Todd the Axe Man - Surly vs. Surly/Amagar?

Todd the Axe man was first brewed in collaboration with Amager, now Surly produces it on their own. I'm pretty sure the second link is the Amager collaboration version.

Source: http://surlybrewing.com/beer/todd-the-axe-man/

 

Yes, supposed to be the same recipe but each brewery is producing the beer. The Amager is out in 750ml bottles I believe and is available more widely (at least for us east coast folks) than the Surly. I know the Bier Cellar in Portland, MA got bombers in this week...

 

The Surly offering in cans is higher ABV, and the bottles of the Surly/Amager that hit St. Louis are pints. I only had the Surly release on cask at Great Taste of the Midwest, but the bottles of the collab have been excellent as well.

 

The alcohol may make a difference. The place where I usually drink the Surly Todd the Axeman on tap is less than 5 miles from the brewery and the places where I buy the cans are about 6 miles. They are 4,261 miles from Amager. Surly Todd the Axeman is distributed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and parts of Iowa and Illinois. Amager is probably more widely distributed, especially on the coasts. While Chicago gets most of the same beer as on the coasts, the rest of the Surly market area is not as competitive. In Minneapolis, based on what else I can get, Todd the Axeman stands out. It might not stand out as much in New York, Portland or San Diego.

 

We only got the collab beer in my neck of the woods. Still really good but kinda ridiculous how the distro works out.

 

The collab beer is here in the bay area in bottles. It was pretty good but certainly not worth $11/btl. I'm guessing the Surly version is better based on the responses so far.

 

It is possible that I just don't have enough experience with world class IPAs (the current East Crop in particular), but the Surly version is absolutely fantastic. I find it to be enormously tropical with great malt/bitterness balance.

 

i had the collab as well and was disappointied. it didn't taste particularly like an east coast ipa to me at all (nor did it taste west coast), it was just...meh.

 

You're way better off with the surly can release

 

When was the last batch brewed at Amagar? Is it possible the people who get distro are drinking older bottles, and the rest of us are drinking fresh Todd cans from the Minneapolis brewery? That would account for the some big taste differences if you ask me.

 

I was thinking this-- but there is no way, right? I didn't even check the bottle date, because I assumed it had to be freshish based on release date.

 

Todd is the Shit! just got a 4pk in trade..top notch

 

I'm not sure if after the original collaboration if both breweries maintained the same brewing schedule. This is not the first time Todd has been out. It was originally out a year ago, and Todd was never canned until this July/August.

I have no idea when the bottles from Amager came from.

 

have you had the collab version? interested what you think.

 

The Amager version is very good.

 

no..just the Surly version

 

The Amager version is missing hype.