3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
I remember standing in line at the brewery in Brooklyn Center at 10 am on that very cold Saturday February morning hoping to get one of the Growlers of One. When the brewery finally opened their doors at 12 noon, I was told that only 29 growlers were packaged for that Saturday Gowler Day. Since I was #30 in line, you can guess how I fared out that day. Luckily it would be two months later when I got to try Surly’s One Anniversary brew. Fresh, on tap at the Blue Nile in Minneapolis, (thank you Pigfoot!) Surly One pours a dark cola density brown with virtually no foam head and very low carbonation. Only a sparcely, oily white film appears at the top. Aroma is intense sweet with scents of raisin, overly ripe figs, sweet apple juice, brown sugar, plums, and some black cherry. Flavor is smooth and silky with enormous about of candy sugar and an aftertaste of roasted hazelnuts. Very thick and chewy. Hard to say if this is an American Dark Lager. It’s somewhere between a doppleock and a sweet Belgian dark ale. Happy First Anniversary Surly! Happy to have shared this with you.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Dark Brown With Red Hue and a White Ring. Sweet Syrup and Cranberry Aroma. A Childhood Memory of Cap’n Crunchberries Comes to Mind. Medium to Heavy Mouthfeel. Sweetly Potent and Syrupy. Dark Fruit...Noticeable Alcohol, But Not Overly So. Nice Dry Ending...Wondefull Creamy Depth to This Brew..Similar to Darkness, in that Respect. Very Nice Overall. I hope the First Anniversary Comes Back Every Year!
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
On tap at the Acadia Cafe. Pours a rich dark brown with roasted malt aroma. Small head. Flavor is sweet camelized malt. Very dirnkable. Thick mouthfeel, slightly syrupy. Good.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Out of the first of two growlers. Pours the darkest of dark browns, smallish tan head. This growler seems to be a little flat. I had it at the Nile a while ago, remember it being more carbonated. Anywhoo, nice sweet aroma, not overly strong, raisins, fruit, caramel. Nice sweetness, good mouthfeel. May rerate when I crack the second growler, may not.
2.8 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 11/20
UPDATED: JUL 16, 2007 The least impressive Surly beer to date. A sweet and malty beer, and unusual for Surly, no hops. I do sense some smoke and peat. Amber color. I would sum this up as a sweet dunkel witih amped up abv.
4.7 AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 19/20
On tap at the Happy Gnome, a very good brew. Hints of fig and raisons. very sweet, but in a good way. Would of been better if served a bit warmer, but still a great beer!
3.7 AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 13/20
Tap at the Happy Gnome. Fig and Plum is what I tasted. I loved the aroma of this beer, extremely pronounced. Dessert Beer, is there a new catagory? I would sit down with one of these and just sit back and relax. Not much of a beer drinking beer, but a perfect beer to drift away with.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Tap at the Happy Gnome. Almost black color but a bit of rubiness on the edge. No head. Aroma is a very mild sweetness, maybe vanilla. Very slick, sweet taste. Full of dark malts, raisins and a little chocolate. Lots of sugar. Couldn’t find hops to save my life, which is odd for Surly. Not a bad contraption.
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