Surly Bender

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

Serve in Dimpled mug

16oz Can. Dark brownish color with big foamy tan head. Aroma has some hops, nuts and touch of caramel and chocolate. Taste is roasted malt, a touch a biter chocolate, and more nuts. Very balanced and even better than the Coffee Bender.

Got this one in a recent BIF package from biglobo. A - Pours dark brown with a fluffy one and a half finger tall off-white head leaving sticky lace down the glass. S - Smells of caramel, toffee, vanilla, roasted nuts, chocolate and a bit of hops. Not too bad so far. T - Starts off with a bit of sweetness - mostly caramel and toffee - slowly giving way to hints of vanilla, chocolate and a touch of molasses. Some faint hop bitterness comes through as it warms up. M - Medium body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Creamy feel initially growing a touch thin toward the end of the glass. O - This one was pretty damn good. It had a lot of flavor but it remained easy to drink. One of the better brown ales I have had in quite awhile.

Acquired this in a trade. Pulled out of the fridge and right into a Newcastle glass. A - Poured about 2 heads of tan tight bubbles. The beer itself is a deep and dark brown with little visibility. S - Oatmeal, grains, bread, chocolate maltiness. Smells wonderful and very mild. Very little hop smell. T - mmm. nice yeast used with this one. Lots of dough and bread notes, some lighter dark fruits like raisins are present with a toasty aftertaste. Very nice! Great winter beer. M - Nice level of carbonation. Not out of control but solid and present. Goes down easy. O - Love this beer! You’re not supposed to trust beer from a can. This one is fantastic!

Split can. Poured a rich reddish-brown ale color, small off-white head. Aroma was mostly sweet, with notes of caramel, touch nuttiness. Relatively run of the mill.

Serving type: Can oh yeah! Appearance: Poors dark brown with thick root beer float-like foam head. Aroma: Smell has a surprisingly refreshing lite hop aroma with some dark bread and chalkiness. Taste: Great toasty sweet beginning with a bitter hoppy ending. Overall: One of my favorite beers I have tried in the past year. Thanks to Lindsay from Minneapolis for bringing a pack for me to CHI. I would love to try the coffee version of this. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

16oz can from Zipps in MN, pour is nice and dark with a smaller head, taste is loads of roasty malt with the occasional peak of some hops finish is dark chocolate and bitter lingers a bit too

Cab to glass. Aroma contains a myriad of things. Nuttiness, some notes of chocolate, a bit of toastiness, some coffee and some caramel. Pretty good on the nose. Dark brown pour with a large tan head. A little smoother than a normal brown ale. Medium carbonation. Sweet malty taste.

16 ounce can, canned on date of 11/22/11. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours dark brown (that you can see through some when held up to a light) with about an inch tan head that stays around a while. There’s also a good amount of lacing. The brew smells like caramel malt, vanilla, coffee, nuts, chocolate, and some light hops. It tastes like caramel malt, nuts, coffee, chocolate, and some hops. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it’s a bit slick and has moderate carbonation. I think it’s a good overall brew, I liked it. It’s definitely worth trying.

It poured a black-red color with a white head. The aroma was malt coffee and cocoa. The flavor was more malty with faint coffee, cocoa and burnt malt. This was good stuff!