Surly Bender

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

Serve in Dimpled mug

Tap at Barley Johns. Brown Coloring with Good White Head. Nice Hop Aroma Detected Initially...Toasted Malt, Not Too Dry...With Age Seems to Round out a Bit More..Soft Chocolately-ness....Light Oats and Hops to Really Round This one Out. Big Flavor for a 5% Brew. Easy to Critic With Great Waters, Town Hall and Barley Johns Brews so Close, but Surly Promises to be a Heavily Enjoyed Brewery in our State.

16oz can thanks to photomike. Dark brown with a lasting beige head. The aroma is a nice grain blend with some oats, dark toasted bread, light chocolate malt, dusty cocoa powder and a hint of caramel. It is subtle, but there is a lot of nuance. The flavor is light on sweetness but still has a nice toasty, chocolatey and lightly roasty malt component with a medium grapefruit peel bitterness that is mostly in balance with the malt. Creamy body that is a little on the heavier side, but certainly not thick. A very good brown ale that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have to say that I have been nothing but amazed with Surly thus far.

Can looks awesome!!!! bonus points there....pour is brownish with lots of ruby red highlights and a dense sticky brown head...smell is lightly toasty and has hints of cocoa...nice rich and chewy mouthfeel...taste is sweet and toasty with lots of cocoa and nutty flavors...light bitterness adds a little sharpness that clears out the sweet chewy flavors and feel...what a treat from my asshole friend fly!!!

Pours dark brown with off tan head, aroma is full of coffee and chocolate. The beginning of the taste is surprisingly (and refreshingly) hoppy that leads into a wonderful chocolate, coffee, toffee, caramel blend of sweetness that bitters nicely from the hops at the end. Excellent and the best brown ale I’ve had!

Pour was a brown with a tan head. Aroma was quite hoppy for a brown with seom nots of caramel and chocolate. Flavor was more of a roasted malt with some chocolate and roasted nuts. A decent brown.

16oz can, no date from hellomynameis, thank you Zac! Pours a clear orange brown with a 1/2 finger beige head. Toasted grain, sweet caramel and vanilla are up front. Hints of chocolate and light roasted malts in the background. Flavor adds light grassy hops and a little more roasted malts. Finish is semi-dry with some roasty malts. Minimal bitterness. Light to moderate carbonation with a smooth medium body. A great brown ale--hooray for the Futurama reference.

I’ve been wanting to try some Surly brew for awhile now. I guess I didn’t realize that it was canned, but that’s okay. After all, it’s "Beer for a glass, from a can." I think the can factor adds a bit of uniqueness to it. I’m pretty open-minded anyways and always enjoy something different... Bender is just about the color of Dr. Pepper (dark brown with ruby highlights). It has a puffy caramel-colored head that slowly fades to a similarly-colored veil. There is some scant lacing. The aroma is like chocolate cake with a nutty and earthy quality to it. The flavor is roasted malt, nutty caramel, and some cocoa and slightly burnt in the finish. There is also a mild to moderate bitterness and a slight sourness (part way through) in the finish that balances the sweet, earthy flavor well. I think that the finish and lasting flavors are actually better and more impressive that the initial flavor as are the final few sips with the hop sediment to give it a little extra kick. The body is medium to full and is soft and creamy on the on the palate (must be from the oatmeal used). Overall I think Bender is a really nicely done brown ale that’s pretty comlex for the style and is probably one of the better ones out there. No harm done with the can either. Very good stuff all around! 16 oz can (5.1% ABV, 45 IBUs) from buckybeer. Thanks Mark!

From can, yet another note from Dark Lord Day. Solid brown with a very thin head poured from half a can. Smell is quite alcoholic. Like a stout with all the bitter, roasty malt removed. This sample has gone a little bit flat. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light for what this is. Tends toward malt with just enough hops to keep it from sweetness. Goes down quite easily.