I’m going to skip my usual method and read Omar’s part of the label first, before opening the bottle. “Who would have thought, when we sold our first keg in 2006, that we would raise our 9th Anniversary glasses in a new brewery, restaurant and beer hall? So much has changed in such a short time, both at Surly and across Minnesota. The state’s beer scene is exploding and we are proud to have been part of the boom. Two, things, however, haven’t changed a bit—Todd’s distinctive take on beer styles and our local artists’ amazing talent. Erica Williams’ meticulous design for Nein is the perfect match for Todd’s approach to his craft. Cheers to nine years!—Omar Ansari”
He’s right, the label art is amazing, better than what she did for the SurlyFest art last year and the 2014 Darkness bottle, and I loved those, as well. The 3 3-eyed lions represent nine years. What the other symbols mean, I am not sure. I’ll be certain to pick up some merch soon, t-shirts, poster, etc, but 9th Anniversary glassware? That’s a first. I could have gotten one cheap at the release party Monday if I’d only arrived a little earlier. But, cool as it may look, and be, do I really need more glasses, I ask myself? And yet, I keep collecting. Broke my Surly spiegelau glass recently, so I went back and bought one with the Todd the Axe-Man artwork. Because. Apparently, I have to.
So, I bought this bottle earlier tonight, about six hours ago, and now it’s time to drink it.
Dark and caramel colored, shining crimson highlights at corners and edges. Beautiful brown head that crumbles quickly.
Aroma spills out bananas and smoke, together. Wheat-y wafts and creamy tones. Caramel and toffee tickle the nose, while alcohol looms in the distance. Dizzyingly complex.
More complexity invades the senses once Nein boards the palate. This one ain’t fooling around. Whiskey barrel-aging, smoked malts, hefe weizen yeast, ringing in at about 10% ABV. Boom, boom, boom, boom. All the while, myriad flavors travel the tongue and delight the senses, as long as the senses are still around.
Okay, I love dunkelweizens, adore barrel-aged beers, delight in the smoked stuff, and cheer on the big and ballsy brews. This much you may have gathered if you have read this section of the internet I call home with any regularity. Here in Nein they come together as never before.
I had this for the first time at the Black Forest restaurant in a glass mug, and then in a plastic cup, with the noise of a crowd and an accordionist distracting my brain. With my choice of glassware and personal pick of music or not, I can relax in contemplation of the many brilliant aspects of this brew. How to unpack and parse them, though, how to pick apart and lay bare? Chocolate slips in for a bit, oak and vanilla knock on the door, whiskey speaks it’s peace, and that undercurrent of banana tones keeps whispering in the background. Meanwhile, the brute from this bottle bellows and calls out not to forgets that we’re in double digits, in terms of alcohol percentage.
Talk about this beer has been that it’s the best anniversary beer since Five, a return to greatness, I guess. I did like Syx, Seviin, and Eight, but they were a bit out there. Not for everyone. Neither is this, though. Look, if you can’t hang, scram, we ain’t got no room for no squares, man.
Time to read what Todd wrote on the label: “Inspired by a recent trip to Bamberg, Germany, Nein is brewed with oak-smoked wheat malt, fermented with German hefeweizen yeast and aged on charred oak. It is a huge, dark, complex beer, delivering the intense flavors of smoked banana, vanilla, and clove.”--Todd Haug.
Smoked banana? Mmm, hmmm, we drink that every day.
This is great stuff. I was glad to see it priced at $13.99. Not cheap, but cheaper than twenty bucks. So, I’ll be picking up more to keep and enjoy on those days when I’ll salute 10, 11, 12 years of Surly beers, and then some.
If you've got time to waste, read about Surly Eight here, (where I also listed my reviews of other anniversary beers and their variants not found on this blog), Surly Seviin here, Surly Syx here, Surly Five here, and Surly Four here. And let us not forget the two-pronged attack of Surly Two, the beer..... and please, won't you consider taking a peek at Part Two, Surly Two, the Art. It would mean so much to me.
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