Fifteen
Surly Brewing Co.

 

Pours a deep caramel color, with a small head. Aroma is light barley and wafts a floral scent. Taste is wonderfully moderate with a bit of caramel, light roasted malt, vanilla and brown sugar. The entire brew went down easily and was gone way too quickly.

L: Pours a dark orange brown color with a small fizzy white head and no lacing on the glass.

S: Sweet bourbon and caramel mix with a nice note of funky wild ale and wine, there's a lot going on in this beer but it is nicely nuanced and takes a bit of time to reveal itself

T: Bourbon soaked caramels, a note of molasses, mixes with light hints of funky sour ale and a pleasant wine note. Lots going on here but it all works.

F: Smooth carbonation, large body

O: This is a very enjoyable and unique beer.

 

16oz can. On clearance at Zipp's. Poured out a clear, golden amber color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It smelled of dried dark fruits, toffee, caramel, vanilla and oak. Sweet bourbon, toffee, dark fruits, caramel and vanilla flavors.

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Glass: Westvleteren 12 trappist glass
Price: n/a
From: Sam
Purchased: n/a; Received Nov. 18, 2021
Consumed: April 23, 2022
Misc.: Canned on Aug. 17, 2021 at 11 a.m. CT; Came on nice box with same can design

Thanks, Sam!

Was lucky enough to get this one and a bunch of other good stuff from Sam. Was looking forward to this because it’s a solid style and a style I don’t have enough of. Surly’s website called for “Surly built its reputation on not necessarily brewing to style. Our 15th anniversary beer embraces that ethos. Fifteen is a Belgian strong ale aged for eight months in Parker’s Heritage Heavy Char Bourbon Barrels, then back-blended with a touch of High West Rye barrel-aged wild ale. Expect cocoa, milk chocolate, and dark fruit notes with a hint of tartness beneath, plus honey and vanilla from the barrel, and a little spice from the Belgian yeast for good measure. Unclassifiable and wholly unique, Fifteen is a true celebration.”

Poured a medium copper/garnet clear color with three fingers of frothy-to-fizzy khaki-white head. Could see just a few bubbles coming up along the sides of the glass, but mainly a serene setting underneath. Excellent uneven foamy lacing. Excellent foamy retention. (Sight - 4.50)

Smelled tart cherry, milk chocolate, cocoa, smooth bourbon, oak, vanilla, semi-char wood, caramel, toffee, apple and dark fruit. Not quite as good from the can. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted just as good as the nose, maybe better. In order got milk chocolate, cocoa, smooth bourbon, caramel, toffee, oak, semi-char wood, tart cherry, apple, plum, and dark fruit. Pretty damn smooth for 10.5 pct. ABV. (Taste - 4.25)

Medium body. Creamy-to-sticky texture. Soft carbonation. Long, smooth finish. (Feel - 4.75)

Damn. Such a lovely beer. So glad I got to try this. This was great. (Overall - 4.50)

4.37 | 97 | A

Clearer dark amber with a sparse white head.

Surprisingly similar in flavor to the Fremont 13th we had before it, except this is quite a bit more hot. Flavor then shifts to spiced rum and caramel with some sharp resins that amplify the booze.

Pours murky, reddish brown in color with one half inch head. Taste is red grape juice, cedar, and barrel. Heavy body, low carbonation, slightly sweet. Good not great. Solid for fifteen years. I like the style but I have had cleaner and better versions of it.

 

16 ounce can into a snifter. Canned 8/17/21, had 9/25/21.

Pours a clear orange copper color, with no real head or lacing. Aromas of bourbon, caramel, oak, malt, vanilla, brown sugar, light spices, light char, slight cherries- more as warms. Flavors are mostly the same- bourbon, caramel, oak, malt, vanilla, brown sugar, spices- especially cloves, some wine, light cherries- again, more as warms. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Not especially Belgian, but it’s really good. Great bourbon barrels, and the wine barrel shows pretty well in a minor role. Solid effort.

 

 

Lighter brown murky pour with a head of tan foam. Smells of strong wood and char with bourbon and significant wine must to the dark malts. Taste adds mild funk, fig, and more defined yet faint yeast. Feel is medium light bodied but with little depth, smooth but not lasting on the palate. The wife liked it

 

Thanks to Jeff for this one. 16oz. can into a Founders snifter.

Pours a dark bronze. Stringy lace with really nice legs. Very little head to speak of. Nose is lightly tart... uhoh. I get booze, caramel, molasses, oak, and tart red fruit notes like cherry and sour grape. Beer opens molasses, brown sugar, and maple syrup candy. More brown sugar and a mellow booziness in the middle. There's some red fruit notes but it never becomes tart and never takes over. Rather, it creates a nice complexity of cherry and anise overtones. End is more maple and more brown sugar with a caramel aftertaste. Pretty solid. Body is medium with ample carbonation. Prickly and lively on the palate and goes down aggressive, sparkling with a long, lingering, messy aftertaste.

The nose here gave me a scare but the flavor is spot on. Pretty unique and very delicious!

 

Canned 2021/08/17
Pours a fizzy 1/2 finger head that fades almost instantly, mostly clear cranberry to chestnut red color

Nose sweet malts, candy, toffee, nutty, caramel, lots of toasted bread crust, biscuity sweet bread, a bit of dark fruit, candied date, fig like, buttery toffee candy, vanilla and buttery oak, quite a bit of the buttery oak with a bit of port wine raisin, chocolate, hint of tart sour funk beer character, and some sweet spicy bourbon

Taste brings more sweet malts and fruits, candy malt, candi sugar and caramelized sugars, toffee, a bit nutty, some bitter spicy hop notes, a touch syrupy into the candied dark fruits, fig, date, etc, port wine, raisins and some glug like with a hint of spices, vanilla barrel with more buttery oak, mild perfumey alcohol, a bit more sweet spicy bourbon as well, raisins soaked in port candy, a bit of chocolate raisin, and touch of funky sour fruit notes, sweet bourbon barrel juice, semi sweet sticky finish

Mouth is fuller bod, med to a touch lighter frothy carb, fair warming alcohol that gets a touch hot, tad syrupy

Overall very nice beer, great sweet malt characters very Barleywine like (or Belgian strong in a way), with good fruits, lots of great barrel characters, all blended nicely, alcohol was a tad hot but nice otherwise

While making a humongous pan of Surly's most favored imperial (Darkness), I complained the ABV was in my face. So, I'm glad to report the second strong I've had from them (Fifteen) is much more subtle.

Fifteen has a beautiful mid-amber to ruby color; but I deduct for its Looks because its can looks sinister to me. Smells are generous with the dark fruit having gone through the barrel treatment. Tastes follow, too; full and fruity and finishes integrated... with just enough alcohol to be popular as well. Smooth in the mouth with some ABV penetration.

While this is my sixth from Surly, I've not given them a micro-review. So I went on their website and they do all the cool things that a brewery should do (Surly Gives A Damn!), but they do it better than most in a city (Twins) that is one of the cooler North American places to live if you can take the cold. So for that (despite rating all six beers below their average), I give Surly some pretty damn good Overall Hugs.