Furious - Surly Brewing Company

sloejams

California

4.72/5  rDev +8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

many thanks to beckje01 for this trade

Surly have an absolutely delicious thing going. IPA is my favorite style of beer and this IPA is in the top 5 IPAs for me.

This wonderful nectar comes in a 4 pack of pint cans. The ones I had were so fresh, it seemed like it came right off the line. The glorious hops were well pronounced - fruit filled with grapefruit and lemon. The floral pine element is there too, rounding out the flavor of the hops. The chewy malt character tries to balance the hops - but this is an IPA, so it stands lil chance. It provides a welcome almost Scotch ale flavor.

With so many IPAs punishing with the hops in the West Coast style, this has it's own character. It is its own animal. With Bell's Two Hearted, Minnesota Town Hall's Mama Masala and now this - the Midwest is proving to be a IPA location to reckon with. Shame none are available on the West Coast.

The label reads “Beer for a Glass, from a Can" and to drink this straight from the can would be an injustice.

Serving type: can

01-24-2007 20:09:24 | More by sloejams

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev -11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks NorthYorkSammy!
Pours fairly flat, but still manages a decent response upon swirling. A copper amber colour. A great hop balance - citruis, toffee malt, and pine (like the can says). Some considerably heavy bitterness. A fantastic finish, smooth, and great drinkability. All in all though it's hard to find much to say. Lots of room for improvement, overall fairly on par with the other worthwhile IPA offerings.

Serving type: can

01-20-2007 23:50:38 | More by biegaman

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cans! Pours a clear red/brown, thick off white head, nice lacing, good retention. Smell is wow. Ass ton of hops, big citrus and floral, toffee, grapefruit, flowery, some pine, very hoppy. Taste is nice toffee up front, varied hop blast, lots of pine, citrus and grapefruit, unbalanced in a beautiful way although IBU's are a big too high. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with low carbonation, crazy bitter, I enjoyed it. Thanks northyorksammy!

Serving type: can

01-18-2007 05:29:31 | More by Viggo

brewmanDJ

Missouri

4.35/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A- Poured a hazy light amber, nice 2 finger head.Light carbonation level- the can was a little soft before it was opened.

S-Big hop aroma

T-Dry start, big hoppy finish, a little unbalanced, it needs a little more malt sweetness.

M-Nice med. body

D-Very drinkable

Serving type: can

01-18-2007 04:02:32 | More by brewmanDJ

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Whoah!!! I'm starting to like this brewery! Citrus and pine wrapped up in a wide-threaded deep caramel satchet that's ready to go wherever you are! Great beer, great design, and I love the fact that it's in a can! That said...

It pours a hazy ruby and orange tinted chestnut body beneath a creamy head of bone-white that drops at a slightly slower than standard pace and leaves great smears of spotty and splotchy lacing behind.

The nose is bright with citrusy and piney hops that seem perfectly intertwined. At first whiff I get citrus, but then it turns piney and stays that way. After a short rest between sips the same thing occurs. Some mild-but-dark caramel backs it. It's quite nice... bright, lively, and refreshing.

The flavor offers the same level of hoppiness, along with a brisk bitterness. I'd imagine it's upwards of 80 IBU's. It starts citrusy with an undercurrent of caramel, reveals some yeasty fruitiness (apples, berries, mild pear) turns piney, and becomes quite bitter and resinous at the swallow where it seems to linger forever.... absolutely tar-like with bitterness and resinous piney hop flavor... a beat-down for your taste buds.

A solid, vibrant, take-no-prisoners IPA! No hold barred here! If you're up for the challenge, crack a can and see if you can hold your own against the brutal assault of Pac-NorthWest hops!

Serving type: can

01-09-2007 01:06:01 | More by NeroFiddled

zeff80

Missouri

4.58/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at The Gunflint Tavern in Grand Marais, MN.

A - A deep amber color with a full two-finger head. Nice and foamy head left great Belgian lace.

S - It smelled powerfully hoppy with grapefruit and bubblegum.

