Surly Brand Calendar 2023

Didn't try all the variants, but how could they possibly not bottle the 7-year Old Fitz Coco/Coconut Darkness they had on tap? This was easily the best beer Surly has ever made and it's not even close. PH Heavy Char last year was my favorite and amazing, but this was something special and was on another level.

 

Agreed! The Heavy Char is better but Coco Darkness was really good. Their best flavor added Darkness variant by a long shot.

 

Am I missing something or is there no regular Darkness distribution this year?

I've found BA Darkness cans but not the regular. I can't imagine it would sell out before the BA would?

 

Distribution of regular is around Halloween, BA version in March. They changed the naming several years back so that this year's version (2023) that goes in barrels and is eventually released is actually labeled for the year it gets released for distribution (2024).

 

Thanks, that makes sense! I happened to see the cans with 2023 on them and assumed it was this year/season's version.

 

Double Furious

 

Looks like one of my all-time favorite beers is being retired - RIP Coffee Bender. They are releasing a new Nitro Coffee Ale which I am excited to try. Going to try the new ale this weekend, if it isn't good I'm stocking up on enough Coffee Bender to get me through the next year.

 

That is very upsetting. I've always been holding out hopes they would throw it in 12-packs so I could buy it all the time for a quantity discount rather than the $12 4-packs. Maybe a lot of people had that attitude and that's why it's going away. Definitely missing regular Bender and Cynic a bit too.

 

Bender went away 2018/2019ish and I still miss it like crazy to this day. Losing Coffee Bender sucks as it's pretty much one of the 3 beers I buy regularly, like at least one 4-pack a month, for the last 5+ years. Hoping the new coffee ale is even better, but Coffee Bender will be damn hard to top.

 

Some of us are still hoping Cocoa Bender makes an appearance out in the world again someday.

 

Update - Stock up now, it seems to be going fast. Apparently they must have stopped shipping it a while back. Hit two different stores that were sold out and ordered the last couple 4-packs at TW.

 

What makes you think Hell will go? If so, that will be the end of Surly for me. I stayed w/ them even after they discontinued regular Bender, so if Hell goes, I go!

 

The last time I toured the Minneapolis production brewery (which was probably over five years ago) the tour guide said that only a handful of high-volume beers were actually brewed there--Furious and Hell being among them--and that everything else came out of the original Brooklyn Center brewery. Certainly things could have changed in that time period, but I also would be really surprised if sales of Hell fell off that much.

 

I'm almost done with my first ever pint of Nitro Coffee Brown Ale. To be blunt... extremely disappointing. It's not an awful beer on its own, but it's major step down from Coffee Bender. The nitro effect is basically negligible, and the beer tastes insanely watered down. Coffee Bender was a rich, thick beer with an extra strong coffee dose. Almost too good to be true at 5.5% ABV. The Nitro Coffee Ale just tastes incredibly watered down - I would've guessed this to be 4.5-4.7% ABV.

They should've brought back a nitro version of Grindcore if they really wanted to shake things up. While it was slightly inferior to Coffee Bender, it was a very solid beer. This really sucks.

Furious is pretty much the only beer remaining at this point that I will buy from Surly, and I don't buy that much of it with dozens of other IPAs available.

 

I will second Pryes Peace Offering and will also add Dangerous Man Coffee Stout to get your coffee fix although with a slightest of bump in ABV.

 

Pryes is pretty decent. Falling Knife makes a really nice coffee beer even though it's not a stout. I have a Little Thistle Legend (coffee lager) around the house that I'll probably be trying this week. It's made with local coffee so looking forward to trying that one.

 

Modist First Call is decent as a Coffee Lager.

 

Tap only Anyone have it?
https://surlybrewing.com/beer/grandpa-the-metal-head/

 

So that’s why my local muni had Coffee Bender for $5 a four pack. That and it is dated from May.