Surly Smoke

I like Surly beer but I stay away from it because the only liquor store close to me sells it at a premium, $25 bombers, $18 for Abrasive/Wet, $12 for regulars. Better beers out there for less.

 

I'm just trying to be snarky and poke the Nation a little bit. Personally, I can (usually) accept that everybody has their own tastes and opinions, and that this is a cool place to share them. But there are others here who cannot, and you mentioned "Surly" and "mediocre" in a single post, so you and your family must die.

 

You need to be more specific.

Boiled in Lead? Drawn and quartered? Or forced to drink past-code canned Glueck's 'Northern Light' until someone wins at beer pong?

 

The most irritating thing about smoke is the bottle. From a distance the color scheme makes me think its darkness. Than I reach for it and its.....smoke. I've done this numerous times and it still pisses me off.

 

Hey, this isn't Michigan and we're not slagging Founders.

 

Hmmm, very mixed reviews in here - my spot just got some today, but at that price and the "mehs" floating in here not sure I want to. Especially since I was gonna grab, then drink tonight but if it needs to sit for a while maybe not. On second thought I could grab and cellar and grab something else for tonightsy

 

Most people have fairly strong feelings about rauchbier (smoked beer). If you like it, you will probably like smoke. If you dont, you wont.
I've only found 1 smoked beer that does it for me; Jacks Abbey Smoke and Dagger. I love it because its very subtly smoked and Jacks Abbey nails all the beers Ive had from them. Surly Smoke is not subtle...so think about your preferences (do you like Lots of smoke?) and decide based off that.

 

I appreciate that. I'm relatively new the craft beer scene. The past 3-4 months or so I've really amped it up and have gotten really into it. I don't have negative feelings to any type of beer yet , other than only enjoying a couple IPA's (Abrasive is yumz) but this would be my first Smoke. With that said, if it's heavily smoked, maybe that's not a good one to start with?

 

Probably not but you can always go to the Smoke release next Tuesday @ Market Bar-B-Que and try it on tap first. I would also suggest seeking out this excellent smoked porter from Alaskan: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/429/1769

 

Thank you as well! I am a stout/porter fan so that could be a fun combo.

 

Not like it's a bad beer but it's nothing to get excited about. Surly would do better if they found something else to bottle as a "special" bottled release. As others have mentioned if you look around it seems to be something you can find off and on throughout the year. Not something that I really buy anymore. When Surly bottles a beer it should be something everyone looks forward to -- not the case with Smoke. Send it to Chicago so they can make us more Abrasive since they obviously cut down on brewing it for MN because of the Chicago expansion.

 

I love smoked beers and Surly Smoke is delicious as well. I'm just not willing to pay that much for a bottle of it. As mentioned above, get a sample at a bar to see if it's your thing first.

 

Anyone tried this year's yet? Is it more smoky like 2011 or tamer like last year?

 

I passed on this today, since it was $18. Just because it looks like darkness, doesn't mean it taste like darkness, or that it should priced at or near like darkness. There is only so many $16-$24+ bombers/750's in one man's budget, and for me Smoke isn't it for me.

 

the 2011 made one hell of a BBQ sauce............lol

 

Fo reel. This can't cost surly more than 2-3 bucks a bottle. $18 is ridiculous

 

Had this on tap tonight and I have to say, it was pretty good, if not great. Didn't find the smoke flavor overpowering at all, but maybe that's just me.

 

Where at? Never had it as I generally don't like smoked beers, but I would try it on tap.

 

Was on at Red Cow last night.