T - Great citrus flavor - grapefruit and other tropical fruits with a bitter bite. Strong burnt toast maltiness, too.

M - It is crisp and sharp. A medium-bodied brew.

D - Very good beer. I recommend it highly if you are a hophead!

Serving type: on-tap

01-02-2007 02:30:28 | More by zeff80

umustdrink

Minnesota

4.3/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - Big head. Amber hue.

S - Faint and inconspicuous smell of pine and fruity hops.

T - Intense piney hop flavor.

M - Biting crisp dryness.

D - The hoppiness was a bit overwhelming at first but the taste grew on me and now I can't get enough of the stuff.

Serving type: can

12-31-2006 07:25:39 | More by umustdrink

budgood1

Minnesota

4.43/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

pours out of the growler a slightly hazy dark bronze. ample head dies down to a skimming sheet. lots of lacing...looks like a beer should when drank...rings aplenty. intense hop aroma, but lots of sweet doughy malts to offset the pine and citrus. quite inviting. the taste is all massive chewy citrusy hop madness. like a stick of that thirst quenching chewing gum. my saliva glands are just going nuts. lots of piney bitterness, too. and lingering bitterness. this "imperial amber" or "india red pale ale" has all the bases covered when it comes to hoppy goodness. 100 IBU's and it's all that for sure. the malt base stands up meekly, but respectively...sweet and syrupy, just enough to further the furious hop onslaught. there is an alcohol spice, cleverly intertwined in the bitter mushroom cloud of hop heaven. the body seems huge, the mouthfeel is all about the assault on the tongue of the spine tingling hop profile....holy cripes. i love this beer...it's hoppy as hell and definitely over the top a bit. drinkability has to suffer a bit just because it's so gargantuan in the hop profile.

a hophead must have...got to have. seek this out. trust me...this one is over the top.

a big thanks to my sis for another surly x-mas gift.

Serving type: growler

12-28-2006 00:42:24 | More by budgood1

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.08/5  rDev -29.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Burnt orange colour and a little cloudy, the pour produced a thin cap of tiny bubbles. The aroma was crammed full of pine resin and grapefruit rind, backed up by some tangerine, but a bit of caramel appeared as it warmed. Scorching bitterness, little balance was all I thought on my first sip and things really didn't change. The hop flavour was very resinous with some citrus character, and there was just a faint caramel sweetness that was inadequate to tame the bitterness. A bit of alcohol was present too. Medium/light bodied with average (and appropriate) carbonation and a dry hop finish. There just isn't enough of a malt backbone here to support the bittering hop charge in this beer. Quite harsh - not a complete disaster for me, but not something that I really enjoyed. Thanks for sharing northyorksammy!

Serving type: can

12-26-2006 22:12:34 | More by DrJay

oakbluff

Manitoba (Canada)

4.6/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Served from a 16 ounce can into an imperial pint glass. Poured out a hazy orange tangerine colour with a very large creamy head.
Smell- holy grapefruit Santa!! One of the best smelly IPA's I had the pleasure of sticking my nose in. Taste is a freight train of hops. Oily grapefruit attacks the mouth. Beautiful.... I am a hop head, but there is more than just hops to this beer. The scottish malt used adds a real depth to this beer and really helps countact the hop attack. I can't beleive this beer is only 6%. It could pass for a dipa, except a slight lack of sweetness. One of the best IPA's I've had and I can't wait to get back to Minneapolis to track more down. Mr Furious is a little rough around the edges, but how can you be refined when you are such an angry bugger? I put it right up there against Bell two hearted and Stone IPA- my other two favourite IPA's.

Serving type: can

12-24-2006 18:39:55 | More by oakbluff

leftmindedrighty

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

16oz can received in a trade with RobertDwight
Poured into a British Imperial Pint Glass

This can concealed brew looks menacing in the glass, with a deep amber color and a beautiful off white head, almost like this was a nitro-can.

The smell is my favorite part, very fresh, piney hops and almost nothing else.

Taste: The first thing that slaps my tongue is the malt, which is very sweet. And then...one micro second later...Wham! Kick! Punch! The hops hit the taste buds faster than Ike hits Tina.

