Surly Nein

Sigh...bring back Four and bottle that.

 

Just another dunkeleicherauchweizendoppelbock.

 

Ew.

 

To me, Nein sounds fantastic. Almost every combination of the features of this beer has been executed successfully by other breweries, and I'm optimistic that one of the most talented brewers in the world will be able to pull off the full amalgamation impressively. Surly quietly has excelled in its limited, under-the-radar forays into variations on German styles, e.g., Dampfbier, El Hefe Negro, and Fiery Hell. On paper, I find this to be the most intriguing Surly anniversary beer yet .

 

Man do we have different tastebuds!

 

I am sure it will turn out fine, but I (almost) guarantee it will be overpriced and sit on shelves like 6, 7, and 8.

 

I happen to love German rauchbiers (this wouldn't be a traditional rauchbier because of the use of oak -- eiche -- instead of beechwood for smoking) and have a soft spot for weizenbocks, so Nein seems right up my alley. But, given how those sorts of beers tend to get dusty on the bottom shelves of liquor stores, I'm clearly in the minority among American craft beer drinkers. If people think of it as "the ultimate extreme German beer," which I'm sure is the idea (hence "Nein"), then I think the concept and flavor combination will make sense.

 

A weizenbock/gratzer hybrid. I like the idea. I do not like another Surly $20+ bottle on the shelf that I will ignore.

 

If this is more than $10/750ml, it's gonna collect a LOT of dust!

 

Yeah, if the beer geek crowd won't snap this up at the expected price point - who will? Chicago?

 

Our Pentagram and Smoke isn't moving too quickly…Pentagram at $22-24 just isn't appealing when 12oz draft pours can be had for $6-7, and more bottles of Pentagram just showed up this week. We will not buy $24 bombers of an imperial oak-smoked Hefe.

 

Nein

 

Draft at the taproom is $5. I will never pay the $22 + tax here for a bottle. I still can't believe how anybody buys this stuff out of the bottle.

 

Surly is going to claim that because this is barrel aged (on charred oak) that the inputs for it (barrels and time) are high, thus commanding the high price. I will probably buy two bottles, b/c I'm a sucker, but agree that if this is $20, it's gonna sit for a long time.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the description, but it doesn't seem to me that this is a barrel-aged beer.

 

I'm assuming Surly used charred oak chips, cubes, or spirals. If they barreled it, I figure they'd mention that fact for the marketing cachet. Plus, new charred oak barrels are very expensive. That's why so few alcohol producers use them when not required.

 

This sounds good to me, but agree if priced at $20 plus, then I will be looking for it on tap and might pick up just a couple bottles to age.