Surly Mild

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

Tap at the Pig.  Very nice biscuity malt and some tropical fruits as well as some light floral hoppy notes.  Nice balanced toasty biscuity sweet malt and tropical fruits fiinish it out.  I am sure this is a killer mild, but having only had one before, and an average one at that I am rating with no tipicity.

Surly Mild release at the Happy Gnome 1/16/08. Malty aroma; a little syrupy. Sweet & sugary. Murky, reddish brown with a thin, tan head. Nice lace. Very little hop. A little vacuous. Malty and dry. Sweetness in nose doesn’t translate. Has a nice yeast in the finish. A pleasant, easy drinking session brew that I’d order again. The yeast finish makes it.

Semi-clear, reddish brown, with a nice, tight, light tan head. Mostly malty aroma, caramel & chocolate, toasty, solid. smooth, creamy. Nothing jumps out, but it isn’t supposed to. Taste: It’s all about the smooth, and it’s all about the malt. Hops are here, and higher than other milds, (25 IBUS, if I remember right), and you can just taste them on the tongue, but they’re playing it cool, too. Crisp malt flavor, judiciously applied, lies right underneath every gulp & swallow. Body is medium light, not anywhere near watery, but surprisingly thin for a Surly brew. Well, this, I guess, is their notice to us, saying, "Watch out, don’t categorize us, we can be boring, too!" I can’t help but like Mild, it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy, and the malt profile is tasty. There’s just enough flavor to make you happy. And yet, it wasn’t designed with my palate in mind, for I keep wanted a bit more...I keep missing the Belgian malts of Bender, or the hop attack of Furious. I got that from my customers, too. Many had a sample and went back to Bender...or Furious. Nice low, languid finish, malts hang tight on the tongue and the deliciousness sticks around. I take back what I said. This is not a boring beer, just a bit more mellow in flavor than their usual entries. That’s one thing I don’t think Surly is capable of: brewing a boring beer. I don’t think, like any true artist, Todd has it in him to do so. Mild does serve a nice niche, though, and I hope to see it again in the future, ...but not at the expense of Furious or bender!

I thought it was like a bitter, and a good one. Light red in color and very low carbonation. The aroma is simple malt. The flavor has abundant malt as well, and has a lightly roasted flavor to it. Good palate and fairly full bodied for a beer that is in no way complex. Very drinkable, like a mild or bitter should be.

Tap at the Blue Nile. Only having tried one prior mild ale I wasn’t quite sure how to rate this one. I can’t really rate to style because the only other mild I’ve had was absolutely nothing like this beer. I know... mild ale is a broad and vague category, but I have to echo Nuffield’s comments that is well more along the lines of a bitter than anything else. Surly has never been known to brew to style anyway. Whatever.

Pours a nice looking dark amber/copper with a frothy white head leaving moderate lacing down the glass. Aroma of lightly toasted biscuity malt and subdued grassy hops. Creamy and leaning toward flat on the palate. Almonds, toasted caramel, salt water, spicy rye bread on the tongue. Underwhelming at best.

Pours a deep hazy brown/red with a thin layer of white head, mostly lacing. Medium bodied. Flavors of caramel and malts followed by a bit of bitterness. Smooth, which is normally the case. Everything seems to be underplayed, from aromas to flavor. Surprised it so subdued. The only thing the beer really has to back it up is that it is by Surly. Expected better. Tapped at Happy Gnome in Saint Paul

On tap at Happy Gnome. Bright brownish red color, some lacing. Medium bodied. Smooth on the palate. Flavor is initially dry nutty malts, followed by a hint of underlying sweetness. Basic dry hop finish. Has that underlying soft Surly quality, but I’m not sure what to attribute that to, be it the water or yeast or whatever. So yes, this beer isn’t mind blowing. It shouldn’t be. It is, however, a solid session brew. Ironically, Surly came out with a "weaker" beer after coming out with a number of big delicious beers. I say for the style, this is well made.

I was told by the bartender that this is 4.1% abv--not *exactly* mild as I know it (I tend to like it around 3.5, maybe 3.8%)--indeed, if it is 4.1%, it begs the question of how I distinguished this beer from an English bitter. There are a lot of similarities: there’s a strong nut note driving this, but the overall profile is marked by the mildly sweet maltiness producing fruity qualities, esp. raspberry. The underlying profile, when I could dig it out (served too cold), suggested La Folie. Yes, that’s right, La Folie. Only, not really because you’re dealing here with a very subdued beer that is marked more by its notable carbonation than its elegance of composition. Deep red/maroon/amber in color. Basically this seemed more like a bitter on carbonation than the milds I loved most in England. But then, mild isn’t a distinct category. Only, the best milds I had were essentially lunchtime stouts, rich brown/black with complex chocolates and roastiness. This brew is forgettable, aided only by the good reputation of this fine brewery. (on tap, The Happy Gnome)