Surly Bourbon One

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

13th Beer of the Beer Spot Tasting Sunday March 30th, 2008. Bomber via Tiptop from the brewers at Surly. Damn I really Really like this one. Pours black with a light brown ring. Nose is sweet and malty and full of bourbon. Taste is sweet and chocolatly really really choco big, this is the kind of taste i like in chocolate cereal, great maple syrup sweet yummer. This was fantastic, yum yum yum.

Draft ABR 07. This was the best version of One they did. Very prevalent dark fruit on the nose with a good dose of vanilla, chocolate, and raisens. Very nice vinous mouthfeel that finishes sweet but not overpoweringly sweet. Great beer! Edit: tried on tap at Winterfest 2009. This beer continues to get better. I will go as far as to say this is the best Bourbon beer I have ever had.

This is one of the greatest things I have ever tasted! I waited for 25 minutes to get this beer at the Autumn Brew Review but I would have waited much longer. Darker brown in color. Not as strong of a bourbon aroma as I expected. Very sweet with a little hint of chocolate. Tried again at Winterfest 09’ and it is still amazing!

FoBaB ’07. Heavy bourbon aroma; sweet. Not overly unique but nails the style. Clear, dark red with a lasting tan head. Excellent lace. Sweet caramel. Undercarbonated. Overly sweet. Good, though. Nice, comforting finish. Oaky and bourbony. Very nice.

FoBAB 2007. super sweet w/o being saccharine. mellifluous. Great balance. seamless coconut/chocolate. i remember telling everybody during the last 2 hours of the festival this was my pick.

Great Taste of the Midwest 2008

Immediately after clearing the palate with some Hell it was time to begin the assualt again. This was the 4:30 special tapping and well worth the wait. Probably the second best beer at the festival I would love to try a regular version of One to see how the aging has altered in. Like a rich bock it is high in alcohol yet still deceptively smooth.

Aroma / Appearance - A brown burnt liquid filled my glass along with the smell of vanilla, malt, oak and caramel. Very balanced it reminded me of an old ale that has mellowed with time. The bourbon was there but did not overpower at all.

Flavor / Palate - The bourbon was most obvious in the thick mouthfeel. Creamy vanilla coated every nook and cranny of the mouth in sweetness. The dry finish was like vanilla ice cream which had melted into liquid form. Another one that I could have pondered for hours I wish this were more than a one-off release.

Draft at the Great Taste of the Midwest. Wow. I literally got goosebumps as I tasted this. The only thing that is lacking is the aroma: It’s good, but there’s almost too much musty wood for me. Lots of sweet malt, though. Pours a rich brown amber with little or no head. Loads of sweet malt on the palate. Some nice, rich, oily hops. Burnt oak. Vanilla, caramel, bourbon and a noticeable alcohol presence. Absolutely mouth coating oily. Quite rich with minimal carbonation. Quite wonderful.

Winterfest 2009. Pour was a dark brown/amber with nice strong bourbon aroma. Flavor was a lot rich sweet malts, some vanilla and smooth bourbon all the way through. I can see why this was voted the best of winterfest last night.