Surly Oak Aged CynicAle

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

At Darkness Day in my Darkness glass. Aroma of spices and fruit, some floral aroma also. Flavor is sweet with a bit of a bite at the end. Smooth.

a huge thanks to akevitt for guarding this thing until I could finish previous obligations. Smells exactly like the Regular cynic, but with a noticqble woodiness from the oak. Likewise with the flavor. The primary impact was in the in the increased sweetness of the body and in the smooth, creamy oaky finish. A worthy experiment with oak.

On cask drawn at Buster’s on 28th tavern in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the one year anniversary appreciation party. Pours a hazy light golden orange brew with a thick and heavy creamy white head that doesn’t go away. Aroma of Belgian yeast, apricot and peach fruit, honey and light golden multi-grain malt. Taste is much smoother than the regular CynicAle with additional flavors of candi sugar, vanilla and white oak. Finish does not have the typical Surly bite though has a mild bitterness and quickly disappears.

A big improvement over regular Cynic. A cleaner tasting beer and the cask highlights the fruits and spices that taste nice. A little sweet on the palate but smooth.

On tap at Stub and Herbs. Cask CONDITIONED and dry hopped with Slovenian Celeia, the first of its kind according to head brewer Todd. Smelled of typical cynic, and the taste was amazingly smooth with nice fruity esters with a slight bittering effect of the hops. A great way to have this beer!

At Darkness Day in my plastic cup. Aroma of spices and oak. Flavor is a bit more subdued then the regular version but the oak gives it a very smooth palette.

Draft. Poured a slightly hazy orange color. The head was white with decent retention and lacing. As with the standard Cynic, there were familiar aromas of yeasty bread dough, spices, and fruit (including citrus and apricot). I love how this smelled. The oak aging was not evident to me in the nose. Medium bodied and a little sweet with some bitterness emerging at the end. Smooth and creamy. The flavor profile included the likes of flaky apricot pastry, baking spices, yeasty bread dough, and a hint of orange. There was only a hint of oak. Tasty.

On draught at the Blue Nile for Al’s 40th.The beer was hazy gold-orange with generous off-white head. The aroma and flavor is similar to last year’s CynicAle. But, the flavor was less hoppy and slightly sweeter. Faint oak and hop finish. Palate-wise the beer was creamy and smooth. This beer has the record for longest lasting head (> 3hrs).