First Surly Experience?

Pint of furious at Park Tavern in SLP. I remember thinking it tasted distinctly like pot and that this fact was a very good thing.

 

September of 2007 cans showed up at my local store. Prior to this I definitely knew of Surly but I did not come into the heart of the cities to try it on draught. I was impressed that craft beer could be found in cans. Bought a 4-pack of Furious, Bender, Cynic, and Surlyfest. Blown away from Furious at the time. Fell in love with Surlyfest. Went to the brewery the next month for a tour. That was back when Omar and Todd did the tours. Had my first taste of Coffee Bender that day. And then I had Darkness on Halloween '07 at the Blue Nile. I went well out of my way to get as much Surly as I could for those first couple of months.

 

Fall of 2008. We were going to a comedy show in downtown Minneapolis & stopped in at Mackenzie for a beer beforehand. We'd always been into good beer so I asked the bartender if he had anything new that was local (back then the answer was almost always either "No" or "What?"). He had this beer called Furious. My wife & I both had two, ran into friends at the show, & we all went back for more afterwards.

A few short weeks later we were in line at Darkness Day 2008 & it's been all downhill ever since.

 

I can't remember.

 

Your descriptions of old furious makes me want to build a time machine and go back to 2007 to try some.

 

I can't pinpoint exactly back in time when I drank my first Furious, but my first real memory drinking and appreciating Surly was with Abrasive. After moving to Minneapolis back in early January of 2011, I bought a 4-pack on a complete whim not knowing how good it actually was. I figured it was probably something special given that it was another IPA from Surly and cost more than Furious. Drank two cans during the Super Bowl that year and was completely blown away. Went back a week or two later and couldn't find any more at South Lyndale Liquors or anywhere else in the weeks that followed! Sad days indeed. Stocked up immediately on the first batch release for the next 2-3 years until I realized it actually hangs around for awhile.

Camping out for Darkness is now a yearly tradition! As is coming up with excuses to pop open one of the dozen bottles acquired each year between my GF and I.

 

I don't really recall my first experience with Furious or Bender. I do recall my first year with Darkness. 2009 I had it at 3 Squares on tap while watching the Vikings. It was delicious and complex. Asked my local liquor store if they were getting any(lived near Rockford at the time).. Apparently he was able to get his distributor to get him some and then proceeded to try and sell it for $27.99. He said he had no idea how expensive it is lol. Luckilly I found it for $22 or so from other stores in the metro.. Those bottles were still in that store almost a year later when I moved. I felt kind of bad since he ordered it for me, but didn't feel bad about not paying so damn much.

 

When Surly was starting they thought Bender would be the more popular/flagship beer and not Furious.

 

I will preface this by saying yes I am heavily a Surly supporter. I accredit them for entrenching me into my craft beer addiction so to me they will never do anything to harsh to cause me to jump ship except maybe sell out.

I have too many Surly firsts my very first was of course Furious in 2014 from the tap. Back then Surly in SD was tap only and border summgling. I admit after the first taste I was like hmm not sure but then after two more I was hooked. This beer hooked me to IPAs and I know even in 2014 wasn't even the OG Furious but I still am hard pressed to pass up a pour. Abrasive in 2014 also made me think all other double IPAs were crap. Wet I finally had in 2015 and again I couldn't drink enough even though I am sure there are some better fresh hop beer out there.

My hunt to taste Darkness didn't finally get accomplished until a tap pour of 2014. I tried in town in 2013 to grab a pour but it was tapped at ten to five and when I arrived at five was gone! My first taste of Darkness changed my mind on Russian imperial stouts as well. I always thought of them as bitter coffee tasting messes. After that taste I am now addicted to Darkness even though I know it changes every year. 2015 was probably my favorite that I have tasted on tap wish I could of had more!

 

My first introduction to Surly was in 2009. At the time I was attending the U of M and was drinking things like Rolling Rock, Red Stripe, Heineken, etc. Man did I think I was fancy for not drinking the standard BMC stuff everyone else was. I bought a 4 pack of Bender to broaden my horizons and at the time I never could have predicted the road that 4 pack would have led me down.

A few months later I had 16 Grit on tap at Stub and Herbs because "hey Surly makes this, I really like Bender so I'll give it a shot" and it was like someone hit me over the head with a baseball bat.

Surly has gone through a lot of changes, and I miss the days of grabbing a tour online the minute they were posted for the original Brooklyn Center brewery, going and chatting with Omar and his father while drinking all mine and my girlfriend-at-the time's samples. I'm now married to a completely different woman (dodged that bullet) but I still have fond memories of Surly in the early years. Still have my original growler sitting on the shelf in the basement.

