Brew52 » Week 7

i dig it

vonklebs — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:38:40 +0000

Dig it. Don’t love it. Appreciate it might be the correct answer.

Flavored water, but heavier

erik — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:38:55 +0000

This beer is kind of like an uncarbonated flavored water, but heavier. I think it’s kind of tasteless, although I do taste hints of coffee and cranberries. Not what I expected from Surly. I don’t care for the brief tartness it offers, but towards the end of the beer I kind of enjoyed the mild tasteless aftertaste. Love the 9% alcohol content.

its a light, dark beer…

slepow — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:43:29 +0000

acidic. and makes me think of heartburn. I don’t think I would ever choose it. Although, I’m not upset that I’ve tried it either. interesting.

Sweet ending to a long wait

manofwy — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:55:22 +0000

It took quite a bit to find Surly 2 on tap. My favorite place said they had it and would put it on tap after they ran out of Bender. So I drank a lot of Bender. Finally, on Saturday after noon I walked in and they answered yes to my repetitive query. I had even tried to go to other locations and was denied a taste. I was getting somewhat worried about the taste due to comments that had been made. I avoid reading the other reviews until I finish mine so I have no bias. On to the review – I actually liked it. It did taste very fruity and had a cough syrup reminiscence but I could drink one at a sitting. There is no way I would have a second at the same sitting. Almost like finishing a dinner with port. In fact, I think that is the way I will use it next time. I know there will be a next time since Washington Square finally put it on tap and it will take longer to go through that keg than they did with the Bender. Another good thing was the fact that there is not a beer aftertaste.

Not bad….at first

chrishansondc — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 04:29:55 +0000

The first sip has the familiar Surly taste to it, which I for one am crazy for. But after you swallow you begin to taste all those cranberries Surly was talking about, that part I am not so crazy for. The beer was worth the experience but will definitely not have a place in my refrigerator.

2 much for me!

Reebs — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:48:21 +0000

Sorry Surly, but not a fan. Most people that I have talked to about this seem to either love or hate this one. I was sadly one of the haters. I was really excited to try a cranberry beer and loved the idea of a local bog, but…alas….I will stay clear of this cranberry beer in my future. Not sure how to even describe my thought process when sipping this bev: too tart, too strong, and too much for me.

I missed the boat.

atankgirl — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:46:55 +0000

But I won’t let it tarnish my perfect record. The Dyers and I took a special trip to the Happy Gnome to taste the elusive Surly 2, only to find out that it was all gone – which must be a testament to it’s amazingness, right? Either way, I can almost guarantee I would have loved it, so I’m giving it 4 stars despite the failure to taste.

Two would be fine, but you can drive.

brendan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:51:15 +0000

I think this beer was pushing around 9%, but I did not notice. There was so much going on in the flavor department, that I missed the fact that my legs were being dissolved. Glad I walked. This one is really complex, and I really liked the contrasting flavors of the cranberry and chocolaty malt.

What the heck!

Aaron — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 05:39:25 +0000

I’ve barely had homebrew mistakes that tasted worse than this. Didn’t like the fruit at all (although I have no problem with fruit beers and I really enjoy a lot of Lambics) and the taste was overall confusing. Not in a good way, more in a, “what is all this shit in this?” kind of way. The aftertaste made me want to rinse my mouth out. You could see me with a bitter squint on my face saying “tschk tschk” with my tongue. We found this at the Blue Nile — good service, but $7 for a glass of this? Seriously? Decided to go to the Happy Gnome to try it again just in case I was nuts. They were sold out. Went to the Muddy Pig and it wasn’t on yet. Then before we left, waitress said they just tapped it. So we ordered one. Then (whom I believe to be Muddy Pig owner) Mark Van Wie came to us and told us pretty sternly that we can’t have it until “Wednesday at 6.” Our waitress followed later to apologize. Why wait? This beer sucks.

Soooo good

Eric — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 04:53:04 +0000

Ok I tried this at Winterfest last weekend. It was good, but I thought I would probably pass on it the next time around. Then my wife and I had dinner at Cafe 28 tonight (owned by Linda Haug, wife of Surly head brewer Todd), and I thought, well I better give it a second shot, when I hadn’t had 20 beers already.

And I’m so glad I did. It had some of the same hop characteristics as Darkness, of course reduced by the cranberries and dark malts. Some have said its a one-and-your-done beer, but I could easily have had two or three. This is one of my favorite Surly beers. I can’t wait to pick up one of the bottles and throw it in my basement for a year or two.