Five
Surly Brewing Company

FiveFive
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From:
Surly Brewing Company
 
Minnesota, United States
Style:
Wild Ale
ABV:
7.5%
Score:
91
Avg:
4.08 | pDev: 14.46%
Reviews:
139
Ratings:
510
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 22, 2021
Added:
Aug 23, 2011
Wants:
  179
Gots:
  225
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.
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Ratings by lovindahops:
Photo of lovindahops
Reviewed by lovindahops from New York

4.83/5  rDev +18.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Getting amped up for my 32 can surly delivery from France44 next week, I felt this brew would be a great kick off. I love Surly and I'm kind of glad that its tough to get Surly brews. I would go through cases of the stuff! So on this this cold and wet spring, its time to get Surly!

A- five pours a look of the darkest ruby color you can imagine. A massive head of tan foam with red tints blasts to the top of my Hill Farmstead wine glass. Even in the darkness, shades of red ruby show through, as well as spotty floaties of sediment. No lacing on the edges, but plenty of character with the appearance

S- delicious sweet red wine, Brett, barnyard funk, darkened... But ripe black cherries, tasty apples, and hearty malt. This may be off the chart enhanced due to cellar time. I have never sampled a scent of such a dark, yet flavorful American wild ale. The Brett has slept nicely in this bottle. What a balanced scent profile!

T- massive funky tart flavors are almost "candy coated" with a red wine shell. Cherry and apple flavors are almost chewy and in harmony with the aforementioned taste. I am confident that cell wrong this not only mellowed it out, but also brought out some great qualities of balance and enhanced flavor. Tart and tasty. I have had some poor examples of red wine barrel brews, and this not one of them at all

M- good carbonation and slashing flavors all over the mouth. This is very tasty

O- best American wild ale that bundles red wine barrels and darkened ale properties. What ever has happened in this bottle is amazing. The tart fruit flavors mesh perfectly with the funkiness of a wild ale. What character and enhancement of the Brett and red wine barrels. I wish I could find this again!!!
Jun 08, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.55/5  rDev -13%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Shared bottle, RBNAG 2011. Dark brown colour. Sourish aroma and flavour, farmhouse notes, lemony and gueuze-like despite the darker colour. A fairly decent beer.
Mar 22, 2021
 
Rated: 4.95 by JoeandRyan from Minnesota

Dec 20, 2017
 
Rated: 4.27 by Ristaccia from Nebraska

May 29, 2017
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.23/5  rDev +3.7%
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...
Mar 22, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by TboneRN from Minnesota

Mar 12, 2017
 
Rated: 2.95 by aaronyoung01 from New Mexico

Jan 02, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by Tyecko from Minnesota

Jan 01, 2017
 
Rated: 3.69 by Knapp85 from Pennsylvania

Nov 12, 2016
Photo of Stevedore
Reviewed by Stevedore from Oregon

4.34/5  rDev +6.4%
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.
Sep 04, 2016
 
Rated: 4.25 by jakemn91 from New Mexico

Jul 02, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by Sweffin from Wisconsin

May 21, 2016
Photo of rodbeermunch
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada

2.22/5  rDev -45.6%
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.
Feb 03, 2016
 
Rated: 4.7 by redliner8 from Pennsylvania

Jan 31, 2016
 
Rated: 4.35 by Kenai4 from Minnesota

Dec 27, 2015
Photo of Shuga
Rated by Shuga from Illinois

4.65/5  rDev +14%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
One of the best sours I have had.
Dec 25, 2015
Photo of YalovaIA
Reviewed by YalovaIA from Iowa

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
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.
Dec 07, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by Josholson666 from Minnesota

Dec 03, 2015
 
Rated: 4.16 by HoistinBrews from Minnesota

Aug 02, 2015
Five from Surly Brewing Company
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 510 ratings