Surly CynicAle

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

Serve in Tulip

I find Surly’s take on this style to be an excellent summer session beer. The fact that it’s available in a can has made it my go to beer all summer long.

A great session saison but be careful. Went great with BBQ ribs and potato salad. Sweat, spicy, and delicous. Go Surly.

My favorite ale of all time. Cloudy golden pour nice head. Great on tap even great out of the can Highly recommend.

Golden pour with a good head. First sip tastes slightly of apples and as the beer warms tends to lean more towards pear. Slightly sweet with the perfect amount of hops and a really great aftertaste on the palate. One thing I really enjoy about this beer is the mouthfeel, it is light and extremely refreshing.

Pours a clear amber copper color with about an inch of tan foam. Okay head retention, good webby lacing. Spicy and a light saison funk in the nose. Quite tasty with flavors including dry spices (corriander and pepper flavors), orange, slight barnyard funk, and black tea. A somewhat floral hopping throughout becomes more noticeable in the finish, lending a gentle citrus touch. Lighter than medium body, well carbonated, smooth and refreshing.

Appearance: Pours a hazy, light sunny-hued yellow body with a moderately-sized, fluffed, white head. Smell: Soft malts scented of round table bread dressed up with hints of ground spice and sweetish honeysuckle and notably fragrant notes of both fresh-picked orchard and citrus fruits. Taste: Delicately malted bready barley with a gentle taste of honey-coated morningtime cereal followed by a juicy, fruity melange of white peaches, Honeycrisp apples, lemon, and maybe even a bit of ruby red grapefruit. Pinch of spicy coriander powder. Light trace of floral hoppiness with a modest bitterness to it. Finishes semi-dry with last touches of honey and fruit. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium-plus carbonation. Drinkability: Recommended. Perhaps a skosh fruitier and sweeter than most, but overall a rather tasty beer and a very enjoyable saison from Surly. Darkness is a fine treat now and again, but, I think I’d prefer to have this one on a regular basis.

Freshly tapped at the Blue Nile. appearance: hazed amber in the glass, clearer near the foot, under a good, staying 1/2" cover of beige-toned foam. A duskier look than other saisons I’ve sampled, but what’s wrong with that. Aroma: nice spices, and sleek citrus. Very fine. Tickles the nose with ethereal pleasures. Lively hop play. Gorgeous. Taste: a phenomenal blast on the palate, that sits and lingers deliciousness in the mouth. Hops, yeast, and spicy malt combine to deploy just the right amount of spicy notes and light fruit. (Lemon and lime with a side order of orange.) Dries near instantly, and demonstrates perfect balance, almost never showing sweet, not too hoppy, not too hot, nor too spicy, just spreading this ingenious, beautiful, utterly satisfying flavor. Light bodied, like any saison should be, but so substantial in flavor, so sophisticated...tea-like, at times, broken up by hop happiness, and a malt character that takes turns at juicy and peppery. Exquisitely drinkable, massively enjoyable. Also, I find myself admiring a certain sublimity I don’t often encounter in other saisons, Belgian-brewed or otherwise. Lordy, it’s lovely! One of the best beer names conceivable, and one of the least apt, in this case. I can’t imagine any cause for skepticism, Surly has done it again!

Much thanks to hopdog for passing this can onto me. Pours a hazy golden orange with a medium creamy/bubbly white head...exactly what a saison should look like! Aroma of that same great citrusy hops that I have come to expect from a Surly beer. But it’s not a hop bomb...the saison qualities are still there. Fruity (apricot), honey, floral, spicy saison yeast notes, some light peppery and bready malt. Flavor of honey, peppery saison spiciness, floral and citrusy hops, a touch of some hop bitterness, bready dry maltiness. Surly does it again! Now if only they could start shipping those cans to PA.