Surly Blakkr
Imperial black ale.
3.9
311 reviews
Minneapolis, United States
Community reviews
Can, thanks PotjeBier! Deep dark brown color. Creamy head. Caramel, red berries and soft herbal hops in the aroma. Malty sweetish, soft caramelly, Firm Hoppy flavor with red berries and roast. Grassy notes. Very Nice.
Keg @ Mimosa, MSP. Deep brown pour with a luxurious creamy tan head. Aroma is pretty hoppy. Plenty of pine wood character. PNW C-hops. Pine cone forest. A bit of cheese and orange peel too. Flavor is fairly bold and rich, which you’d expect for a beer of this profile. Chewy charred malt character. Burnt pine. Caramel cheesecake. Leafy strong bitter finish. Full body, supple carb. Nice stuff.
Pours a black color with ruby highlights when held up to a light. Large creamy tan head that doesn’t disappear. Lots of sticky lacing. Slight alcohol aroma with malt and sugar. Mouth feel is dense like you want to chew it. A sugary, fruity flavor that turns to grapefruit. Lingering pithy bitterness. You can sense the alcohol.
Pours a dark brown color with tan colored head. Pine and roasted malt dominate the nose; follows onto the palate. Almost like an IPA that was brewed with lots of roasted and dark malts. Finishes much the same. Full bodied too.
Opaquish dark brown with red notes, light tan head. Nose comes off as raw pumpkin, some light pine resin. Some honey. Fairly bitter, some sweetness. Chewy, heavier body, a bit of acid. Decent.
16 fl oz can Piscator34. Pours near opaque with a large cascading mocha head. Complex and assertive mix of aromas: citrus fruit, black liquorice, and some chocolate. Tastes packed a punch with a mix of char and a powerful astringent hoppy bite. Smooth and creamy on the palate, looking astringent bite, hides the massive 10% abv reasonably well. Interesting beer but a little to intense for my personal tastes.
This tastes like a stout dressed as an IPA. Pours a black hue with a robust yellow head and a malty aroma. The aroma is a harbinger of the taste. More of a stout than an IPA.
Tasted from a pint can. It poured an opaque brown with a beige head that was so frothy it looked like a Black Cow. Heavy lacing. Rustic bread and coco nose with a hint of licorice. Well hopped with a strong malt backbone. This is one delicious collaboration of three breweries, two of which are among my favorites (Surly & Three Floyds).
Charcoal gray-black, with tanned foam retreating to the edge. Initial nose is plain, expectant; grapefruit, bland chocolate, ash, pine. Dark malt and hops introduce a shifty interplay of pineapple acid, blackberry, prune, gooseberry; slithery and mystifying, fun. The flavor reveals the giveaway tangerine zest and chocolate partnership that defines and often pigeonholes the style. Balanced though big and mildly hot, persistently drab in flavor, few nuances to find. Muted carbonation. Sweeter, tropical fruit leaning mid palate; syrupy texture taking over in the end.
Black. Mediocre next to other options here. Pretty hoppy. Is this a black ipa? Tasted at stlhops 8th anniversary party
Tht March. Sampled from can. Hazy dark brown. Very smooth chocolate malty, big hops, marijuana, dark roasted burnt toast. Medium sweet strong bitter, very smooth, nice flavors all around, very nice!
Can at THT. Almost black with short lasting dark beige head. Lovely thick hops up front with lime, mango, marijuana, passion fruit. Dark chocolate, light coffee, fudge. Medium sweet and bitter. Bit over medium bodied with slick feel. Nice!
50cl can shared at Marcg THT.
Thin creamy tan head. Clear black pour. Nice bitterness. A lovely beer
Can at the March DC Tasting. Poured a black color with a small brown head. Aroma was roasted malts, chocolate, roasted malts. Roasted malts, pine resin. Pretty tasty.
Can at amazing tasting 30th birthday of Alexander. Many thanks again!
APPEARANCE: dark brown beer.
NOSE: sweet, hoppy, some chocolate.
TASTE: hoppy, quite some chocolate, faint coffee.
can poured into a snifter..opaque with a fluffy off-white head..aroma of resin,
grapefruit,roasted nuts..tastes of resin,citrus,pine,roasted nuts..alcohol really
well hidden..well done.
16 Fl. Oz. Can. Poured dark brown, with a thick beige head and nice lacing all over the glass. Aroma of hops and malts, roast and grapefruit. Taste is sweet but also hoppy, booze is well hidden. Very nice, very enjoyable, quite good. Dangerous as the alcohol is very well hidden and you don’t realize until you are done and buzzed.
A classic Surly beer. Hopped the same as Furious, but it's a stout! I think the high hop bitterness with so much roasted bitterness is a bit much, but I like it well enough.
Recommended by Jerry in Minneanoplace. Pours almost black, beige head,that leaves some clinging lacing. Aroma is everything but the kitchen sink, Ya got pine, bitter coffee, a hint of cocoa. Flavor is hops, citrus, maybe some stale coffee. Mouthful is thin but slightly oily. Flavor and aroma improved as it warmed. Tasty and delicious!
