A Surly Attitude

Cans, Kegs and Malt

Recently I participated in Surly Brewing tour in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.  Surly was a brand that I had no experience with before this tour.  The only thing I knew before arriving at the brewery is how hard it is to book a tour, with dates closing within an hour from them becoming available.  That should have been my first clue that Surly fans are loyal fans. 

My tour started in early evening.  My small group checked in and received five sample tokens and a sheet describing what they had on tap.  Immediately we started to sample, we were each allotted five small but satisfying samples.  The tap room had a party feel as they pumped in music and groups of friends found spots to stand and talk about their samples and life in general.  It was announced that the tour would start soon and that we could grab a sample before we went into the brewery.  Most guests than grabbed a sample glass to sip on as they were in the brewery.  The first half of the tour focused on the history and future plans of Surly.  There was then a short break during which guests could grab another sample or examine the brewery.  One of my friends a home brewer was impressed with how close he could get to some of the equipment.  I would say for a home brewer this field trip is a treat as they can examine larger scale brewing equipment and compare it to there home setup.  The second half of the tour consisted of how beer is made in the brewery.  The brewery and tour was all held in one room. 

During this tour I was impressed with several things about Surly:

·         Surly is growing:  In 2006, they produced 1,748 kegs.  In 2009, that jumped up to 18,174 kegs.  This year they estimate they will sell around 35,000 kegs.  With that sort of growth, even with new equipment they are clearly busting at the seams.  So it was exciting to hear their plans for future growth. 

·         Surly drinkers are Surly fans:  Surly has created a loyal customer base that knows their beer, knows Surly (including the staff) and associate themselves with the Surly brand.  Several on this tour had taken this tour before! 

·         Have fun and others will learn:  Our tour guide was great.  He was a volunteer that clearly loves Surly the brand.  He loved telling us about the history of Surly and beer making.  And despite some kid questionable language, his attitude helped us to learn about beer and the science behind it better than we would have in a more formal setting. 

I chose the following five beers for my samples,

·         Coffee Bender: One of my companions said this was a must try due to its uniqueness, so I jumped in and selected it first.  It is a dark brew infused with coffee.  The dark stout mixes well with the rich coffee flavor and is a unique taste with a coffee after taste.  My first sample was a success, but of the five I drank this was only my third favorite. 

·         Hell: Hell is a light lager that I chose due its seasonal nature.  It was good but very light and not a preferred beer for someone who prefers porter.  But I would choose this over any large brewer light beer if I had a choice.  But it was my least favorite of my samples. 

·         Furious: Wow, now this is a unique beer.  I chose it because this seemed to be one of Surly’s more popular offerings.  It is an India Pale Ale loaded with hops.  It is probably one of the most bitter beers that I have ever drank where hops is the clear and overriding flavor.  It was my 4^th favorite sample. 

·         Bitter Brewer:  I looked over at my friend and said, “Can I hug it?” My first sip reminded me of English Ales that I discovered when visiting the United Kingdom.  This is my preferred taste profile, along with porters, in beers with a rich orange color and bitter flavor.  This was my favorite Surly brew and I would definitely pickup this seasonal beer if I ran across it. 

·         Bender Ale: This is a good, rich and satisfying porter and my second favorite of all my samples.  If I had to pick a Surly when Bitter Brewer is not available this would be my go to option.    

I feel weird rating these beers.  Overall, I enjoyed all five brews I sampled.  Surly Brewing is a growing local company that in many ways is the American dream, with a founder who followed what he loved and found others in employees and customers who shared his dream.  I would take other friends to this party, I mean tour, in an instant and find it easy to cheer on this company.    

Words to Remember

A Trip to the Summit

Summit's Really Big Stocked Fridge

One recent Saturday morning I attended a Summit Brewing Company brewery tour in Saint Paul with a few guys.  I had only had a Summit product once before so for me Summit Brewing was a company that I was not overly familiar with other than knowing it’s a local company.

My tour was a late morning tour.  After check in our tour guide gave us a brief history of brewing and the Summit Brewing Company.  I was impressed how the role of monasteries and abbeys were specifically called out in the history of brewing.  Additionally, the lecture gave me information about home brewing and microbreweries that I was not familiar with.  Afterwards we were given a short walking tour of the plant.  Bottling was not occurring this Saturday and I would have loved to see the bottler in action.  The highlights of the walking tour included the giant refrigerator filled with packaged bottles and filled kegs and the fermentation room with its massive steel vats filled with beer finishing as it prepared for bottling. 

