Surly Smoke Lager

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

Bottle shared by alexsdad06. Poured clear dark brown with an average brown frothy head that was mostly lasting with very good lacing. Moderate to heavytoasted smoke malt aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. Medium to heavy sweet toasted smoked flavor with a medium to heavy sweet finish of moderate to long duration. Complex very good beer.

750 ml wax dipped bottle, 2011 vintage. Served in a nonic pint glass, the beer pours dark brown/black with about a half inch tan head that went away quickly. There’s a very small amount of lacing left on the glass. The brew smells like smoked and roasted malt, peat, coffee, and a bit of chocolate. It tastes like smoked malt/meats, burnt/charred malt, coffee, and some dark fruit and chocolate. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it’s a little creamy and slick with low/moderate carbonation. I think this is a pretty good brew overall, I’d definitely buy this again in the future.

Appearance: pours like liquid peat and smoke under a creamy head. Fades into a lacey collar bordering a broken khaki film. Swirls bubbly.
Nose: smoke and bacon and smoke and bacon, ohmy! Smoldering fireplace, logs crackling and cracking and sparking in the back. Also in the back – cacao beans and espresso chocolate cake. Black bread and esters of horse blankets and leather. Smoked salmon?
Palate: mouthfeel is rich, creamy, smooth, bready, and cakey. Smoke is subtle and pervasive but never overwhelming. Dry finish of firewood. Smoked salmon and bacon, smoked prunes and dates, and smoke in the breath. Chocolate black cake. Peat. Dark stone fruits in the back of each and every swallow – meaty, dense, and rich. Burnt caramel. Horse and horse blankets underneath with tannin inclinations. Slowly grows more parching in the finish. Lovely.
Final Thoughts: good beer does come in a can. Oskar Blues started it and Surly continues the honorable trend of canned craft beer. The only thing that would make me happier than a can of Surly in my glass would be Surly in my glass in Florida. Surly Smoke turns its nose at the can for this particular beer though, choosing instead the waxed confines of a glass 750ml bomber. Either way, yum!

On tap at Grumpy’s NE, pours brown/black with a medium tan head. Aroma of smoked salted meat, chocolate and licorice. Smoke is not overwhelming in the taste yet has a solid presence, oak, chocolate, and molasses finishing with licorice. Pretty nice, alcohol is well hidden.

UPDATED: JAN 2, 2012 I could imagine this being any better. Smoke, leather, oak. Great carbonation... Not to thick, not to thin. I would buy this again without hesitation.

Shared bottle @RBNAG-11. Near black, no clarity. A low creamy tan head on top. Aroma of soft, delicate sweet dark malts with a subtle smoke tone to it. Taste is soft dark malts with a refined sweetness, and a distinct but rounded smoke flavor. Creamy mf. Filling. Alcohol no option. Dangerously drinkable. Elegant and fully ballanced. Great stuff.

Bottle shared by badnewsbeers. Deep garnet body, thin discontinuous beige head. Nose of smoke and caramel. Smoky body, like beef jerky or meat sticks, meaty and dry. Full-bodied with mostly subdued roasted notes occasionally nudging past the smoke.