This is a different kind of collaboration. We don't have two or more brewers/breweries getting together to craft a recipe. Instead, Surly showed First Avenue three different beers and asked which one they'd like their name on. Not really a collaboration at all.
Clear, bright golden, brilliant white head atop.In the nose: Cereal notes, malt-forward, hop-backward. Slight sweetness, but well-balanced.
In the mouth: clean, lean, light bodied, low hops. Added corn to a golden ale is not my favorite aspect of this beer. It is a golden ale, it is not unpleasant, and it can be consumed. In fact, it is pleasant, you can drink it. Unfortunately, the corn keeps nagging at me. I can't shake the adjunct.
Definitely better than Hamm's or PBR. Something that can get rocked out at First Ave without too much thinking involved. I don't love it. But it's okay. Just okay.
{Editor's note: When I stop thinking about the beer, and merely drink it, my opinion is improved. I think that's the whole point of this one.}
An old Minneapolis bus station. An abrasives factory in the ‘burbs. From these humble beginnings sprang the last great rock club in the country and one of America’s leading craft breweries. A collaboration just makes sense.
First Avenue and Surly Brewing are proud to present +1, an easy-drinking, classic-style golden ale ideal for the Mainroom, the Entry, the Turf, or anywhere the music hits you.
“It’s an honor to be working with First Avenue on +1,” says Surly founder Omar Ansari. “It’s a Minnesota institution, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”
“We wanted to make the kind of beer we like to drink at a Mainroom or Entry show,” says Surly Head Brewer Ben Smith. “We went over a few styles with them, and this one emerged as the clear winner.”
The key to +1 is balance and simplicity. Subtle hop notes, low bitterness, and a refreshing malt profile carry this light-bodied, low-ABV beer. And not to take away from the beer, but the can is an absolute beauty:
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