Surly Furious

Surly Brewing opened in late 2005, 10 beer loving years in the making. Based on craft brewed beers, they quickly caught on in Minnesota. Surly Furious is one of the beers that ushered them in. A furiously hopped American ale, it pours a glowing amber color with tightly laced bubbles. The first smell is pine needles followed by hops and spice. I noted an “orchard” type smell to it, mixed with grapefruit and spice. The first taste is a shock to your senses, lots and lots of hops. This is the beer that taught me to recognize Cascade hops. The hops assault you with a black pepper and pine spice, followed by a surge of citrus(grapefruit mostly). I noted a toffee and bread taste from the malt. You get a taste of alcohol at the finish, and its gin-like in complexity, probably my favorite part about this beer. Something about this beer always makes me describe it as “chewy”, I think its because you’re left smacking your lips with the long aftertaste. This beer just seems to stick to your palate, lingering at the top of our mouth and sides of your tongue. Its quite an intense experience, and an enjoyable one at that. Furious is like a rollercoaster, its fun to ride a few times, but too many in a day and you’re done for. This is exactly what I think Surly intended the beer to be as well, I mean they did name it Furious for a reason right?

Amy’s comments

smells like “flowery orange”

tastes like “citrus rind”

What others thought

This beer makes me think maybe I know what I’m doing. The flavors are so pronounced that I think it would be hard not to pick up on them, but still I’ll take what I can get. I read alot of comments referring to its grapefruit taste, along with lemon, pineapple and even tangerine. Surly writes on the can “brewed with a dazzling blend of american hops and scottish malt,, this crimson hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee”, and most reviews follow that closely. As usual I’d love to hear your comments on the beer as well.