Surly Two

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

Rating #700. Bottle courtesy tpd975. Thanks Greg for such a rare treat. Pours black with a one finger tan head. Strong aroma of cranberries with a hint of roasted malt. Taste is the same as aroma. Medium mouthfeel with a mild amount of bitterness and a mild to moderate amount of acidity. Alcohol is very well hidden. Not very complex but good.

badbeer supplied a bottle of this bad boy. Thanks Mike! early black pour with a small khaki head. Aroma was cranberry juice, hops, caramel, toffee. Flavor was tart cran up front, chocolate, coffee, orange citrus. Slightly sour finish. almost puckering at first but not bad once you have a sip or two. Medium carbonation, long finish.

Black color, with a beige head that had good retention and spotty lacing. Smell of cranberries, though I don’t know that I would have said cranberries over sour cherries, had I not known cranberries were used. Smell was also pretty hoppy; which somehow worked well with the rest of the character of this beer. Taste had tart cranberries, tannins, plums, and just a bit of roast. Medium bodied and light on the carbonation. I rather enjoyed this and wish I had another bottle of it.

Bottle shared at Cbus tasting 11. I LIKED IT. Not a huge fan of fruit beers but this one was good. Pour was blackish brown with amber hues. Smell was vanilla and berries. Flavor to me was maple syrup and cranberries. A delightful treat on my tongue. And KUDOS on the artwork. I love it. Very nice bottle work. Probably one of my favorite fruit beers of all time. And hey, since cranberries are good for the urinary tract, I guess I will go have another...

On draught at the Acadia. March 23rd The beer was opaque black with thick creamy brown head. In the aroma there was hops (not obnoxious), roasted malt, and mild cranberry. In the flavor there were Surly’s signature hops, tart/sour cranberries, and sweet roasted malt. The beer was smooth with a dry cranberry finish. As it warmed I got more alcohol, faint oak, roasted malt, and cranberry/dark fruit.

On draught at the Blue Nile for Al’s 40th June 28th. The beer was opaque black with thick creamy brown/tan head. In the aroma there was oak, subtle cranberries, and roasted malt. In the flavor there was a lot of oak, some tart cranberries, and subtle roasted malt. The beer was smooth with a tart cranberry/oaky finish. As it warmed it got even more oaky.

[Tap] at Pigfoot’s 40th birthday party at the Blue Nile. Pours deep, deep brown with a medium tan head of fairly fine bubbles. Aroma is a little tart, malty but difficult to nail down a base style. Not a whole lot of hops in the nose, but the cranberries really come through, especially as it warms. Flavor is a bit sweet and malty, with the cranberries really coming through towards the middle and end. Somewhat of a lasting tartness from the cranberries. The biggest disappointment was the thin mouthfeel, but otherwise a decent beer.

Bottle shared with Doc, Not to be rude: Pours a very deep brown with a thin white head. Aroma is of tart cranberry and an undertone of cranberry. Taste is tart with cranberry, with slight tastes or carmel and choclate. Finish is very tart.

In short: Simplistic syrupy black ale of some kind
How: Tap at Clark Street Ale House (Chicago)
The look: Black body toped by a small beige ring of foam
In long: A big syrupy. The truckload of cranberries and black roasted malts turn into a sticky black liquorice flavour. So much so that the cranberries were not even the dominant flavour. Mainly I had an overall impression of a fruity tar. No complexity, not subtlety. Where are the hops? Finish is burnt rubber. Just a big brutal syrupy beer. Surly Two much for its own good.