Surly Three

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

On draught during Winterfest 2009 in St. Paul, MN. Pours a semi-hazy dark amber brown with a creamy off-white head that quickly leaves behind an excellent lacing. Aroma of mostly honey, brown sugar, caramel malt, some toffee and a hint of nutmeg. Taste is full bodied, with a very complex flavor of honey, sweet caramel malt, a hint of Graham cracker, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, a hint of banana and candi sugar. Wow! Finish is just plain sweet with a honey, brown sugar and caramel aftertaste. Definitely is quite sweet compared to all the other braggots I have tried over the years, which gave me a warm sensation below my eyes which usually occurs when it eat Baklava for dessert. Wow again!

On tap at GTMW. Porued rich, chocolatey-golden (yeah.. chocolatey-golden) with an unexpectedly lovely, well-retained head on it. The aroma picked up sweet, toasty honey and floral character with pinches of caramel and chocolate backing.. not your traditional mead, but a welcome departure. The flavor had more dark honey and floral notes with a touch of peppery spicage accenting.. moderately-sweet.. chocolate-covered oranges and dark honey on the long finish. Medium-plus bodied and well-carbonated on the palate.. warm, but it went down very easily.. very much intriguing!

Draft at Sheffields. Nice brown pour. Aroma is sweet and spicy. Honey notes, cookies, very light chocolate, caramel and some boozy notes. Flavor is sweet but not cloying. Honey and spicy with a rich mouthfeel. Good stuff.

Winterfest 2009. Well carbonated, even for a bracket. Some honey aroma. Clearly recognizable as not a pure mead. I don’t get the bourbon, but I do get some white wine. Medium palate.

on tap at the Maproom. pours black with khaki head. nose of sweet honey, malty, currants, beerys, vanilla, and oak. flavors of sweet honey, raisins, very mild roast, caramelized malts, port wine, and vanilla. lots going on with this and i think it somehow works very well. i can’t believe it is 10% braggot cuz it drinks like a 7% porter. a really enjoyable combination of honey and carmelized malt that never get too sweet or syrupy.

Tap at winterfest. A solid braggot. Honey and malts on the aroma with a spicy character, particularly cinnamon and vanilla. A sweet honey body that went down easily.

Draft at Bavarian Lodge, Lisle. I wasn’t feeling well this day, but just the smell of this nectar made me feel better right away. Belgian-type smell of dark, but not bitter malts, and golden honey. Solid black color, with a slowly dwindling, creamy tan head. Taste is just amazing: the honey sweetness of a mead with chewy malt mouthfeel of a schartzbier of Belgian black wit. Yes, some vanilla, a bit of cinnamon, wood and then way in the back is some tart orange. And that lovely honey. Yes, I’m probably over-rating this, but this just exactly was what I needed when I’m feeling poorly. The country needs more braggots! And this site needs to give it its own category!

Draft at Bavarian Lodge 4/30/09-Pours a black with a small head. Aroma of sweetness, honey , and malt. Taste of the same with some cinammon, nutmeg, and vanilla. This medium bodied Mead was a nice tasting brew.