Here’s a good analogy I just thought of (mornings happen to be my most creative time): Bender is like your best friend. You can go over to his house and play war, video games, go skateboarding, etc, all day long. He’s awesome. But he’s got an even awesome-er older brother. When the older brother is around he’s kind of a dick to your best friend, but he’s just so damn cool, that you’ll join in and be a dick to your best friend, just so that Furious, I mean the older brother, thinks you’re cool.

 –Spoken by me after taking the first sip of one at Pizza Luce in St. Paul.  I had one more.  Enjoy. 

EDIT 2-15-08:  the hoppiest beer award now goes to Bells 3rd Coast which feels and tastes even more like a cleaning agent. 

It’s definitely flavorful, just not my kind of flavor, so it gets a higher score than if I thought it was just bad.

1. At it’s core, Surly beer is all about passion. We know that it’s a small operation led by people that care about beer, hell even the name Surly comes from Omar and his wife Becca’s frustration at going into a bar and finding no good beer. Surly means “the anger fueled by the inability to find good beer.”

2. Surly is proud to be local. Sure they’re expanding and you can get Surly currently in some Chicago bars as well, but it’s pretty clear that their first priority is supplying Minnesota stores and bars. Not only that, but they support local businesses and artists, from the ingredients (like American barley from Rahr Malting) to their artwork (my friend Adam Turman has done a couple of sweet posters for them).

3. Probably the most important thing is that these things come through in Surly’s products. A can of Furious stands out from the rest. It’s red color and bold lines are not typical for the beer industry but they scream attitude. And the can itself is even a careful decision on Surly’s part to make the beer better and more portable. Or for those of you that prefer Surly from a tap, you’ve no doubt seen the kick-ass non-conforming Surly tap handles. Omar explains that these were designed over 6 months and are poured out of molten aluminum by Carley Foundry in Blaine, MN. In fact the more you dig into, the more you realize just how much thought has been put into every aspect of Surly.

So there you have it, I think Surly deserves the hype. They care about good beer, they support local businesses, and their design kicks ass. On a side note, I did find out that the Surly logo was designed by a local design firm Bidwell ID courtesy of Creative Director Todd Verlander. I for one would love to see a case study on their site for the logo and packaging work they’ve done.

What’s the alcohol content in this beer? It’s strong in more ways than one!

The first two beers of four, I had the same reaction; something about the hops is just off. Not bad, but for me, it’s something different. The best I can explain it is “green”. It tastes green.

What other beer has Simcoe, Warrior, or Ahtanum in it? If I could break those apart on a hop-by-hop basis, I’d for sure find the hop that is pushing through. I’ve got an all Amarillo pale right now, so I don’t think it’s that. What do I know, though?

The third out of the pack, I thought, hey, this is pretty good, but then my review beer, beer four, I was back to where I started–with a tongue full of hops, but no greater appreciation for this beloved Minnesota beer. Sad.

Would I drink it again? Of course. I’m not that stupid.