyrndo: pours a clean golden honey colour with a big pithy dull white head. leaves some lacing. aroma is excellent full of earthy hops and a great fruitiness apricots and some floralness also hiding behind all of the slpendor is a some malt. flavour is eal nice full of fruit apricots again, grassy hops and a slight bread flavour the malt is holding htis all together very well. another excellent offering in a can from surly.

A- Pours a deep orange color with a huge, pillowy off white head which leaves a lot of lacing on the way down. S- Huge floral hop notes, some sweet fruit and mixed spices. T- Taste mimics the nose, starting off with big, full hop notes and ending with a creamy finish. Not as assertive as i expected from the nose but good none the less. M- Fairly thin bodied with carbonation on the low side. D- This is an incredible session beer. If it was available around here I would make it my go to. I didn’t know a beer under 5 percent alcohol could have this kind of hop profile without being incredibly bitter.

Appearance: Thin white head, a hazy copper that fades to a light gold in color when head to light. Aroma: wow thats good, extremely balanced of hops, fruits, and barely. Flavor: I taste coffee when it first hits my tongue, then hops kick in flavor with the fruit backgrounds...apricot mostly. Palate: what do you expect, the name is bitter brewer so it ends bitter! But not overly bitter, just the right amount. Its smooth, easy to down. This one has impressed me. Very complex in its aroma, not as much in flavor but still has its hidden traits. Overall, I love it. If head would be slightly larger and last, it would be a 5. Finally a Surly beer that exceeded my expectations!!! Oh, coffee bender did that too. Surly rules.