Surly Doomtree Beer

Surly Doomtree. I've had this before, at festivals and at the taproom, I mean, beer hall, bar, brewery, whatever. When I first asked about it, I was given some vague uncertain flimflammery and this from a guy who knows his beer. Then, I heard it called a Biere de Garde. Hey, my first guy knows what a bier de garde is, why didn't he tell me that? Then, more flimflammery, then once more with the de Garde. Who's right, who's wrong? I've got myself a can at last, and I'm about to investigate it.

First of all, I'll admit before we begin that I'm not a hip-hop fan and can't tell you the name of any Doomtree songs. I have seen them perform, but not because I wanted to, it was back in the early days of their career when they were on the bill for various hip-hop events at the Blue Nile, back when those things happened. I believe there was some rhyming involved, and some mic-passing, too. Words were spoken, beats were dropped, and all that scratching was making me itch.

Now, they have a beer, and I'm going to drink it. (To further confuse the matter, though, I find it called an English Bitter on BeerAdvocate.com, and an ESB on RateBeer. What's odd is that some of the people saying "Biere de Garde" were Surly employees. I don't know nothing no more.)

Appearance: clear, dark coppery coloring, slim off-white head. Looks okay to me.

Aroma: Lightly spicy and floral hop notes, then the funky twist that Belgian yeast brings on--is it there? I don't have any technical info on hand, I'm just guessing. Rich malt character shows it's stripes--rye malt in this? Nicely spicy. Slightly sweet and bready. Good so far.

Taste: there it is all over again, on the tongue. And now I'm getting the Biere de Garde, which is an unknown item in the wider beer world. None of the French or Belgian versions are particularly famous, so interpretations state-side can be varied and slightly off-model. (I just checked, and the five Biere de Gardes I've listed on this blog are American versions. It's been that long since I've had an authentic version. Must fix that.) (P.S. I have had 23 Biere de Gardes on BeerAdvocate.com, including St. Amand, Castelain, 3 Monts Flanders Golden Ale, La Bavaisienne, La Chouleete Blonde, Les Biere des Sans Coulettes, Jenlain, and Abbey des Saint Bon-Chien, among others.) This one has it. Malt is king here, rich, slightly sweet and delicious, nicely hopped, and very comforting. Easy drinkability, medium body, long malty finish.

Alcohol 5.7% by vol. If you designing a beer that's meant to be had at a music venue, destined for the hands of sweaty, excited fans, it had better be a beer they can drink. I can't think of anyone who could be disappointed by this, unless they have terrible taste in beer, and a lot of people do.

Let's read the can copy, written by Doomtree member Dessa: "All Hands, No Kings: Surly started with some homebrewing in a garage. Doomtree started with some noisemaking in a basement. Careful what you do with your spare time in your spare rooms. Man, that stuff just might take over your whole life. A decade later, Doomtree meets Surly. Instant Crush. We're both indie and strong-willed. We love Minnesota and we're allergic to focus groups. We don't have a formal professional outfit between us. We convene at the brewery to scheme. Working in extreme secrecy, we decide to make a beer. Team Surly suggests a "bastardized style" that will build on a classic, but buck convention. Doomtree cannot nod vigorously enough. We know this style. Guided by instinct, we came up with this dark gold, toasty, aromatic, subtly spicy, bitter enough, dry-hopped brew. Best enjoyed cold, in a spare room, with new friends."

Not bad, not bad. Not as good as some other Surly cans I can think of, but not bad."Dark gold", though? I'd drop that part.

Oh, yeah, the beer's alright, too. I'll have another, why not?

Afterthought: When I looked at the photo on their website (see link above), I wondered if I did something wrong when I framed my photograph, as the beers were two entirely different colors. I just had another, and looked at someone else's photograph, and I've come to the conclusion that ...well, I'm not sure what, but the beer I bought didn't come in that color.)