Surly Two

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

0.75 L bottle, kindly shared by yngwie. A coarse, yellowish, foamy head upon a very dark, mahogny colored body. Dry, vinous aroma. A prominent smell of berries up front. Fresh, natural, with a rounded tartness. Chocolate notes and a mild coffee in the background. Suggestions of wood and cellar. Taste is complex and balanced. A rich cranberry flavor, dry, tart and fresh, blends well in with the lightly toasted, chocolatey malts. Coffee notes and a touch of vanilla and wood. Well-bodied. A pleasant astringency on the palate. Dry, vinous, berry-fruity finish. A lovely fruit beer!

Shared bottle that cellared quite well. Poured black/brown with ruby tones showing through, and a bubbly head that diminished so quickly that it was hard to get a read on the color. I guess somewhat off white/light tan, leaving a very small ring, light film, and some spots of lacing. The aroma was tart dark fruit and a touch of vinous nature. The flavor was tart cranberries, only a hint of sweetness, dark chocolate, some moderate hop bitterness and a dry, slightly tannic finish. The alcohol didn’t seem to show up. As I said when this first came out for Surly’s 2nd anniversary. A big fruit, novelty brew, that was enjoyable trying once. But in this case, twice, and better than a year and a half later.

(Bottle, thanks Guerde and OSLO!) Pours dark brown to black with a light brown head. The aroma is of sour cranberries with (chocolate/dark bread) roasted malt in the background. Undertones of raspberry vinegar, honey, vanilla covered green apples, mouldy basement, wood, coconut and butter. The flavour is light sweet, light bitter and medium acidic with notes of tart cranberries, roast, wood, vanilla, butter, vinegar and hints of fruits. The mouthfeel is astringent and tart. Dry finish. Medium bodied. More interesting than fantastic. Still one of the best fruit-flavour stouts I have tried.

Sampled at the ’09 RBPTE, courtesy of treyrab. Light fruity hops with cherry aromas, cranberry and mint?, a bit of oxidation and mild malt sweetness. Dark brown-ruby murky body with spare light brown head. Medium body with lively carbonation and a chalky astringent after. Fairly tart with good acidity and only light sweetness and bitterness. An interesting beer.

Bottle courtesy of Immy at Immy’s Backyard Throwdown. Pours brown in color with brown head. Aroma roasted malt, coffee and fruit. Taste sweet, chocolate and fruity with bitter finish.

Dark brown with a big tan head. Big old fruity aroma. Cranberries are there, of course, chocolaty and full of dark malt. Sweet, cranberry, big. I’m not sure what I should think of this, it’s not really imperial stout-ish, but I don’t know how else to really think of the flavor combination.

Sample at the 8/9 Pgh tasting, thanks to Treyrab! Smell is big and volatile. Dark with a big foamy head. Big heavy alky beer taste impressions. Cranberries in there fer sure. Comes across like an impy stout with fruit in there. Some creamy carbonation in ther. Has many of the attributes that I find in wine. Thanks trey!

Sample at the 8/9 Pgh tasting, thanks to Treyrab!
Dark brown with a small tan head. Nose shows significant malt depth, the heavy cranberry and imperial stout chocolate balanced nicely. The flavor is even more impressive, and though quite sweet, the incredible malt depth is never lost behind the sweet fruit and chocolate notes because the cranberry imparts a soft tart balance. Decadent stuff and among my favorites of the day.