Surly Five

I decided to do my review of Five from the tap, while we still have it, so I can hang on to the bottles. Chances are good that when I crack them open, I won't be alone, and I won't be holding a pen, or clacking on a keyboard. Here are my notes from late last night. Or early this morning. (Yesterday morning?)

Surly Five. Five points in the pentagram, mystic talisman of satanic ministers, invoking demons and demigods to do evil bidding. I just knew the eventual imagery for this one, celebrating 5 years of Surliness, had to be Baphomet. "It Had to Be Baphomet." Sounds like a sitcom. or a broadway show. I want to see that.

So, this was made exactly like a Flanders Red. Brown ale and brettanomyces, aged in wine barrels, blended. But this comes out much darker than those. Called a "dark ale" on the label, perhaps in an effort to dodge associations with more famous "brown ales"?, …but looking at this final product, it is mighty dark.

Nearly black, this, with a slim head, currently a light, cola-tinted ring.

Aroma: black cherries, sourness, tart, slightly sweet, deep, and inviting. Beautiful. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Taste: bam, fruit, bam, sour, bam, pucker. Not incredibly intense, not horribly palate-wrecking, just nice and sour, amply backed up by rich malt. Tanin-y, tart, puckering, gritty, earthy, with the feel of grape peels, of getting into the insides of stone fruit, licking the pith, getting rightfully intimate with the danker sides of darker fruits. Berries and cherries, grape and more, a potent sour kick, then smooths, mellows, and winds down delightfully. 

once off the palate, it begs back in. Hey, that was good, let's have some more. Mmmm, yeah. Tangy, tasty, never-ending sour kick, starts in the front, moves to the back. Lays long in the palate, fades slowly.

This is a very mellow, approachable version of this style, ridiculously delicious. Sour flavor still kicks in, drops it's bombs on the palate, over and over, with rich malt holding down below. Hints of cocoa, chocolate, some bitter hops and funky acidity. Tangy kick never quits, cherry/currant flavor remains strong, sourness reigns supreme. 

Todd has called this the most polarizing Surly yet. Folks are going out and chasing $20 bottles, then complaining about the flavor, and sending nasty emails asking for refunds. What can you say about people like this?What can you do with them? Can't take them out back and shoot them...can't string them up...maybe you can stuff them in a crate and ship them to Nicaragua?

 Maybe someday they'll get it, and wonder who they were back then.