Surly Oak Aged Two

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

Date: 08/09/2008
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Great Taste

Appearance: mudy dark brown, scant head,
Aroma: rich chocolate aroma, lots of earthy oak, only a hint of sweetness from some dark caramel,
Flavor: rich dark caramel and chocolate flavor, lots of oak, light oaky tartness, long light bitter finish from the earth and oak,

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **+/4

(Draught) Pours a dark murky brown with a creamy medium tan head. Aroma of sour fruit, rye bread, oak, and caramel. Flavor of cranberries, caramel, chocolate, and oak. Tasty!

On tap at the Great Taste of the Midwest (8/9/08): Pours a mostly opaque dark mahogany with a well-lacing froth of creamy tan head. Aroma of sweet toasty caramel and light fruits with a touch of woody oak. Body starts fairly full and semi-sweet with a tart fruity cranberry balance before a drier oaky tart finish. A pretty interesting fruit beer.

GTMW 2008: Deep brown with an okay head and some lace. The aroma has notes of twangy fruits, caramel malts, toast, vanilla, and oak. The taste is acidic and fruity at first but the barrel influence shows up quickly. A strange allspice finish. The mouth feel is sharp and biting. Okay brew but seems to lack focus.

Special Release at 1:30 pm, and served on draught at the GTMW ’08. Pours an opaque dark reddish brown brew with a thin tan head that has some nice retention and spotty lacing. Aroma of roasted dark malt, dark pitted fruit, dark chocolate, molasses and some tart cranberries. Taste is not as thick as the regular version, though still full bodied, with flavors of sour dark malt, cranberries, dark chocolate and a touch of raspberries. Finish is semi-tart and mildly bitter along with a smooth dark roasted malt and cranberry aftertaste. The oak aging has done some nice smoothing out this special release beer.

On tap at GTMW. Poured thick, sludgy medium brown with a short cap of beige head.. looked kinda like mud. The aroma picked up lots of barrel (sour oak and bourbon) with a hint of vanilla.. heavy cranberry tartness was a welcome addition.. chocolate and a bit more dark maltage came through, but it was well buried. The flavor had semi-sweet chocolate and lesser caramel maltage at the core with sour bourbon and cranberry skin tartness surrounding.. long sour impression on the finish with more of the fruit.. good stuff. Heavily-bodied and warm on the palate with lots of fruity tartness.. lots of barrel in here, but it worked.

FoBAB 2008. Poured a dark brown color with a light brown head. My first impression of the aroma was strange. I smelled distinct Asian beetle/lady bug. That smell you get on your fingers if you so much as touch one of the little buggers. I also got nondescript fruits, wood, and a bit of alcohol. Light to medium bodied with lots of wood flavor. When I say lots, I mean like chewing a two by four. A cedar two by four. Very distinct cedar. In addition to the wood I also tasted some tart berry. I thought this relatively delicate beer was overpowered by the wood.

GTMW 2008. The beer pours to a murky brown sludge with a thin light beige head. The beer tastes like a bourbon sour brown and has a very complex tartness of cranberries. The aroma is tart cranberries and brown malts. Nice tart palate. Bonus points overall for complexity that tastes pretty awesomely unique.