Surly Bourbon One

Happy Gnome Surly dinner: pours dark amber with bright orange highlights and a still head of beige skin. Immediately quiet aroma of coconut, plum skins, and powdered sugar; creme brulee, cake batter and pomegranate sangria provide the richest of sweet affectation underneath, though far from contrived or overbearing. Full of malt and bourbon and sugar and force but still amiable; never obvious, with lots of mysterious earthy depth. Flavor full of milk chocolate, tangy vanilla, sweet smoke and the general tones of good bourbon. Raspberries. Honey. Lots of lagered fruity depth still present and punchy with robust character. Apple cider vinegar and peppery alcohol glinting the surface. More fruity toffee tinted sweetness. Honeydew melon, pineapple, cherry; details just rampant and ripe, but still controlled. Palate is smooth, the body heavy. Finishes with pungent, earthy and alcoholic sweetness, long and hot. Bourbon aging near its peak in this example; a rare example of a base beer not better off without the barrel.

13th Beer of the Beer Spot Tasting Sunday March 30th, 2008. Bomber via Tiptop from the brewers at Surly. Damn I really Really like this one. Pours black with a light brown ring. Nose is sweet and malty and full of bourbon. Taste is sweet and chocolatly really really choco big, this is the kind of taste i like in chocolate cereal, great maple syrup sweet yummer. This was fantastic, yum yum yum.

pours dark puplish with lacy brown head. aroma is coffee and chocolate sweetness. much too sweet for my taste, and not enough bourbon influence. the sweeness sticks with you and begins to cloy. i was dissapointed that there was not more bourbon lurking here.

NOTB; I believe this is my first beer from Surly. Thought it was a good idea to age this style of beer. Aroma was of vanilla, caramel, toffee and bourbon; notes of sweetness. Agree with golub’s barlewine comment. Liked the amount of sweetness and more subtle than most bourbon hints.

(Draught) Pours an amber-brown body with a small off-white head. Aroma of toffee, vanilla, bourbon, and caramel. Flavor of sweet caramel malt, chocolate, dark fruits, and nuts.