Surly Furious

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

16 oz. can courtesy of SS. Pours a hazy copper color with a medium sized pillowy beige head. The aroma is big on the citrus hops with enough caramel malt sweetness to keep things interesting. The flavor is a nice balance between the pine, citrus hops and the caramel malt sweetness early. As you get closer to finishing the glass, there is a definite shift toward the bitterness. Medium/full bodied, chewy IPA. I would love to have this locally.

Thanks to Stine for this one. Pours out cloudy orange/copper color with a nice off white head. Intense aroma of grapefruit and citrus hops. Taste is well balanced with a nice citrus hop smack right in the face with some other citrus and light floral hops on the taste. Nice sweet malts in there for some balance, just the right amount as it allows the hops to be the feature in this beer. This is a very solid IPA, I need to find me some more of this.

12 oz can via skyview (thanks!). Pours a clear copper with a large beige head that leaves a LOT of spidery webbing as it slooowly recedes. Nose is very floral hoppy and piney. Taste starts very sweet caramel , then some orange, some fruity esters, and a pine wallop of a finish. Finish is bittersweet, but aftertaste is just dry mouthpuckering hoppiness as the sweetness is left to a distant memory. Body is perfect with a nice malt backbone that lets the hops take centerstage, carbonation just right. World class IPA!

Draft at Surly, can at home. Copper pour with light amber glints, beige/gray head, small but well retained. The aroma is hop centered, with grapefruit notes, pine resin, oranges and dried flowers, it’s really all over the board as far asd the hop profile goes. Plenty of malt in the nose too, fresh caramel and toasted grains lurking underneath the sweetness. The flavor is nicely balanced but not really that interesting. Medium sweetness is tapered well by agressive but never overpowering hops that lend a steady and moderately high level of bitterness throughout the flavor. The finish is long and sweet, bitter hops lingering and eventually changing sweet to extreme dryness, quite the velocity shift at the end. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, sticky, creamy and boasts aggressive carbonation that’s only noticeable upon first sip. This is very well balanced, a well executed recipe but it’s just too boring. I don’t need aggression here, but I need something memorable. Nothing stands out however, not even a feeling of satisfaction or ease of drinkability.

Pours reddish copper with a frothy, but relatively short lived off-white head. The aroma is very piney along with some earthiness (not a dirty british hops earthiness) and a touch of citrus. The aroma foretells the aggressive hopping. On the malt side, there is a little caramel and a bit of a nuttiness. The beer is bracingly bitter, there is a little malt sweetness, some honey, caramel, and clean maltiness, but this beer is bitter. It is very much an aggressive American IPA, much like it’s west coast brethren. The flavor is very piney and spicy with some softer apricot/peach? notes. The finish is lingering bitterness followed by an even longer lingering pine. Enjoyable, nice when you want a bruiser.

16 oz. can via trade with Robertsreality, thanks Rob. solid IPA in every aspect. great copper color with a tan head and incredible lacing. nice balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness, especially for around 100 IBU’s. very enjoyable.

Tap at Highway Mike’s: Pours a deep amber/copper color with a large beige head and light lacing. Aroma is medium sweet, very floral with citrus, grapefruit and caramel. Flavor is grapefruit, floral, orange, some caramel and a bit resiny. Very nice hop bite. Medium bodied, creamy texture. Finshes as hoppy as it starts, great American IPA.

From the cask at Night of the Living Ales in Chicago under the name Tea-bagged Furious. Orange/cooper color. Aroma is strong with pine, grapefruit, and a bunch of citrus. Actually had some sweet malt in there to try to balance with the bitterness from the hops. Hops win, which is the way I like it. Very good beer.