Five | Surly Brewing Company
Brewed by:
Surly Brewing Company
Minnesota, United States
surlybrewing.com
Style: American Wild Ale
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 7.50%
Availability: Limited (brewed once)
Notes / Commercial Description:
In the Surly brewhouse, brewing our Anniversary beers mean one thing: forget what ya know and try something different. In honor of FIVE glorious years we bring you a 100% Brettanomyces fermented dark ale aged in red wine barrels. Flavors of sour cherry, tobacco, oak and classic "brett" barnyard funk balanced by dark Munich malt chewiness. Enjoy immediately or age at cellar temperature for a couple years.
Added by sarro on 08-23-2011
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.
Ratings: 508 | Reviews: 137
4.23/5 rDev +7.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
this is drinking really nicely right now, the vinegar aspect of the sourness seems lower than some of their other beers like pentagram, and the red wine fruitiness here is incredible, a very complex beer that seems now like it had to be a little bit ahead of its time when it was first released. deep burgundy color, aroma and flavor both of slight farmy brett, bacterial sourness, oak and red wine tannins, sweet dried cherries, some german tasting malt oddly enough, earthy brewed black tea, raisin, and even cranberry, lots going on here. the sourness is middle of the spectrum, the funk is lighter than that, lots of room for the red wine notes to shine through, and lots of room for the grain, which often gets overlooked or is an afterthought in barrel aged wild beer, but here, its a distinguishing feature, dark and toasty but without the roasted bitter element, bready and european tasting, a neat platform for sure. this has done great with age too, no oxidation at all, and a super well integrated maturity about it and the sourness has not at all run away or taken over this. really well made beer, one of my favorite sours i have had from surly. they should make this one again, seems more complex and interesting than pentagram, might just be the age...
1,267 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
this is drinking really nicely right now, the vinegar aspect of the sourness seems lower than some of their other beers like pentagram, and the red wine fruitiness here is incredible, a very complex beer that seems now like it had to be a little bit ahead of its time when it was first released. deep burgundy color, aroma and flavor both of slight farmy brett, bacterial sourness, oak and red wine tannins, sweet dried cherries, some german tasting malt oddly enough, earthy brewed black tea, raisin, and even cranberry, lots going on here. the sourness is middle of the spectrum, the funk is lighter than that, lots of room for the red wine notes to shine through, and lots of room for the grain, which often gets overlooked or is an afterthought in barrel aged wild beer, but here, its a distinguishing feature, dark and toasty but without the roasted bitter element, bready and european tasting, a neat platform for sure. this has done great with age too, no oxidation at all, and a super well integrated maturity about it and the sourness has not at all run away or taken over this. really well made beer, one of my favorite sours i have had from surly. they should make this one again, seems more complex and interesting than pentagram, might just be the age...
1,267 characters
4.25/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2.95/5 rDev -25.1%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75
3.69/5 rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
4.34/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
750ml light green wax bottle. Served in a Surly snifter.
Pours a dark brown body, one finger offwhite head, fair bit of retention, not much in way of lacing. It looks like a dark wine, really. Smells of lemon, touch of leather, deep rich roasted chocolate, touch of oak and red vinous character. A moderate acetic acidity. It reminds me a lot of Side Project Black & Wild in that regard. Very promising aroma that combines chocolate and acidity. Flavour impresses more, especially for a five year old bottle of Five. Milk chocolate, roast, touch of espresso acidity, oak, moderate acetic acidity, cocoa, touch of leather and lemon, with red vinous flavours lingering on the palate. Really nice complexity to it. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lighter on the carbonation. Vinous flavours cling to the palate on the finish. Overall, a very damn nice brett wild with a nice vinous character to it. As mentioned previously, this reminded me a lot of Black & Wild in its complexity and combination of a dark beer with Brett and acidity. This has aged very well.
1,054 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
750ml light green wax bottle. Served in a Surly snifter.
Pours a dark brown body, one finger offwhite head, fair bit of retention, not much in way of lacing. It looks like a dark wine, really. Smells of lemon, touch of leather, deep rich roasted chocolate, touch of oak and red vinous character. A moderate acetic acidity. It reminds me a lot of Side Project Black & Wild in that regard. Very promising aroma that combines chocolate and acidity. Flavour impresses more, especially for a five year old bottle of Five. Milk chocolate, roast, touch of espresso acidity, oak, moderate acetic acidity, cocoa, touch of leather and lemon, with red vinous flavours lingering on the palate. Really nice complexity to it. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lighter on the carbonation. Vinous flavours cling to the palate on the finish. Overall, a very damn nice brett wild with a nice vinous character to it. As mentioned previously, this reminded me a lot of Black & Wild in its complexity and combination of a dark beer with Brett and acidity. This has aged very well.
1,054 characters
4.25/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
2.22/5 rDev -43.7%
look: 1.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
Brown, ruddy, turbid pour, yields zero head. Swamp water. Rotten eggs and dark fruit aroma.
A 2 on the 1-10 sour scale, lot of vinegar/acetic acid notes, brown malt, wet wood and other assorted dark fruits. Like, did they fuck a quad up and call it a wild ale? A little bit of leather, funk, ashtray.
Total fail of a beer.
332 characters
look: 1.75 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
Brown, ruddy, turbid pour, yields zero head. Swamp water. Rotten eggs and dark fruit aroma.
A 2 on the 1-10 sour scale, lot of vinegar/acetic acid notes, brown malt, wet wood and other assorted dark fruits. Like, did they fuck a quad up and call it a wild ale? A little bit of leather, funk, ashtray.
Total fail of a beer.
332 characters
4.65/5 rDev +18%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
One of the best sours I have had.
33 characters
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
One of the best sours I have had.
33 characters
4.5/5 rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This was fantastic treat shared by Omar at Reds Alehouse on Surly/Toppling Goliath night. Poured from a (very hard to open) bottle, it was beautiful dark brown/red and tasted fantastic. The sour and wood were perfectly intertwined. I real loved this beer.
255 characters
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This was fantastic treat shared by Omar at Reds Alehouse on Surly/Toppling Goliath night. Poured from a (very hard to open) bottle, it was beautiful dark brown/red and tasted fantastic. The sour and wood were perfectly intertwined. I real loved this beer.
255 characters
4.5/5 rDev +14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.16/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
3.5/5 rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
4.67/5 rDev +18.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
3.73/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.65/5 rDev -7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Opened in May of 2015. Good beer for the style but there was a damp soil finish to the taste.
93 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Opened in May of 2015. Good beer for the style but there was a damp soil finish to the taste.
93 characters
4.29/5 rDev +8.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.25/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Five from Surly Brewing Company
3.94
out of 5
based on 508 ratings.
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25