Surly Oak Aged Two

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

Great Taste 2008. I had a glass of the oak aged with cranberries next to the regular version of Two, and I must say I was significantly more impressed with this one. The other was good, but this was one of the highlights of the day. It seems I’m growing more found of the edition of tart fruits to beers these days. The color was a murky brown, almost cask like it its appearance. Notes of fall spices lead into an impressive acidity and cranberry/currant finish. One of the highlights of the day, and much more impressive than Bourbon One.

FoBAB 2008. Dark brown with small brown head Aroma is noticabley woody with chocolate, roast, subtle sweetness and coffee. Flavor is much the same with some darker fruits and dryer than it smells. Medium body with light carbonation. Very nice.

(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!

Pours like mud or melted chocolate mix very murky huge rocky tan head. Big bourbon oak and vanilla notes, mostly barreling in the aroma some light tart fruits come through but only a little here. Full well coated pal. Tart fruits that I first thought were raspberry from the sweetness but I guess are cranberries. Reminds me of sour brown after that. a light vanilla comes through some good oak dryness. Notes of bourbon in the finish and a good amount of acidity. Very nice beer.

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.

Tap GTMW 2008 Aroma is chocolate, bourbon/oak, malts, and some fruit. Appearance is dull, murky brown with scant head. Taste is very cranberry, oak, lots of dark maltiness, sweetness, and a lactic sourness. Very, very nice. Finish is lactic and full. Awesome.

Small sample, on tap at Great Taste of the Midwest. Consumed on 8-9-2008. Pours deep brown with a light brown hue and beige head. Pleasant, sharp, fruity, and malty aroma. The smell is more subtle than I expected. Cranberry obvious in the taste but more subdued than it is in non-oaked Two. Sour and tart sharpness. Less "stout-y," fruity, and tart than regular Two; more subtle. Full body. Thick and silky. Reasonably lively in the palate. Excellent mouthfeel. The barreling makes this a different and more subtle beer. It remains a very good one, but it lacks the flavor explosion of the original.

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.