But don't misunderstand this review; the hops are done in a beautiful way. They stay dominant throughout the brew yet don't go elephant stomping all over your sensitivity trained taste buds.

In closing, I love this freakin beer, its been a long time since a brew knocked my socks off. And this brew knocked my socks, and three layers of skin off. I'm thankful I was sent 8 of these wonderful cans, but I'm already down to 5, and thats a problem I'm going to have to fix.

Serving type: can

12-22-2006 01:16:10 | More by leftmindedrighty

bucko

Minnesota

4.75/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I enjoyed a couple of free pours at a special event at Acadia Cafe. The beer pours a nice, copper-orange color with a huge creamy head that very slowly dissipates into nice lacing. The aroma is huge... grapefruit, punch, pine, citrus. Very nice. The Amarilo and Simcoe really shine here. The flavor is surprisingly well-balanced for a beer of this caliber. Again, more sweet malt backed up by a nice, floral hop presence. More citrus and punch. Damn. This is THE beer I've always wanted to brew. The mouthfeel is just plain smooth... almost creamy thanks to the hand pump. Drinkability? I had two and would have happily consumed more if needed. :) Sadly, the pin ran dry. Watch out for this one. You won't see it every week, but if you have the chance, enjoy it.

Serving type: cask

12-21-2006 23:20:22 | More by bucko

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev -12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

It's a rising brewery, this is a good American style IPA, but what's the fuss? Unbalanced, can-conditioned, great aroma c-hoppy with bubbly head and grapefruity body, carbonation and mouthfeel average. A hophead feed, but I have had higher IBU that is more drinkable.

Serving type: can

12-19-2006 02:10:17 | More by northyorksammy

grub

Ontario (Canada)

3.95/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

pre-holiday tasting at my place attended by me, DrJay, Viggo, biegaman, and northyorksammy. northyorksammy contributed this bottle. thanks sammy!

pours deep copper red with a big off-white head. the head drops fairly quickly but leaves lots of lace.

great aroma. grapefruit and pine dominate, with some orange and tangerine coming through too. bready malt.

taste is nice. high bitterness. resiny piney hops. grapefruit. mild bready malt. bit of alcohol.

mouthfeel is great. nice carbonation and good body.

drinkability is ok. the balance is off. the malt needs to be brought up a little more, and maybe drop the IBU a bit. looks and smells great, but the taste is off-balance, even for a hop lover like me. i think this would be a superb ipa closer to 70 IBU with a little more malt.

Serving type: can

12-18-2006 19:27:27 | More by grub

warriorsoul

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to zrrbrrt for this one...real excited to see Surly pumping out a few canned offerings.
Rust color...quite cloudy with a full finger and a half of light tan head...most of which remains and what does fade, leaves behind some thick, spotty lacing.
Citrus hops (mainly grapefruit) hit the nostrils first with some biscuit malt follwing close behind.
Taste is as the name suggests...furious. Abusively hoppy (citrus and floral), but just as your pallet can't take it, the malt sweetness adds just enough to attempt to balance it out...close, but falls just short, thankfully.
No hint of alcohol and finishes dry, and as expected, bitter.
Mouthfeel is thick...especially for an IPA. This one is as close to a DIPA as they come...definitions be damned.
Drinkability is a tough one...while this brew is outstanding, I could only handle a couple of them because of the slaughter the hops wreak on the pallet, yet I enjoy every sip with a huge smile on my face.
Either way, a solid brew from an up and coming brewery.
Recommend without any hesitation...seek it out now.

