Surly 2019 Beer Calendar

I mean...Coffee Black and Coffee Bender, maybe. Were you thinking of their ESB? Definitely tastes more like a brown than a traditional ESB

I'm with you on missing Bender, though. Not a lot of browns available otherwise. 3rd Street has Lost Trout, but it's...not the best

 

I still mourn the loss of Bender, no other brown can/could match it!!

 

I miss Bender too. I really like Cigar City's Maduro Brown Ale which we can now get in the Twin Cities.

 

I tried Liberty Spikes at Surly Beer Hall. I thought it was superb and fit in well with the likes of Furious, Axe Man, and the best of Wet and Hop Shifter among the best of Surly IPAs, and it's one of the best Minnesota-made IPAs I've tried in years. Strong, substantial, and sophisticated across the board, with a powerful, long, lingering bitterness that is conspicuously absent in most IPAs today. I'm hoping it gets canned in 2020; it deserves a wide release.

 

Good to know. I'll be down that way next week and might have to make a special stop to try it as I think I'm pretty close to you on IPA preference.

 

Damn, you're making that sound right up my alley!

 

You'll actually see it before 2020. Liberty Spikes is the prototype for the 2019 Q4 seasonal beer which will be sold under the trade name: Yummi Bear West Coast-style IPA

 

Those two beers look pretty different in the official descriptions, but knowing that they share a lineage does make more interested in Yummi Bear. I'm also optimistic for Four Seam Screamer at the State Fair; all of the Glen Perkins collaborations have been really good so far.

https://surlybrewing.com/beer/liberty-spikes/
https://surlybrewing.com/beer/yummi-bear/

 

We had another beer under the trade name Yummi Bear earlier this year, that was in the ballpark, but not really appropriate for the 6-pack seasonal release (ABV was much too high, and we wanted to edit the flavor profile a bit).The next Yummi Bear won't launch until October, so the website hasn't yet been updated to reflect the new beer.

I'm really happy with Four-Seam Screamer. We canned a handful as an R&D trial and I immediately drank them this weekend. It's a proper West Coast IPA which, is right in my personal-preference wheelhouse. Glen is also a super-nice guy and a pleasure to work with. He's brewed at our place so many times now, we joke and call him the newest Surly Brewing intern.

 

Any insight yet on the 13 release? I’ll be in MN for Christmas and hoping to find at least a four pack.

 

@BillManley will HEATSLAYER be around next year? Really enjoyed that beer.

 

According to Surly's latest newsletter,

"Friday, December 13th shouldn't cause fear or concern about the terrifying specter of Jason Voorhees. Unless you're reading this from the shores of Crystal Lake, in which case you are straight-up doomed, sorry.

For the rest of us, it's a chance to celebrate 13. Named after the fateful day, 13 is a limited edition, maple barrel-aged imperial stout, with notes of dark chocolate, roasted malt, and aromatic vanilla atop the rich maple flavors coursing beneath. 13 will be sold only in single cans and packaged in custom boxes designed by local geniuses Studio On Fire.

To honor its release, we're holding an exclusive 13 bash at our original brewery in Brooklyn Center on Friday, December 13th. Tickets are on sale now."

Those tickets are $75 each. So it looks like you'll have to make your own four-pack, and don't be surprised if many stores cap you at one or two cans.

By the way, the new Black Horsemen "Danish-style black lager," hitting shelves soon (or maybe already out) is a very good and interesting beer and a welcome throwback to Surly's old, outside-the-box, trend-setting rather than trend-following approach that built its reputation in the first place.

 

Thanks for the update, guess I need to temper my expectations to a can or two. ISO Black Horsemen now too. Love schwarzbier and also part Danish.

 

Has anyone heard if the 13 tickets include cans or even a pour?

 

from Surly...

“This exclusive, decadent beer will have a party to match: Cocktail attire, open bar, appetizers and desserts from our culinary team, tarot card reading, hand rolled cigars, and more fun and surprises than should be allowed in polite society.”

Maybe if there is an open bar

 

Presumably, you won't be able to light those, given MN smoking laws.

 

I agree... put that beer under any other brewery brand and it would be rated at least 0.5 to 1 point lower. Unbalanced, thin, awful. JMO.

 

I can agree on the removal of Xtra as well. Heck, personally they can remove Furious as well. As it seems to me every "variety pack" from Surly includes these 2 beers.

With the 2, there is only 2 of the beers in the variety pack I haven't had. I'd rather try 4 new surly brews at this point. Rather than 2, plus 1 that I enjoy but is a bit long in the tooth and I can get all year round(Furious), the other(Xtra) that I couldn't care less for. At the very least, Xtra needs to go. It just makes for a boring variety pack and why I haven't purchased 1 from them yet.

 

I like this idea. I'm a bit bummed that Cynic is no longer. Not a lot of decent saison choices down here in Rochester.