3.8 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Can from tytoanderso - thanks, Tyler! My second Surly brew and it’s another impressive one, particularly given my relative disregard for the style. Perhaps it’s the oats that give this beer so much character, but there’s a real smoothness and heft to it, not so much from traditional malting (at least that doesn’t seem so prominent in the taste) as from chewy, biscuity qualities. Nice liveliness from some hops too, with a sweet bourbon-like finish.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
16 oz can shared thanks to xnoxhatex!! Pours a light brown with a tall thick beige head that collapses in chunks like an iceberg. Those cocoa carmel notes come through and then I am surprised by the hops that find their way to my nose - Pine and grapefruit. Similar flavors medium creamy body with a slight hop bite. Tasty and really fresh.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
On tap at The Happy Gnome in St. Paul, MN. Dark brown with off-white head. Aroma of roast coffee and chocolate, leaves a lot of lacing. Tastes like a combination of a brown ale and a stout, with a strong coffee taste.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
UPDATED: FEB 22, 2008 Can from Ughsmash. Very malty aroma. Chocolate, roast, nuts, and oat. Pours dark brown with a lasting foamy white head. Chocolate, caramel, oat, and nuts plus a touch of vanilla all make up the flavor profile. Nice, smooth, and velvety. A very nice brown ale!
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
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!
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Pours a nice dark brown with about a 1/2 finger frothy head. Smells of coco and vanilla with a touch of caramel. The taste is of coco oatmeal brown ale. Very drinkable with a ton of flavor. Excellent beer.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Pours black/very dark brown with a light head. Smells of coffee and cocoa. Great hop flavour for a Brown Ale, taste a bit of vanilla and caramel along with the coffee and cocoa. Very nice!
3.7 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at Maproom. Pours a dark dull brown with thick sudsy beige head. Good amount of green hops in the aroma over some chocolate and sweet molasses. Very hoppy taste, chocolate, fair amount of roast, some caramel, on the dryer side. Thicker than Flossmoor’s Pullman Brown and definitely more hoppy.
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