Surly One

Formerly brewed at Surly Brewing Company
Style: Doppelbock
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota USA

This actually looks sweet. The body is a blend of dark red, grainy mahogany and shimmering gold. A creamy beige head tops the body and fades slowly, never fully. The aroma is very sweet and moderately alcoholic. Notes of various citrus and nuts are dwarfed by looming ethanol. Anise and vanilla in fleeting clumps. Caramel is pleasant, as is a sturdy hop profile. Light toast conncludes the sensory delve. The alcohol is also too prominent in the flavor. Incredibly heavy sweetness throughout. Other than that, the flavor is lightly bitter and quite good. Caramel and grain notes are top notch. Finishes cloying, sticky and warm, caramel lingering a short while. The mouthfeel is velvety and substantial. Good carbonation level, medium-full body, incredibly sticky and clinging. Just too sweet to be thoroughly enjoyable. This beer screams of quality ingredients, that’s a great plus.

(Draft, courtesy of Omar) Pours a clear burgundy body with a creamy medium-sized beige head. Aroma of citrus, nuts, and maple syrup. Flavor of caramel, raisins, plums, and dark malts.

Draught sample at brewery during the Surly tour, RBSG Minneapolis, June 23 2007. Thick dark red -rust/blood- brown with a light semi-stable beige head....pungent hops, hints of seaweed and minerals, light caramel, and just a touch of not-so-pleasant industrial cleanser, though that disappears by the end of the sample....body too, alas, has a somewhat unpleasant soapy/bleachy edge to it, and the extreme sweetness doesn’t help.....there are some nice maple/vanilla notes, and the syrupy thickness is mostly malts and not candy-cloying, with just enough finishing dryness to keep it from disaster, but....this one really didn’t work for me at all; my friend Kathy and I tasted this apart from the general group and were both surprised at the high marks other people gave to it....oh well, ya gotta be the odd man out some time; at any rate this doesn’t detract from all the other great beers that Omar & company are putting out, and I’m sure glad I got to sample it.

On tap at the brewery during 07 RBSG. Jewel like ruby red color with a foamy beige head. The nose was really sweet with honey, candi sugar, juicey ripe fruit and alcohol. The sweetness carries through to the flavor, with caramel, toffee, burnt table sugar, along with some sherry, raisins and an almost cherry note. The alcohol is noticable, but not distracting. This is a huge lager.

Draft… RBSG 07… Crystal clear, very dark ruby lager with a medium-sized, creamy, khaki head. Incredible retention. Very vinous and sweet in both the aroma and flavor; plenty of toffee, port and caramel. Full-bodied with ticklish carbonation. Dark fruit, caramel, sweet finish.

RBSG 2007 Tour at Surly - Deep copper, creamy kahaki colored head. Nose held nice notes of sweet caramel and cherry with lightly breaded fig notes. Honeysuckle and dark fruitcake-like flavor dominates from start to finish. Full bodied, soft carbonation, sweet dark fruit finish. Thanks to Omar for breaking this out. Very nice change of pace...

(draft, thanks to Omar) Creamy beige head with nice lacing atop hazy copper body. Aroma is moderately sweet, cherry, caramel, lager yeast. Taste is moderately sweet, cherry, caramel, honey, some fig/plum. Smooth medium-full body, some sticky. Seems like a doppelbock to me.

On tap at the brewery: Pours a clear deep red with an off white head. Aroma, some fruity notes, yeast, sweet malts. Flavor, caramel, fruity, molasses, sweet with some slight floral notes as well. Very nice brew.