Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Bourbon Bender from Surly Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7.5
Batch 1 aged in a bourbon barrel for over 5 months and served on draught at the American Beer Fest on 6/16/06.
Not surprisingly, the beer has a rapidly fizzling, beige head that produces some light legs, but has no real lasting power, the mid gravity beer having sat in bourbon for quite some time. Still, a medium-low clarity shows low filtration and the body is a deep charcoal black-brown with mahogany/chestnut hints when held to the light. Again, I’m not concerned, nor is it a flaw that a wood-aged, draught beer dosent produce much head.
Crunchy coffee and lines of vanilla-streaked wood caress the nose, as you fall deeply in to a puddle of semi-sweet chocolate. Grainy, unpasteurized maltiness keeps an edge on the aroma, as does the barrel-aging. But though the barrel is definitely strong in the nose, it’s not too strong, I don’t think. Slick, nutty yeastiness calms things down on the end. Maybe some lightly damp, green leafiness still stirs, but the hops are mostly gone from here by now.
The flavor combines cola, chocolate, light-roast coffee and almonds all in to a complex, but soft and unchallenging balance of character. Some sticky date/toffee hints and more fresh, unpasteurized yeastiness. The barrel comes out, more audaciously than in the nose, adding a slight bit of acidity and certainly some bourbon and char flavors. Honestly though, I think the bourbon actually works against the natural complexity I read about in others reviews, not to mention this near-5% abv ale seems to have lost all of its sparkle sitting in the barrel. The draught carbonation is not enough to bring it back, and the texture comes off VERY loose, and quite watery on the end, the flavors trailing off in to a chocolate-bourbon sweetness.
Very well-made beer, they just needed to either, A) serve it bottle conditioned bottles or B) naturally carbonate the keg. As is, the poor texture takes all of the fun out of it. Alcohol is not apparent.
JK (8181) reviewed Furious from Surly Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8
My thanks to Al (Pigfoot) for this beer on draught at the Blue Nile. A strange beer, and hard to classify. It tastes like an American Strong or IIPA, but the alcohol content is too low for that. This beer has an out standing hop aroma. The hops in this beer are bitter and lightly herbal, but they lack fruit or flowery characteristics. The beer is thick like syrup. Simply hops in the flavor, and loads of them. I got a light hop burn from this beer.
JK (8181) reviewed Cynic from Surly Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Very well done. It has a great combination of Belgian farmhouse weirdness and the massive hop character of Surly beers. The hops in this beer are dry, which comes through in the flavor and aroma. Aroma has significant barnyard quality as well. A little sour, but not too much so when the bitter hops hit the tongue. Dry finish. Draught at the Blue Nile.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Cynic from Surly Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
3 draught snifters at Linwood Grill on 6/29/06.
A medium-sized dull-tan head sits perilously atop a dark golden/copper-amber body that shows medium-high clarity and light carbonation.
The nose divulges a Dupont yeastiness that is immediately spicy, with light perfuminess as well. Toasted malt notes are lightly evident on the edges, keeping things well-dry, as fresh, almost minty-like hops are noted for their high amount of aromatics and green, resiny (hop resin, not pine resin) character. European, but well-done and fresh, they match the meet the esters and phenols head on. Snappy and bold in nose, it might suggest too much dryness (especially with the light crunchy, dry, toasty (or nearly toasted) malts.
But sure enough in the flavor, and we all know a saison can never be too dry, the malts do not disappoint. High attenuation, matched with strong, highly bitter hops (relative to style) really lean on the residual sugars, but a strong enough mouthfeel, with slick, almost caramel-like softness oiling the palate, keeps things balanced. With the mouthfeel secured, the beer warms with the best of them. Touches of light bread and darker dough swirl about on the palate, as light honey and almost rye-like spiciness play about with each other, well in balance. On the finish, the palate is cleared by hop acids and yeast phenols (black pepper notes being prominent, but not too heavy), as a fair bit of acidity builds up.
Carbonation, for whatever reason, is low and quite engaging, one of the better draught Belgian ales I can remember having, as far as carbonation is concerned. If Whole Foods Silver Jubilee Ale was every bit as well-executed and drinkable as this, I found this one to surpass it in complexity and character. The medium color malts adding more depth without any astringency (or little astringency) or hardness. No alcohol noted in aroma or flavor.