Surly Coffee Bender

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

(Bottle thanks OSLO and Guerde) Pours dark brown with a mahogany red glow. Deep sand colored to light nut-brown head. The aroma holds a fantastic but quite subtle coffee roast with tones of earth, gravel, mild jalapeno oil, parsley, cocoa, ice coffee and oily coffee beans. The nutty, light chocolaty malt plays well with the coffee. Tiny whisper of caramel and red berries. Light herbal hoppy. The flavour is nicely balanced between the coffee and the malt with light hop bitterness in the background. The mouthfeel is soft and quite smooth with a light carbonation. Light acidic and light sweet. Complex, light bitter and earthy coffee roast lingers. Bit watery, light to medium bodied.

Thanks AgentSteve. Poured dark reddish brown, coffee, roasted malts, nutty, slight hops, dry finish.

Can thanks to mreusch, pours deep reddish brown. Beautiful when held to the light, with a medium bubbled tan head. Nose is mainly smooth coffee and little else. The flavor is also subtle coffee with a touch of nuttiness and roasted malt. Dry, slight bitter lasting finish.

thanks to stu aka "hey you in the bushes" .. . Pure pure coffee goodness, amazing .. . iced coffee mouthfeel .. . great coffee flavours, perfect harmony. . .. truly gods gift to coffee lovers!

Can courtesy of theisti. Thanks Tim. It pours deep clear brown, almost mahogany, with a large, creamy, beige head that laces nicely. The nose is initially all about the coffee, then your brain toggles back and forth trying to hone-in on just what it’s smelling...hops, coffee, perhaps chicory coffee...something is just a bit "off". You circle around it never settling on one definitive aroma. I guess the best way to describe it would be to say that it smells like an iced coffee with "something" else added to it. That something is earthy and herbal but I can’t lock down a specific descriptor. The mouthfeel is fairly light-bodied yet creamy and slick with a punch of hop bitterness coming at the end. (It is a Surly beer...) The flavor is of coffee over a round malty body, concluding with a nice hoppy bitterness. Notes of coffee and hops linger long after the swallow. Overall...this is an odd bird. It’s more-or-less all over the place, and although I really like certain qualities it possesses (the mouthfeel and nice bitterness), it lacks the continuity to make me want more. A benchmark American brown, I find the "regular" Bender more enjoyable than this version.

Clear brown color, ring of white head. Aroma of wet coffee grounds, slight earthy hop background notes. Mild bitter coffee taste, lighter hop finish. A nice coffee brew.

Pours a reddish brown with a beige head. Aroma is overwhelmingly coffee-y to the point where you can’t notice anything else! All brown ale qualities are masked pretty much. Tastes of coffee (duh), huge roast, burnt caramel. Extremely single minded, but in a night with at least 4 coffee beers, this was by far the most coffee-y and also least complex. I like the way Speedway and Darklord do coffee: subtle! Still, this was enjoyable despite it’s faults.

16 oz. can shared by goldtwins. Pours a clear brown with a moderate off-white head. The aroma is dominated by fresh coffee. Any of the aromatic qualities of Bender have been wiped out by the coffee. Fortunately, I like coffee so this beer works for me. The coffee in the flavor does not come across as fresh as in the aroma, and some of the traits from Bender sneak in such as some chocolate and pine. Bitter coffee finish. Enjoyable.