Surly Furious Beer

(Editor's Note: I'm leaving this 7-year old post as-is, but adding a newer photograph, while leaving at the bottom of the pic I used back then, of a pint poured off the tap at the Blue Nile, from my crappy camera on an iPod Touch. This new package goes with the sample packs, is 12 ounces rather than the tallboy they'd been doing since the beginning, now calls it an IPA, and no longer uses my description, which had been on the cans for a solid 10 years.)

I first tasted Surly Furious on February 2, 2006. A special open house at the brewery, invites only. I loved it, and Bender, too, but when it came time to ordering, I thought Bender was the one that would be easier to sell, and better beloved. Furious was just way too hoppy.

I'm so happy I was wrong.

Or, am I? Furious' success is incredible, and means that this beer drinking community's palate has fully embraced the bitter, in ways I never would have guessed. But, will that stop them from appreciating other, more subtle styles? One wonders. I do, anyway.
Well, whatever, I think we're in a Golden Age, when a beer like Furious is so wildly popular in Minnesota, something incredible has happened, we can't deny that!

This is what I wrote with my first full pint, about five days from my first taste, at the Acadia Cafe, original location, because they went with both Furious and Bender, and I went only with Bender, at first:

"There will be quibbles, arguments, teeth-gnashing, and bare-fisted brawling over the style choice, but I am going with what the brewers lean towards, although they admit it's not quite an "amber ale" like any other. There was talking of calling it an IRA, or "Imperial Red Ale", a humorous reference to violence in Ireland, but I'm glad they didn't.

(note: style now changed to "American IPA"...everyone okay with that now?)

On tap at Acadia Cafe'...it looked a dusky, dunnish hue when they server poured it, when I sat at my table, it glowed bright orange...held out of sunlight, a truer dark amber-ish tone. Quarter inch head, creamy, and long-lasting. Very fine appearance.

Up to the nose: fresh, vibrant hops, zesty citrus, glimmers of pine, a grapefruit and pineapple tango, but banana aches to cut in...lovely stuff, and ample for any hophead's appreciation. (4 hops, Amarillo for sure...)(other hops:Warrior, Simcoe, Ahtanum)

Enters the mouth with ferocity and freewheeling force, spill bitterness all over the mouth, every crack and crevice is filled and rejoices from the deliciousness...creeps everywhere into the palate, and each area of contact finds it's reward. A citric fruit explosion, but well met with an ample, biscuity malt base (Golden Promise is in there)...it's a fertile malty field, and the hops are madly at play above! (100 IBUs will do that.)

Next comes the overload, the frequent pucker, the lip-smacking, the bitterness, and tasty hop flavor clinging tenaciously to the lips and tongue...zippy, zingy, mouth-grabbingly delicious at every sip and gulp.

A beer for hopheads to keep reaching for and for Minnesotans to be proud of!

P.S., I've had the cask dry-hopped version, now dubbed "Tea-Bagged" twice now, and never took out pen and paper to compose a full review, but, damn, it would definitely get all 5's out of me, an amazing beer! Check out if hear of a pouring, it is not to be missed!"

Seven months later, Omar asked my help with writing for some ....thing he didn't want to reveal. I insisted that I couldn't do it if I didn't know what it was for. He only said "packaging". I wrote something, thinking it was for bottle labels, or, I don't know, table tents, or something, and then he publicly stated that everyone should stop asking for Surly bottles, because it wasn't going to happen. Much sadness, crying out, rending of garments, etcetera, from this news.

And then, Omar showed up with a 6-pack of Bender cans, with my words on the back. Cans, we never guessed it, at all. And now, we love them. Also, a single Furious can, with my words, too, There were slight alterations, here and there, but it's mostly my work. So, here's my words on Furious, as it appears on the can:
"A tempest on the tongue, or a moment of pure hop bliss? Brewed with a dazzling blend of American hops and Scottish malt, this crimson-hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee. For those who favor flavor, Furious has the hop-fire your taste buds have been screeching for."

I think Todd added the "hop fire", to complement the flames on the can design, but, as I said, it's 99% me. Alliteration, rhyme, it's all me.

More:
STYLE: American India Pale Ale
MALT: Pale Ale, Golden Promise, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Roasted Barley
HOPS: Warrior, Ahtanum, Simcoe, Amarillo
YEAST: English Ale

OG: 15º Plato
ABV: 6.5% v/v
COLOR: 27 ºSRM
IBU: 99
AVAILABILITY: Cans and Kegs Year Round