Serving type: can

12-17-2006 22:11:44 | More by warriorsoul

hylton44

Minnesota

4.53/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Wow-the smell of this beer is something like I'd imagine an orange orchard growing in the middle of a Swiss meadow to be. Overpowering, flowery hop smell along with pungent, fruity cirtrus accompaniment. It appears the solid, ruddy yellow tan of a nice IPA, with a pillowy, inviting yellowish head. The taste is a thirst-quenching molestation of the inside of your mouth, like somebody is throwing a bitter snuggle party - and hops & the sides of your tongue are invited. Heavily carbonated; perhaps a minor negative, as there was almost a slight champagnelike character. But the full mouthfeel and rolling bitterness leaves you little doubt as to the school of alcohol your imbibing. Clean, dry finish. It was a 16-oz can (here's to hoping they start bottling this sucker), and the alcohol content snuck up on me a bit. Maybe it was the beer talking, but I was wanting another. Well done, Surly! If you're into IPA, this is what you really hope for when you try a new one.

Serving type: can

12-15-2006 02:34:10 | More by hylton44

biergeniesser

Minnesota

3.68/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

This 16 oz can of Surly Furious poured a slightly hazy (though not bad for 99ibu’s and a ton of flavor & aroma hops) copper to red and had a fluffy off white head which dissipated slowly leaving traces of lacing on the glass.

The hoppy aromas of citrus and pine were evident from a foot away! Upon closer examination an intense aroma of grapefruit and freshly cut Christmas tree assaulted by nose.

As with the aroma, the flavor of Furious is dominated by the hops piney and citrusy. A bracing, though not harsh, degree of long lingering bitterness is also evident. Hidden deep beneath the hop flavors and bitterness is the slightest hint of sweet caramel malt.

A relatively smooth medium body, with a light degree of carbonation and major hang.

Serving type: can

12-13-2006 01:13:04 | More by biergeniesser

dhchatfield

Illinois

4.7/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Received in trade from feloniusmonk. This one has been lurking in the fridge for over a week. It's funny how I have been conditioned to keep canned beer cold....sat at room temperature for about 90 minutes. Poured into my Duvel tulip.

A - Luscious murky dark red. Very nice moderate head. Good carbonation. Superb lacing.

S - Outstanding. This beer is very reminiscent of a couple of DIPA's I've imbibed in of late. HopSlam and Hop Whore come to mind immediately. Piney hops, unripe grapefruit, lemon zest, spruce....

T - Assault team hops. Again, very strong grapefruit. Drinks so much like a DIPA, I had to check the ABV again. Wonderful bitter aftertaste, deliscious hoppy burps.

M - Surprisingly full bodied and creamy (low ABV at work?). Very broad across the palate, very nice going down.

D - This may be the best part for me. I'm sorry to keep repeating myself, but this beer drinks like a DIPA. A damn fine, rough & tumble DIPA...the fact that the ABV is fairly low is a wonderful bonus. This is a beer I could drink all day. Say, a Sunday full of football. Or a poker night. If I could get my hands on a case....paging Minneapolis BA's, come in please!!!

Thanks Al, for turning me on to yet another great beer.

Cheers

Serving type: can

12-09-2006 02:37:27 | More by dhchatfield

rayjay

Hawaii

4.5/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to zrrbrrt to introducing me to this one.

Quite a surprise, definately like nothing I've had before in a can. Compare this one to Hop Rod Rye or Bittersweet Lenny's.

Dark scotch ale-type malts full of chewy body and sweetness try to upstage the huge hops raging on in their full glory; ultimately it's a draw (with a slight edge towards the hops). Pine, concentrated ruby red grapefruit juice, and bug spray all make their way into the thick, oily mouthfeel.

My guess is that some rye malts were used. Dark ones.

Great looking head with all the oily spots and stained white foam and lacing we've all come to expect. Great beer, great find, I can't believe I didn't know about it. Cheers!

Serving type: can

12-06-2006 06:34:45 | More by rayjay

DarkerTheBetter

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to MeLikeBeer for this one.

This beer, poured out of the colorful 16 oz. can, was a slightly foggy amber peach color with a frothy dirty tan head that billowed up out of my pint glass. This settled soon and left an irregular film and a collar that left some nice lace.

Smells of a mouth-watering nectarine and pine hop with a little touch of honey, oats and apple juice behind it. Or maybe honey and grapefruit on rye bread? I’ll have to try this for breakfast some time.

The smell transfers nicely over into the flavor with that huge piney hops that now has a little more pine than fruit. The malt is now more focused on smooth creamy steel-cut oats with a hint of honey.