There are many other options around the cities now compared to back then, some would argue even better options, but Surly will always hold a special place in my heart for introducing me to craft beer.

 

Hopefully the cops don't come and bust me, but I remember first trying furious when I was in high school (2010 I think). My buddy's dad worked for a distributor and got a bunch of beer all the time (he was a bmc only drinker) so whenever I went to his house (his dad had a sick setup, four tap line bar in his basement) there would always be epa's that he thought were horrible. My first was summit EPA which I enjoyed and everyone thought I was crazy. Then came the furious, and holy shit did that change my beer life. Fond memories indeed.

 

Only "craft" I was drinking in 2006 was Sierra Nevada and Newcastle....if you want to call that craft. There were really no craft breweries in MN then unless you counted Summit and Schells. Never heard of Surly but went with my brother to a private event at the original brewery in early summer 2006. It was for North Memorial employees; Omar's wife used to be an ER physician there.

Furious was just "ok" but I liked the vibe and to support a local brewery. Quickly got used to the hop bitterness and it snowballed from there....

 

Not my first experience, but I distinctly remember drinking a growler of Furious in December 2008 with a couple of friends in the parking lot of Lebanon hills after mountain biking. Since Surly had to stop selling growlers that month my friend asked which of us wanted the empty glass. I made the mistake of saying no.....

 

I had my first Furious at their Grand Opening celebration and remember being blown away. After that I always got excited when I saw a Surly tapper when I was out and about...but was usually disappointed that it was Cynic/Bender instead. The first time I saw the cans in the store was a happy day for sure!

 

Cafe 28 for me. Surly was not a staple on tap in the TC, and low and behold a place just blocks from where i live had darkness on tap , i was amazed that a place had 3 surly tap handles it was unheard of back then . it was 2010 maybe 2009 i think and they were pouring Darkness. Linda Haug actually came over and asked me what i thought of this pour she was gracious and affable and at the time i did not know who she was.

 

For me it was Cynic ale in the summer of 2008(?). Coming from mich golden, to spotted cow, and a few Oktoberfests it was an eye opening experience to taste flavors that were unlike anything I had tried up to that point. It showed me what beer could be and left me wanting to try as many as I could. As with most, my tastes have grown and developed over the years and so has Surly. I too miss the old brewery sometimes. It was such a casual, chill place to go have a couple beers with friends, maybe grab some grub at whatever food truck was parked outside. I don't think its a stretch to say that they would like to be a national brand. I just hope that they don't start cutting corners with their product. It would be a shame to cheapen the brand that Todd and Omar worked hard to build up.

 

at the cyclorama in 2007 or so - i don't remember which one but i think it would have been the 3rd american beerfest? they were pouring one and omar (i think) was advocating eating the waffles with the beer.

those were great waffles.

 

Playing Disc Golf at Mont Du Lac, in Superior WI. Back then (2008?) you received a free beer for the play to pay

I had a friend/co-worker that raved about Surly, and I HAD to have it that day over choices from Wisconsin. I remember taking a sip, holding up the can like WHAAATT????? taking another sip, holding up the can like WOORDDD???!!!!! taking another sip and thinking that my go to craft beer that my friends wouldn't drink because it was "too bitter" was no longer Summitt EPA....

forward a bit and I remember seeing FOUR on the shelf at a local store. I bought a bottle and held it for a while. I bought another a few months later, and about 8 months after the orignal purchase, I finally drank the first bottle. Good Golly, Miss Molly. Loved it, don't know if I could have had more than 8-10 oz of it. I bought a third bottle, and later sold the second and third to friends (at cost) who wanted to try it out.

It is, and will for the most part remain, the local craft beer I reference when I try to spark up interest in when I am out of town. I enjoy others, in some cases even more, but Surly is what expanded craft in Minnesota.

 

As an out of town, non beer trader, I was pleased to learn I could buy surly beers on france44.com or from south lyndale. I bought my first cases of furious and abrasive about five years ago. I was floored by both, at the time. I ordered every other can I could get between then and now. I've ordered 1-2 cases of abrasive each winter. I rated it a 5 when I was a newb. Still an amazing brew but the game has changed and so many great options are available here in New York so this will be my first abrasive-less holiday season in awhile. Thanks for the memories, surly, omar, Todd, etc...good luck to surly moving forward.