Can. Pours black with thick tan head. Aroma is piney hops and malt. Taste is sweet roasted malt up front with a piney hoppy malty chocolate finish. Pretty good.
16 oz can to tulip. Pours black with khaki cream head. Aroma of chocolate, toffee, caramel, toast, cherry, dark fruit, candi, fig, brown sugar. Taste of dark choc, milk choc, caramel, toffee, roasted grains, tropical fruit and small amount of fig. Finish is choc and a little booze. Mouthfeel is creamy thick with heavy carb to style.
Once again, Ratebeer lost my rating.... WTF? Anyway, this was an amazing beer! One of the best imperial black IPAs I’ve ever had. Not sure if they still make it or it was a one off, but grab it if you can. It was pretty expensive at nearly $20 for a four pack of tallboys, but worth every penny!
Yields a motor oil black color, with a big, light brown, fluffy head.
Produces an intense, aromaful nose, consisting of big exotic fruit chunks, blending into roasty, warm earth. While the malts stay pleasantly focused on their mellow grain toast quality, the hops produce a great aroma diversity, featuring sappy lime, as well as juicy blood orange, creating an inviting complexity, while also adding a subtle sweetness to the malts. Never experienced a black ipa with such a profound resin quality, lending a rich ripeness to the fruity hops.
Has a creamy, rich mouthfeel to it, packing a pungent hop punch during the finish, amazingly well coated up by hops and malts, while resulting in a pleasant warmth. Very versatile on the palate, no notes of alcohol whatsoever, while the balance is able to handle all extremes going on in this.
This has such a clean, calm beginning, consisting of grain defined bread, bakers chocolate and a very soft aqueous quality, slowly turning into a creamy direction. After establishing this very smooth taste foundation, sour lime announces an uncompromising hop armada, while adding a bitter juice note as its harbinger, perfectly adding to the beers already established flavors. The following hop maelstrom overpowers them almost, if it weren’t for the throughout detectable creaminess in this, adding a subtle but effective balancing quality to the malts. Luscious orange, together with wet grass and prickly kiwi and a whiff of papaya exhibit the diversified hop profile, which displays an intense dryness, together with a malt compatible fruitiness, finally joined by a distinct roasty malt aspect. Flavors turn more and more intense, while reaching their peak after the swallow, soothed by the noteable roasted malts and creamy nouthfeel, still allowing the hops to produce a long lasting, lime aftertaste.
What an extreme beer, which is true for its taste and for its well working balance. Flavors don’t ever seem to stop evolving on the palate, while never revealing any signs of its higher alcohol content at all, instead the beer is defined by an utmost smooth mouthfeel.
16 oz can, shared @ Borresteijn’s. Dark color, but not quite black/opaque. Beige head. Aroma’s of resin, drop/licorice, bay leaves, zwart-wit. Retronasal it’s moderate sweet, drop. Flavor is moderate sweet, roast, drop, moderate bitter. Medium bodied. Long finish with resin, moderate bitter, roast, coffee.
Blakkr has a very thick, beige, creamy head, a very dark brown (NOT blakkr than blakk, though) appearance, and heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is of bright, citrus, indistinguishable fruit, with maybe a background bread. Taste is of black bread, some not-so-strong bitterness, and sweet, fruity, hops (yes, I said "sweet"). Mouthfeel is medium, and Blakkr finishes semi-dry and easy drinking (for a 10% beer, which presents no alcohol). RJT
.5L can, thanks Potje! Black colour, beige head. Aroma of grapefruit, pine, brown malts, coffee, caramel. Flavour is sweet, malty, grapefruit, caramel, coffee, hint of laurel, mint, pumpernickel, bitter hoppy finish. Medium bodied. Good.
Thanks cards04! Very dark with a thin tan foam. Aroma is pine, wood, ash, and coffee. Chocolate, hop bitterness, and burnt wood top this full bodied black ale. Finish is anise and tobacco. Plenty complex but not as good as the 3 Floyds version.
16 oz. can from arminjewell- thanks again, Armin! Lives up to its name on the pour. Black as night, with a small off-white head that leaves a ring, streaky lace, and small wisps of film. Roasted and toasted malts, tobacco, earth, burnt sugar, dark chocolate, and a little citrus peel. At first I detected a kind of soy/umami note that went away after breathing for a minute. The whole thing mellows over time. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a roasty, bitter mouthfeel. Good black IPA.
another monster beer at tap at binnys LP. nice hoppy beer with some roasted malt flavors and some pine flavors. pours tan with a thick tan head. smells like hopps. decent beer, not the 99 it is supposed to be though.
16 oz can poured a clear reddish brown with a small lingering tan head. Aromas of roasted malt, floral notes, charcoal and light grapefruit. Palate was light bodied and smooth with a dry finish. Flavors of roasted malt, charcoal, pine, earthinmess and light grapefruit with a smooth dry bitter lingering roasty grapefruit finish.