The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a rather large carbonation that thickens this up nicely. It also numbs my mouth reminding me bow my head to the awesome nature of the selected hops.

This one’s an instant classic. I’ll be bringing a lot of this back to the east coast with me when I visit MN this winter.

Serving type: can

12-02-2006 00:46:53 | More by DarkerTheBetter

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.83/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Rustic orange-butterscotch with a gorgeous infusion of sunset coral red when backlit. A few stray bubbles rise slowly through the hop dust haze to plonk into the underside of a heavily cream cap of pastel caramel foam. Although it isn't quite a lace monster, the array of abstract patterned lace definitely qualifies as eye candy.

The nose is simply out of this world. If anything, it smells even better than I remember (and I remember it as outstanding). First of all, there's a generous amount of caramel malt present, which usually keeps me from loving an IPA's aroma. Not here though. Furious smells like buttery toffee mixed with an avalanche of primarily citric hops that are as complex in character as they are powerfully aromatic. In a word... perfect.

Furious is furiously hoppy, but it's so much more than that. It's rare to drink a beer that is this over the top with bitterness, yet this delicious. I was also going to say drinkable, but only the most hopheaded among us are likely to find that that word applies. Only 99 IBUs? It tastes like at least a hundred to me.

The secret to this excellent India Pale Ale, other than the dizzying amount of hop flavor and hop bitterness, is in the hop bill itself. Who would have thought that a combination of Amarillo, Ahtanum, Simcoe and Warrior would result in a beer with such a broad and deep flavor profile? Caramel covered white grapefruit pith is dominant. Candied pineapple and all manner of fermented tropical fruity funk are present as well.

Another good thing about Furious (among innumerable good things) is that it doesn't taste like any other IPA that I've ever had. With so many versions of the style out there, that's no small feat. Another is that I only need one hand to count the IPAs that are more hoppy. This sucker is punishing... but in a good way of course.

I'm not the least bit surprised that the mouthfeel is on par with the rest of the beer. It's closer to full than to medium (for the style) with a creaminess that is sometimes hard to appreciate with all the tongue abuse that's goin' on. I'm sure it isn't easy to create a beer that is this relentlessly hoppy that is also this supremely smooth in the mouth.

I'm a huge fan of Surly Brewing Company beer. These guys have everything that it takes to compete in the rarified air occupied by the very best American craft breweries. It all starts with vision. The fact that they also have the desire, the dedication and the talent to realize that vision is what will guarantee their success. Furious is pretty damn close to IPA perfection.

Serving type: can

11-29-2006 17:01:34 | More by BuckeyeNation

TheLongBeachBum

California

4.5/5  rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 16 fluid ounce, 1 US Pint Can which stands about 6” tall. Metallic silver, red and a black angulated design decorate its sleeve. Listed at 6.2% Alc/Vol and 99 IBU’s. No freshness date. Listed as “Furious Beer”.

Brewers Notes:
Like Hops? You'll like this fire-hued beer. This is the beer I have always dreamed of making. This is the beer that would come to mind while spending the last two years tearing down walls, hanging sheetrock, moving kegs, power washing the ceilings, arguing with various agencies, and cutting the water main.

Without Golden Promise malt, made by family-owned Simpsons Malt, Furious would just be pissed off-ed. From Scotland, this malt is still produced in the tradition of turning over the barley by hand, resulting in a malt that is unsurpassed in its quality. Golden Promise is also used extensively by premium whisky distilleries such as The Macallan. This malt provides the backbone for the intense hop character. Four American hop varieties are used at a rate of over three pounds per barrel. The result is a rich malt sweetness infused with bright hop flavor and aroma from beginning to end. Oh yeah, it's about 6% alcohol and around 100 IBUs.
A couple quick notes on our cans...
1) The beers are not filtered, some sediment may be present.
2) If this bothers you, too bad.
3) For ultimate Surly beer clarity, store cans upright and pour slowly into a glass, leaving any sediment in the can.

