Surly Smoke

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

Draught at GABF 2008. Black coloured with a small beige head. Roasted aroma of caramel, coffee, rye bread and chocolate. Light roasted flavour of caramel, rye bread and chocolate with notes of smoke and hops. Roasted and warming alcoholic finish.

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

Appearance: black, fine beige head,
Aroma: dark chocolate aroma with lots of smoke,
Flavor: dark chocolate flavor is well integrated with the smoke, dark caramel sweetness adds the needs depth and balance,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **+/4

Muddy dark brown. Lightly smokey nose with some chocolatey/fudgey overtones. Soft body. Fudgey on the palate, with a slight smoke finish.

(Draft) Pours a black body with a small creamy beige head. Aroma of smoke, roastiness, brown sugar, plums, and raisins. Flavor of smoke, rye, dark fruits, and roasted malt.

On tap at the Great Taste of the Midwest (8/9/08): Mostly opaque dark mahogany black with a thin, wispy-lacing dark tan head. Aroma of sweet dark caramel and chocolate with nice smoky character. Body starts rich, smooth and bittersweet with great smoky character throughout and just the right amount of sweetness. A very nice smoked Baltic porter.

Nearly 100% pitch black color with a creamy dark brown head. Smoke level is medium in the nose, there’s quite a bit of chocolate and coffee, a little roast and some small amount of creamy milk notes as well. Full and slick texture, chalky chocolate and resinous coffee, smoke is minimal... the meat of this beer is the creamy chocolate and wood... decadent stuff. Impressive.

I was happily surprized to see this on tap at Lunar Brewing. (Also surprized to not see this listed under the Smoked style.) Its arrival in the Chicago area had been much balyhooed at one location, but one of my fave brewpubs managed to slip it in quietly, offering me a no-limit sampling... which to me means a glass or many.
Served in a snifter, it has a very dark mahogany body with ruby highlights and a creamy tan head, soon reduced to film and bubbles. The aroma has only trace amounts of smoke, mainly being sweet, roasted dark malts with a bit of chocolate and a light woody bitterness. The smoke kicks up in the flavor, and I got a mouthful of Virginia smoked ham along with the malt and chocolate, somehow blending together in a most satisfactory fashion. As it warmed, it developed an underlying dark fruitiness as well. The finish is smokey and meaty with some malty sweetness. Very nice. I love this (Lunar) brewpub, not only brewing fine beers but gutsy enough to have quality guests as well. Chicago area folk who haven’t been here yet are chumps!

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Brewing Company, Villa Park, IL<font size=-1>

Earlier Rating: 11/5/2007 Total Score: 4
Had this one on BBB63’s advice. Thanks, Mike. It poured dark brown, nearly black, with a dinkus off-white head. It has a smoothly smokey nose accompanied by some dark malts, a splash of chocolate, almond extract, and oak. Add to the flavor some dark dried fruits, oak, and a bit more smoke. Smooth and creamy to drink. I want more!

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago, IL 11/03/2007<font size=-1>

FoBAB 2007: Opaque with a fading head but left oily legs upon the glass. The aroma has a beautiful smoky nose along with plum, raisin, hazelnut, oak and bready esters. The taste has an initial malty profile with a background of ripened fruits, A big smoky and meaty finish is nearly perfect. A lovely flavorful beer. The mouth feel is lush and smooth with a smoky and barrel dryness upon the finish. A wonderful brew and one of my favorites at the fest.