Surly Bender

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

Serve in Dimpled mug

Can, thanks to footbalm. Pours dark vrown, with a tan head. Aromas are roasted malt and coffee. Flavors are coffee, roasted malt, and some hops. Not bad, not great.

RBSG 07. On tap at Surly. Dark brown/amber, ruby hues. Small tan head. Drinks like a bit fuller english brown without a twang. Toasty, biscuity, fresh oats. Creamy on the palate with a little carbonation bite on the finish. Medium body. Solid brown ale. From notes.

pours dark dark brown with nice tan head. the nose was sweet air. the taste was slightly hoppy, but mostly smooth chocolate and coffee. it had a full mouth feel, but seeemed oily. overall, i didn’t detect much hop punch here, and was mostly dominated by smooth sweetness, which may sound luscious to many people. i prefer a sharp hop hit to get my attention and keep my interest.

Can courtesy of tytoanderso. Pours a nice reddish brown with a bubbly 1 finger head. Aroma of malt, roasted nuts and vanilla. Nice medium bodied mouthfeel with flavors of caramel, malt, nuts, chocolate and rasins. This is a really nice brown ale. Viva Surly!

2009 Can - Thanks skinnyguy! - Pours dk brown with a large tan head...aroma is malted grains and hops, bit of sweetness...flavour is similar, grainy, caramel, burnt wood bitterness...nice brew...

On-tap at the Blue Nile: Murky mahogany color with a ruby glow at the bottom and edges. A mediumish sized capping of soft, light cocoa colored foam sits a top with good stamina. Fades to a thin collar and the lacing sits well across the glass in a broken sheeting. Aroma is fairly solid of dryish black malt and chocolate malt husks. Tipping towards a sweet side with dark caramel malts and a milky powdered cocoa sense. There’s a nice little grassy hop note feathered into the husky tones thats quite nice. Taste is rounded and immediate with a fairly full maltyness of caramel sliced with vanilla slivers, dustings of brown sugar, and breadish sweetness. Stays in place for good length adding oat barley flakes in there for some extra girth of sweetened breadyness before the sublime finish where it drys out with one fantastic realm of black malt-like grainyness and chocolate malt fluffyness. Slightly doughy but holds dry with a finely set tone of husk-like dryness. Very natural tasting and has a perky little hint to some grassy hops mixing in with the chocolatey dryness. A very nice taster. Nearly porter-like in stature. Feel is fairly full and well-rounded; balance is slightly tilted in sweetness but then the finishing areas slide in with its intricately woven dryness pulling the sweetness off the tongue only leaving reminders of what once was. What’s left is a bready smooth porter-like soothingness with a small grainy, dryish, chalky, chocolatey milken texture. Unique and wholey acceptable in its sensibility. Fully drinkable and sessionable. At around 5% this stuff can be had at the bar for a good long while and then some, and not get to terribly tiresome either due to its intriguing finishing qualities. A very nice American Brown/Porter-esk hybrid of a beer.

Thanks to Honkeybra’s Big Pappa I guess, aight? Nose, hops at first but once it mellows it goes to roast. Flavor is big Kimbo Slice nuts, but the finish gets into way too much bitter hoppiness. Just misses out on awesomeness. Still pretty damn good.

Dressed in brown, he sports gorgeously deep garnet and ruby hues while a soft khaki head floats in suspended animation. A couple swirls and lace decorates the sides of my glass. Holding my glass to the light, he has an old sheen such as one would expect from wood time-tested and worn yet still full of rich beauty and wisdom. His nose is all about molasses and caramel while in the background pine trees flourish and grapefruit tantalizes. I grew up in the citrus industry, surrounded by the wonderful delights of differing grapefruit varietals so for myself at least, grapefruit is a tasty treat indeed. Vanilla bean and licorice mingle well with his sweet side as brown sugars melt under my adoring gaze. For his nose at least, his malty side impresses first before smoothly stepping aside to allow his hops to shine. My first quaff isn’t the least bit tentative, and I am met by a creamy mouthfeel which coats the lips and pleases the tongue with fresh molasses and caramel. I’m talking natural here, no saccharine artificial sweeteners here; this is the real deal. Weaving in and out of his sweet side are melted brown sugars along with faint esters of vanilla and licorice. Pine needles prickle and grapefruit exudes self-confidence from the middle of his palate all the way through a long finish. Pine resin adds to his sticky mouthfeel while grapefruit sports acidic juices and bitter skins. Furthering our journey down canned beer lane, I detect a quick kiss of cherry tartness in the transition between sweet and hoppy. A few more generous quaffs and both can and glass are empty, a sad occasion one would not guess by the merry smile glued to my face.