During this tour I was impressed with several things about Summit:

• ·      Summit is a very green company.  Not only do used foodstuff and water get reused or resold     for other purposes but the major brewing equipment was second hand within the plant.  The bottler also was purchased used at a large discount from another brewer, while Summit also sold off their old bottler to yet another brewer.  This pattern of buying used equipment means that equipment in the plant was gathered from locations as far as California and Germany. 
• ·      No matter your age, everyone loves standing in a giant refrigerator.  I can remember when I had taken kid groups through pizza restaurants with big freezers and watched them giggle.  Adults do the exact same thing. 
• ·      The staff and volunteers really knew their beer and were enthusiastic in sharing it.
• ·      Summit is generous.  The samples they gave participants were far from a taste but a satisfying draft.  Additionally they gave away several tap handles in a short trivia game which we found out later cost over $25 a piece in the gift shop. 
• ·      Spirtual conversations are everywhere as I bored tour guides and my companions with information from The Search for God and Guinness. 

I chose the following three beers for my samples, samples which were quite generous.

• ·      Honeymoon Saison from the Unchained Series: I chose this since it was a limited edition brew that I was not likely to stumble on before it was retired.  It was a very hoppy beer that my friends did not enjoy.  I found it interesting but not something that I would typically select for myself.  But the unchained series and Honeymoon Saison are getting some nice press locally. 
• ·      Silver Anniversary Ale: Again with this being a limited edition I had to sample it.  Being a highly trained palate, joke, I found the fruit flavors added to this ale to give a tang that I just did not appreciate.  Tang, is that a real word?  My companion who also sampled this brew also did not like it.  

Though I did not love neither brew, I would happily drink both of these if offered and I finished my glasses.

• ·      Summit Oatmeal Stout: I love dark beers and was planning to sample Summit’s porter.  But availability and knowing my palate dictated my decisions.  I tried the first two because they would not be widely available.  The stout beat out the porter because the stout is only available by draft.  And honestly the spots that have the stout available don’t serve Happy Meals so I would not be likely to stumble on it.   This was by far my favorite of the three samples with its dark smooth goodness.  My mouth is salivating as I think about my beer desert.  

Great Northern Porter Would Like Your Attention!

Overall this was a really good day and tour that I would urge anyone to try once.  My companions would have preferred more but smaller samples so they could have dialed in their own preferences from Summit’s offerings better.  One stated he preferred weird Belgian beers, but with the Summit Belgian not available this day he had to seek something new outside of his comfort zone.  While I knew at the end of the samples, though I was being adventurous, I could guarantee my final beer sample was something I would really enjoy.  And I did enjoy it!  

The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World by Stephen Mansfield.

Stephen Mansfield in The Search for God and Guinness combines two topics that many may find opposed, beer and God. Mansfield provides an overview of the long holy history of beer and its importance from ancient to early modern society. He overturns the myth of the establishment of the Guinness brewery as a God ordained antidote to the social ills of 18^th century Ireland, but instead shows the determination of one religious man in Arthur Guinness’ establishment of the St. James Gate brewery in 1759. Mansfield provides a history of the first Arthur’s decedents in three branches the brewers, the bankers and the “Guinness’s for God” focusing primarily on the brewers and those who made ministry their vocation. The Guinness family history ends with the end of a Guinness directly running the brewery and movement from a family brewery to a major corporation.

The history of the “Guinness’s for God” should be especially heartwarming to Christians. But more exciting is the history of the brewers. The Guinness Brewery is a story of a culture of generosity. It is a tale of care towards brewery staff who were better paid, better educated, better housed and generally lived better lives than their neighbors due to the loving spirit of the Guinness family. The positive effects of the brewery spilled into the streets of Dublin in the early 20^th century to inspire social improvement and social justice. Mansfield is a historian who is able to successfully combine the historian’s craft with a heart for God. He tells a story that both challenges his and our views towards beer and shows what a legacy of love can do to impact the lives of others. His story is one that will make me less judgmental towards those sporting Guinness gear and one that makes we want to share the meaning of a powerful organization.