Surly Furious

Brewed by Surly Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota USA

thanks incutrav for the trade...muddled dark copper color. aroma dominated by sweetened grapefruit (the actual fruit inside), fresh grass and pine. probably the freshest most alluring smell i’ve ever gotten from a beer...ever. medium bodied with a creamy mouth feel that only improves as it warms a bit. pink grapefruit skins and rosemary dance around in the grassy wheat bread flavor. honey notes and malt balance out the huge dose of hops that bites at the tongue from beginning to end. i was actually a bit intimidated to drink this after reading some of the reviews but it is very well balanced and surprisingly easy to drink. pairs really well with a peppered turkey sandwich on wheat with lots of mayo...hmmm...thanksgiving?9/5/9/4/19/4.6

fresh and straight from the can... incredibly slick full mouth feel. thick like drinking cream...9/5/9/5/19/4.7

Can thanks to mreusch. Pours a slightly cloudy dark amber with a small white head. Aroma of grassy hops and grapefruit. Flavor of citrus, sour grapefruit, lemons, iced tea, grassy hops. An alright IPA but somewhat one dimensional. Doesnt make the great IPA cut for me.

Bottle sample at a tasting. Thanks David C. Clear amber color with a white head. Aroma of flowery hops, citrus and tropical fruits. Juicy bitter citrusy flavor with some piney notes and a bit of balancing maltiness. Mouthfeel is a bit watery. A good refreshing IPA.

16 oz can. Clear copper color with a thin white head that left uneven lacing around the glass. Moderate grapefuity hop aroma, some spicy malts lurking beneath. Palate is quite a bit thinner than expected for such a full aroma and appearance. Nice grapefruit rind hop kick to start with some floral components. Mild hop finish with a hint of soap character on the back end. Good base, but the weak palate and odd soapiness at the end holds it back some.

[Can 4/26/09] Pours copper reddish/orange with a fine head. The scotch malt is easily identified in the aroma and flavor. Piney and pretty bitter, dry. Sticky body, with soda like carbonation. Reminds me of Moylan’s Hopsickle. 7.4.8.4.16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [rerate can, thanks to WisconsinBeer!] Pours a darker copper/red, clear, with a very sticky foamy off-white head. Aroma is brightly hoppy, very piney, resinous, honey malt sweetness, loads of green pine needles. Flavor follows, super piney, sweet cotton candy, great aggressive hop kick, quite bitter but also very sweet so the high IBU’s are fairly balanced, seemingly like a double IPA. Medium bodied, sugary watery feeling with sharp carbonation. 8.4.8.4.16

I love Furious. Such great flavors of hops. Fruity and citrus with hints of pine. Nice and chewy, great body and is so smooth. Balanced and very drinkable.

Can sampled at BCTC 2008. Pours a clear orange amber with a bubbly white head. Aroma of pine and earth, actually very reminiscent of a christmas tree. Flavor is spot on from the aroma with lots of piney hops and earth notes with some caramel malt moving into the mix as well. This was one fantastic beer and to think that it was moving from warm to hot when I finally tried it makes me wonder how awesome it will be served cold to cool.

On-tap at the Happy Gnome: Cloudy rust with dark honey highlights. Smooth, firm topping of lighly stained brown foam. Out of two pints I had, one was slim, one was a finger high. Tons of layered lacing score the glass with heavy sheeted rings. Aroma is all red grapefruit, quite juicy, zesty, and fresh. Although my first was barely traceable as the second had the red grapefruit standing out very prevalently. Taste did not differ however; big red grapefruit juicyness with a sliding edge of dry leafyness takes hold immediately with the citric bitterness. Its quite nice at first, lots of hoppy grapefruit bitterness with only a slight malt keeping it tendered in a floury bread and very dry grain. However, the bite and dryness did take the realm a little too quickly and parchingly to fully enjoy the second pint as its a palate wrecker for sure. For whatever it is (amber/IPA) I would’ve liked a bit more balance out of it. I might as well have peeled myself a grapefruit and not used any sugar. Nothing complex about it besides its layer of drying bitterness. The feel is all bitter, all squeezing, all parching, and all sour grapefruit juicyness. Actually quite heavy and full on the tongue and palate. A nice pay lode of hoppy bitterness. A bit too much though, even for this hophead. I enjoyed this at first pint. Very nice grapefruit taste and bite. But it is a bit much after a while. It tired my palate out right quick and half way through the second pint my mouth was screaming for something else so I had a Porter instead of a third Furious. I see now why it is named as so. The hops are just that. Furious.