Appearance: Ruddy dark brown with a fantastic hop flecked haze to it. Massive crusty head, thick bubbly surface reminds me of what is seen in open fermenters during Brewery tours. Dense deep creamy head starts about 2”+ thick but slowly slides down into the brew as it snap, crackle and pops its way into leaving some thick ribs and smattered lacing. Finely dissolved intense rasping carbonation, but it’s all under control. Excellent looks and superb head longevity throughout. Shame to keep this one hidden in a can.

Nose: Intense citrus fruits, orangey hops, caramel malts, grapefruit, lemon rind and yet more malts. Classic stuff.

Taste: Gorgeous start, thick fruity and oily with a big blast of malts and an even bigger pummeling from the hops. The hops have a mouth watering juicy nature from the hops but all this is held in a stable forthright pose thanks to the malt base with its toffee texture and caramel consistency. Excellent

Mouthfeel: The fine conditioning lends a lively smoothness to this brew, the malts impart a chewy toffee nature and the hops offer a lively sharp cutting bitter lemon bite. It works extremely well to lend a much bigger feel to an IPA that is “only” 6.2%.

Drinkability: This beauty comes in 4-Packs. At 6.2% whilst this is a very poundable brew I am sure it could get you into danger and trouble very quickly. Highly quaffable.

Overall: Says “Beer for a Glass, from a Can” around a red band on the neck – and you certainly need to release this IPA from its metal prison and into the glass to see just how marvelous it looks. Hands down the best Canned IPA I have ever had. A Benchmark for sure.

Th-can-ks to BigHuge for this excellent IPA!

Serving type: can

11-24-2006 02:56:07 | More by TheLongBeachBum

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer is all hops, all the time. Amber body with an off-white head and lacing. Smells of citrus grapefruit with pine and melon. Although the taste isn't the most complex I've had (that's not to say it isn't complex) but it's very long-lasting. Again, more grapefruit, pine and similar citrus flavor. This beer is a must for hop heads.

Serving type: can

11-22-2006 21:54:01 | More by tempest

nlmartin

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This beer comes to me as part of BC-2. A big thank you is in order to bax72. This beer comes in a can. You will be tempted to drink it out of the can. Drinking this out of the can would be a waste of good beer. The beer was served in a pub glass.

Appearance: The beers body has a deep amber coloration. Large floaties of yeast float in the beer. Can a beer be canned conditioned? Active carbonation boils under a two finger high fluffy white head. The head has nearly perfect retention. Thick whisp of lacing remain on my glass.

Smell: This beer has a very aggressive pine hoppyness. This is somewhat lessened by the citrus hops. The beer has a very nice smelling toasted malty sweetness.

Taste: The beer delivers on the resinous pine hops. The beer is lightly kissed by citrus. The backbone of this beer has nicely toasted caramel maltyness.

Mouthfeel/ Drinkability: This beer is medium bodied. The carbonation is active. This is a super nice IPA. I am furious I cant get more in Cincinnati routinely. This is a very drinkable and sessionable IPA. Me thinks I will have to get to the trader forum later.

Serving type: can

11-20-2006 11:53:38 | More by nlmartin

sponberg

New York

4.53/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I am furious... and don't call me Surly.

Pours deep amber red with a head that hangs on for dear life. Catty, piney aroma - the hops about snarl at you, appropriate to the beer's name - with an underlying faint coffee aroma, which is neat.

99 IBUs and every one of them is damned glad to meet ya. Starts with an aggressive, hops loud and proud attack on the tongue, then a darkly malt-and-grain maltiness arrives - coffee? toasty-roasty flavors I can't quite put my fingers on - that compliments the hop aggression almost perfectly. No lingering sweetness - definitely hops,. more hops, and dryish malts. The aftertaste is nigh on perfect - bitter, complex, dry-malty... fun brew. Moderate mouthfeel completely in character. Extremely drinkable thanks to the lack of any filling sweetness - all about the hops and dryness. Really dug this brew.

Thanks to BA JeffKrenner for the can!

Serving type: can

11-20-2006 03:47:56 | More by sponberg