Surly Bender

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

Serve in Dimpled mug

The beer is a very dark brown, with a surprisingly very light tan head. There is about 3 fingers of head, great retention and lacing. The aroma is medium with a light coffee in it. The taste is actually really good for a brown, which is one of my least favorite styles. It is very flavorful, not overwhelming and very drinkable.

UPDATED: MAY 18, 2007 II believe that merging Teabag Bender and standard Bender was an error as the beers have very different flavors, but apparently the admins don’t believe me. I rating below is for teabag bender for anyone lucky enough to find it. Spicy tea aroma, and spicy green tea flavor. It leaves a green tea flavor on the palate, and it is not as nearly as heavily hopped as the standard bender. Some lemongrass. The tea comes through quite well overall. Another successul beer from Surly. The palate however, it very light.
Earlier Rating: 4/14/2006 Total Score: 3.7
Maybe the best brown ale ever, even though it doesn’t fit into any style very well. The aroma is mosty hops and light malt, but this is fairly light. Flavor is coffee, medium sweet malt, and hops. With the dark color it is like an oatmeal stout generously hopped. As it warms the flavor changes and strange yeasty, but not bad flavors come out. An unusual creation and quite good.

16 oz can, via joebrew. Pours a clear brown colored body under a smallish brown fizzy head that faded to a patchy film. Some sticky lacing remained. Aroma is nutty and lightly roasted malts with a nice balancing hoppiness. Some chocolate, light alcohol, a little fruitiness, and a touch of vanilla. Very nice substantial flavor for a usually boring style. Lots of nutty grainy malt with a slightly roasty accent up front. Moderately dry finish with a nice lightly bitter finish. Mouthfeel is light-medium bodied, fairly dry with moderate soft fizzy carbonation. Almost creamy in texture. A damn fine Brown Ale. Never thin or watery and had enough hops to make itself stand out among the crowd. This is my highest rated Brown Ale, and it deserves it.

Can via trade with brewso, many thanks. Pours deep brown lighter towards the bottom with a thick two finger tan head. The aroma is malty and robust with nice sugary notes. Taste is very rich, full of roasted malt, chocolate, and some sugar. Damn this is a good brown, now if I can try Darkness and the others I’ll be excited.

Courtesy of Styles

Can: The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, light berries, and a hint of nuttiness. It’s a reddish-brown with some transparency and a small beige head. The flavor starts with caramel, berries, and chocolate. Finishes with light roasted nut notes and a hint of earthy bitterness. Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Can courtesy of Stine: Poured a cloudy dark brown color ale with a nice foamy head with better then average retention. Aroma of caramel malt with light bitter hops. Taste is also dominated by caramel with some light bitter hops. Body is quite full with some great carbonation. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this one considering the brilliance of the two other offerings I had from this fine brewer.

Can from Brewso. Pours a fairly clear, dark cherry color. Its really a borderline deep ruby-purple hue. There’s a decent off-white head that quickly dissipates to a thin, patchy film. Small amounts of spotted lacing dot the glass. The aroma is of dark roasted malts, burnt caramel, cocoa beans, and the slightest hint of dark rum. The flavor is very malty up front, with caramel and cocoa showing strong. There’s also a bit of oakiness and some lightly smoky, Scotch Ale type flavors. A decent amount of herbal hops add a nice bitterness that balances this brew almost perfectly. Medium body that goes down very smooth, with a lingering burnt caramel aftertaste. Awesome brown ale!

Can, 16 oz from hellomynameis; nose of rye toast, caramelized sugar, and faint hops; dark walnut colored with a small tan head; flavor of whole wheat, lightly roasted, caramel, with a malty finish which slowly fades to a little hop bitterness. Excellent brown,