Surly Three

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

Serve in Snifter

Draft at Bavarian Lodge 4/30/09-Pours a black with a small head. Aroma of sweetness, honey , and malt. Taste of the same with some cinammon, nutmeg, and vanilla. This medium bodied Mead was a nice tasting brew.

On tap at the Bavarian Lodge. Dark brown pour. Aroma of honey, and some dark chocolate, caramel, toffee. Flavor had an interesting balance of sweet mead and chocolatey dark malt. I also get some cherries, caramel, a bit of spice. The mead imparts a really soft, active carbonation. Finish has some wood and some alcohol.

On tap at Sheffields in Chicago. What a crazy all around beer, I’ve never had a mead like this, though I haven’t had many meads before. Pours very dark nearly black brown with a slight tan head. Aroma has some strong plum and raisin notes with a heaping brown sugar sweetness. Some caramel and bourbon alcohol notes are also present. Flavor starts with a sweet overripe fruit nectar with a nicely balancing spiciness. Gains a dark chocolate edge and just a hint of smoked malt, must be from the toasted white ash. Finishes with a rich vanilla bean character. Medium to full creamy body and mouth feel with a soft carbonation. Very complex in aroma and flavor and a pleasing sipper. Warming and satisfying. Reminds me of a mix between a baltic porter and a barleywine

On tap @ Hopleaf and Map Room. Brewed w/ 50% honey and 50% Munich malt; wow! One of the more unusual beers I have had in a while, albeit my first braggot; amber-brown w/ a lacey head; aroma is honey, oats, toffee and caramel; flavor is graham crackers, honey, candied sugar, toffee; finishes rich and warming. Sweetness not overdone surprisingly. Pretty thick, yet drinkable. Happy anniversary Surly- great way to celebrate!

On tap at the Bavarian Lodge Lisle, IL. for their Surly 3rd Anniv. gathering. Poured a cloudy black/brown with a dark tan, foamy to a bubbly layer head and fair lacing. The aroma was vinous, tart cherry, dark fruit, and malty. The flavor was similar except for a strong honey sweetness that negated any tart notes that were present in the nose. Some booze to the finish. A little too sweet for me but a nice novelty brew for the anniversary.

tap at hopleaf....pours a dark murky and muddy dark brown with a thin light brown head...aroma of sweet malt, raisins, and brown sugar... a lively well barbonated sweet elixir with lots of fruit skins, raisins, and old apples. not overly cloyingly sweet. almost cider like with a heavy malt presence. really couldn’t take down more than a few ounces of this though.

Draft at Bavarian Lodge, Lisle. I wasn’t feeling well this day, but just the smell of this nectar made me feel better right away. Belgian-type smell of dark, but not bitter malts, and golden honey. Solid black color, with a slowly dwindling, creamy tan head. Taste is just amazing: the honey sweetness of a mead with chewy malt mouthfeel of a schartzbier of Belgian black wit. Yes, some vanilla, a bit of cinnamon, wood and then way in the back is some tart orange. And that lovely honey. Yes, I’m probably over-rating this, but this just exactly was what I needed when I’m feeling poorly. The country needs more braggots! And this site needs to give it its own category!

Poured draft in a small glass at the Bavaria Lodge (Lisle, IL). Pours a very dark, black with brown, largely opaque, with moderate brown bubbly head that laces. Aromas push some nice brownish malt, brown sugar, moving into dark fruits of plum, raisin, and a touch of spice that comes off well. Initial is sweet body, but not cloying, pushing heavy raisin, plum, and prune notes up front, some honey, a touch of spice. Pulls medium bodied, but tart in the finish, with a touch of chocolate in the finish. This is a raisin bomb, if such a thing exists, with decent underlying honey and spice, and other dark pit fruits, faint touch of lemon. Hard for me personally to pick out the ash, I feel like the flavors get drowned out by the dark fruit and malts, instead of enhancing them. This is decent, different, and an interesting and innovative choice. Happy 3 years, Surly! Glad to be a part of it! (Cough) Bring back the Two (Cough).