Surly Nineteen Birra Forte

 Surly Nineteen Birra Forte. Beer brewed with Cabernet Sauvignon grape juice aged on French oak. 

14 % ABV, Surly Brewing, Twin Cities, MN. 

It is now one year since I purchased this bottle. And it’s also less than one week away from the Surly 20th Anniversary event, and the release of that beer. Enough time has passed to finally drink it, which I remember enjoying at the time. 

Dark, burgundian, absolutely opaque, practically no head. 

In the nose: grape must hits first, a little oakiness comes through. 

In the mouth: ever-so grapey, and ever-so strong. Big, bold, fruity, dense. Yet, ridiculously drinkable, in the sense that wine grapes aged on oak in a beer clocking in at 14% can be drinkable. Yeah, I’ll drink it til it knocks me out. 

Every new sip brings me closer to a new understanding. Every subsequent swallow ushers in an expanded conception. It’s clean and largely tannin-free, grape juice and beer wrapped up in a dream. Now I’m contemplating the label, searching for meanings in scribbles.

Nineteen starts with a strong beer base and a significant amount of cabernet sauvignon juice added during fermentation. It then ages on Creative Oak’s Jupilles Fleur squares, which impart fresh floral and fruit notes along with its signature French oak flavor. The result is a beer/wine hybrid that lands in the red/rose neighborhood in both strength and character.