Surly Bender

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

Serve in Dimpled mug

Pours a dark brown color with a thin tan head. Has a nutty chocolate smell to it. Taste is more or less the same but with a slight bitter after taste. Overall not a bad brown.

16 oz. bomber can......Dark Brown with a black creamy head. Earthy tones in the aroma but not much. Initially, earthy and orange notes. Chocolate flavor. Over all it tasted like a light beer that was dark in color. Decent but nothing to write home about.

can poured a dark ruby brown in color with a one finger light tan head. aroma has nutty brown malt, well integrated hops, and a bit of earthy richness with the oats. mouth feel is medium for the style and the carbonation on the lighter side. I was hoping for a little more thickness from the oats. flavor comes off with loads of malt, generous hops lending bitterness, earth, light bitter cocoa, nuts, and a light lactic finish. Interesting that the most oats are in the flavor. overall a nice take on a brown with nice bold malted flavors.

Draft at Hopleaf. Roast brown with a poofy soft head of foam. Nice nutty aroma. First impression is of creamy goodness -- This drinks on with a really easy-going style for a rowdy brew. Excellent. (#3904, 5/8/2010)

Definitely a different brew - too thin to be a porter but more complex than your typical boring brown ale. Definitely easy drinking, as Surly describes, but does have light hop notes and variety of malt flavors to make it interesting. On tap at Hopleaf.

On tap. Poured a dark brown with dark ruby highlights. Nice khaki head. Nutty aroma with a hint of coffee, too. Flavor is creamy with flavors of nuts, oats, and coffee. Has a dry and slightly bitter finish. Very smooth and silky on the palate. Very nice.

Had this on draft at Jake Melnick’s in Chicago. Dark Brown with a black creamy head, nice lacing on the glass. Some earthy tones in the aroma but not much. Initially, earthy and orange notes. Also A little chocolate flavor reminded me of stale brownies. Medium bodied and carbonation, hoppy bitter finish at the end. I had this beer after drinking a glass of the Surly Furious. I couldn’t really tell if the hoppiness I was tasting was leftover finish of the Furious, or if it was part of this beer as well, but that taste didn’t work well with me in this beer. Hopefully, I can review it again if I come accross it.

A- Body is nearly transparent mahogany hue. Pours with a 1-2 finger off-white foamy head. Head eventually fades to 1/2 finger and has perfect retention from there. Plenty of lacing left all the way down the glass. S- A bright citrus hoppy scent comes through first. This is followed by roasted chocolate and caramel malt accented with a touch of vanilla and toffee sweetness. T- The flavor initially has a big citrus hop accent but a nice balance of caramel and chocolate malt can be detected in the background along with a hint of vanilla. For the finish a bit of hop and roasted malt bitterness comes through but is balanced by the ever steady flavors of citrus hops, vanilla, and caramel malt. What lingers is some citrus hop flavor along with a subtle hint of everything else going on. P- Medium tingly carbonation and a medium weight body. Body is smooth and a good amount of hop oils can be detected. O- This is an awesome brown ale. One of my favorites so far. Reminds me a lot of Terrapin Indian Brown. Great hoppy characteristics accent a nice, complex brown ale with a good mouthfeel. Would trade for this again; though it is similar to the Terrapin which is locally available. Drinkability is great and ABV is undetectable. Serving type: can Reviewed on: 01-07-2009 05:34:11