Surly SeVIIn Ale

Note for the contemporary reader. I recently edited this two year old post. when I was done it looked like I posted it now. Not sure how that happened. This is from July of 2013, not December of 2015.

I wrote these notes late Monday./early Tuesday, while drinking a glass of this on tap. I didn't post it for two reasons: the internet was down, and I wasn't sure if I got it right. Maybe I wanted to do one of those high-flown, poetic, lofty pieces that would make everyone and my mother proud. But it just wasn't hitting me then. So, I returned to my place of work on one of my weekdays off to have another, before it runs out, but couldn't think of anything much more significant to say. I had one more glass Thursday night (it ran out after the first pour Friday), and again, no new revelations. So, I guess the initial scribbling will have to do...until I open a bottle, perhaps. I've purchased four, so far.

Here we go, notes on the 12.5% ABV Belgian-style from Surly, a brew I really enjoyed.


Surly Seviin. Trappist yeast, 3 malts, rye, wheat (first time at surly), and oats. 12.5 % ABV. Topped off with brettanomyces. I'd been looking forward to this one. Had a few (too many) at the release party last night, didn't go hunting for bottles today, but got a keg of it, which I just now tapped. Now, to drink. But first, to look, and then to smell.

Gorgeous, bright shining crimson hue, under a lush, creamy head. Fantastic looking beer in this glass (an old Darkness snifter from 2007, with the logo still hanging on there).

Aroma: deep fruit and wild funk hit first. Lovely stuff, herbal, floral, fruity, very rich and complex. Tart cherries, mangoes, and far below, some banana. Amazingly intriguing. Mystery upon mystery.

Taste: big and bold fruit flavors match with the vast malt complexity. Spicy rye meets smooth wheat, while cherries and raisins abound in the flavor. Very bright and bountiful. Low bitterness, high maltiness, caramel tones, sweetness is kept in check, with a tart twist rising up and blazing the palate.

Medium-bodied, long finish, bit of fruit and funk. High alcohol shows itself, bites a bit.

Rich rye malt spice, …maelstrom of malt…spice meets sweet…big booze, …if anything it reminds me of a Scaldis, mixed with a trappist quadruple.

very bright, brash and loud while young…have to wonder what it will be like in a year or two.