Surly Abrasive

Having my last 10/26 can that I bought last Friday... sad to say prob won't buy another. Crazy considering how much i have in recent years.

 

This. One and done (4-pack) for me too.

 

Sounds like Surly should quit Abrasive & go into the light lager business.

 

Tried a single 4 pack this week I got from the Ale Jail can't remember the canning date . It's not the same as the 2015 version . I remember the aroma smacking me in the face when I opened the cans last year ... this is way less muted and a little under carbonated. It's not terrible at all just not nearly as dank and flavorful as I remember it.

I am good with just the one 4-pack, not buying this again...disappointed.

Dang, with Todd out of the picture and the other guys leaving Surly for Barrel Theory.. you have to wonder what is going to happen to the quality and variety of their beer.

 

My mother in law muled 8 beers to UT for me! (Not a typo, she's rad I lucked out) Drinking a 10/19 now and I must say it's not as outrageous as it has been but it's still pretty darn good.

I find it really hard to compare a beer to the same beer from a year ago. This is craft beer. Ingredients change from year to year, shit happens.

But it must be because Todd left! Ha

Seriously I wonder how many beers he actually brewed. Most head brewers I know at breweries that big hardly ever actually brew beer.

 

Yeah, Todd hasn't brewed beer at Surly in quite some time. If he did, he brewed it from behind a computer screen.

If you want to put the squeeze on the brewing quality, put it on the crazy amount of turn-over in the brewery.

 

Some good news is I am currently having a 10/4/16 Todd the Axeman and it is just delicious. The emotional response to this beer seems to be very consistent with me. I very much enjoy it each time I have it.

I thought Todd was a better beer than Abrasive from the get-go, and now it's a year-round offering. For around the same $$$, I'll bypass Abrasive and just purchase Todd.

One wonders if Tree House, Trillium, Russian River and others have issues similar to Surly? Do they change the recipes of their high-end offerings like Surly did with Abrasive and Furious?

 

Change the recipes?

 

Pretty sure the recipe for Abrasive has changed a few times since it's inception. So has their gear and process.

Just had a Pliney yesterday. I would rather drink Abrasive personally.

 

Had my 4 pack because I can't remember the last time I had Abrasive. Would much rather have Todd at that price point. I wouldn't feel bad buying this at say, 10.99 or even 12.99, but at 17.99 a 4 pack for the flavors I'm getting, I'll pass.

 

Buy it from Costco, no membership needed for the liquor store, $12.99 a four pack

 

Live in Wisconsin where they don't have a separate liquor store. And we just cancelled our membership there because we found we could get almost everything we wanted cheaper online anyways. But yeah, if I see it at $12.99 I would consider picking up a second 4 pack.

 

Here's a thought, and it's nothing more then that.

I remember first tasting Todd and thinking how awesome it was... a 'younger' abrasive is what I called it. Came across super similar but not as, abrasive.

Fast forward a year and god knows how many cans of Todd and Abrasive gets released for this season... after all those can's of readily available Todd, not sure it surprises me too much that people think Abrasive isn't what it once was.

Lupulin Shift yo... or something.

Akins back to the time people thought furious changed.

 

First Abrasive of the season last night. Delicious. Really don't need any other IPAs while this is in stores.

 

Same as it ever was - delicious!

 

I agree. Been drinking Abrasive for several years thanks to France 44. Every year I love it and I see (err taste) nothing disappointing about this year (10/26 batch). It may be a bit different but every bit enjoyable. It's also an excellent alternative from the juice bombs I've been drinking of late. Everyone has their own opinion, but this is still a top shelf DIPA to me.

 

I've enjoyed Abrasive for the last 3 years when it came out. This years was not up to par. I had Todd the Axeman cans last night, a month old, that were miles ahead as far as taste, not to mention price point.

 

Price point? They're both $18.99 here

 

Both $15.99 at my store :-)

 

I've found these cans to be really variable. Out of several 4-packs, only one or two were really the way I remember, with super-bright grapefruit and powerful dank. But honestly, I felt the beer took a turn last year--at the beginning it was great, then later batches became more malty/piney in a not pleasant way. Most of these new cans so far tend toward that profile. I won't be paying the $$ to have it shipped to Northern Virginia any more. Too bad.