Surly Coffee Bender
This beer is our regular Bender beer with Guatemalan coffee, and roasted locally at Coffee & Tea Limited in Linden Hills. Coldpress coffee aromas, intense coffee flavors balanced by the oats in the malt bill, resulting in a cappuccino-like creaminess.
3.7
913 reviews
Minneapolis, United States
Community reviews
Mild coffee flavor. Better then blue moon coffee beer.
Keg at The Oregon Brewers Festival, Portland, OR on 25/07/2008. Hmm... maybe this needs a re-rate, but I did not care for this. Overly sweet and too much vanilla in it for my liking. In fairness, i wouldn’t drink coffee that tasted like this, so maybe this was never going to be my bag.
Pours a light brown with a foamy tan head. Aroma is coffee, roast, earth, nut, and caramel. Flavor is earth, roast, coffee, and caramel. Dry and lightly bitter. Good.
Ottima brown ale, corpo quasi leggera, buona nota di caffè e malto tostato.
16 ounce can into tulip glass, canned on 9/23/2019. Pours crystal clear deep ruby red/brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy khaki head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a light amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, toffee, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast notes; with big strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of vanilla, toffee, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness. Light herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery, char, roasted coffee bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, brown bread/crust, vanilla, toffee, dark fruit, light smoke/char, wood, herbal, floral, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Amazing complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast flavors; with an awesome awesome hop/roast/coffee bitter/sweet balance; and no cloying, acrid, astringent flavors after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering hop/char/coffee bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly crisp/sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.5%. Overall this is an amazing American brown ale. All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, coffee, light-moderate earthy hops, and light fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and fairly crisp to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Nicely soft, and not aggressive on hop/roast bitterness. Amazingly rich and balanced dark/roasted malts and vibrant fruity/nutty coffee complexity; with solid earthy hops, and restrained fruity yeast. Mild residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazingly spot on style example. One of the best American Browns I've had. Significantly better than the base beer, but not as soft/silky according to my notes from 4 years ago.
Where: On tap at Beer Culture NYC
With: M and Josh G
Color: Dark brown
Head: small, beige
Aroma: Strong coffee
Taste: Roasty with big coffee tastes. Slightly sweet and creamy. Smooth finish.
Overall: 3.9/5
Draught at Bierwax: pours brown with a beige head. Aroma is roasted coffee, toffee malt. Taste is sweet and has many coffee notes. Smooth body. Quite good.
The strong, roasty, cold brewed coffee flavor is the dominant feature of this. Apparently they used a cold extraction process with the beans. Dark, opaque pour with a big, fluffy head. Their labels are pretty unattractive, but I guess they are trying to appeal to the guy who is stopping after work at the 7-11 for a sixpack. Very good robust flavor. The aroma is an odd mix of coffee, malts, floral hops, and barnyard funk. Very good brew. Maybe I will replace my breakfast coffee with this for a week and see what that does for me.
Can. Aroma is full of coffee. Dry roasty taste, some creamy notes. Pretty good coffee ale.
On tap at Shamrocks. Pours a brown color with a decent head. Aroma of coffee nuts and roasted malt. taste of coffee with nuts and malt with touch of chocolate. Some bitterness and a bit of coffee in the finish. medium body, nicely crafted and tasty. Well done.
Aroma of strong cold brew coffee. Brown body with a light brown head - huge bubbles. Wonderful coffee flavor, not bitter, light enough so it's not overwhelming. Light body, smooth, I really enjoyed this.
$3.41 pint can, Total Wine, S. Richmond. Pours brown - looks like a haze, small beige head. Aroma is coffee, green pepper, nuts, caramel. Flavor is cold-brewed coffee, green pepper, cream, chocolate... finishes very smooth, creamy.
Roasty aroma with plenty of roasted coffee. Deep brown, slightly reddish, color that is a crystal clear ruby with backlight. No carbonation visible. 1/2 inch tan bubbly, but somewhat thin, head that dies fairly quickly to a thin cap with bubble islands and a bubble ring. Disconnected light lacing. Taste is strongly coffee, roasted, but the feel is flat on the tongue. Slightly bitter in the middle and finish. Aftertaste is very slightly astringent (so slightly that the term "astringent" may imply more than what is there). There may be a nicely done brown ale underneath, but all the coffee hides it pretty well. The coffee is overdone and renders the beer one dimensional.
Canned. Poured brown. Creamy beige head. Coffee and roasted malts. Pretty good
Can from Total Wine & More in Leesburg, VA
Aroma: coffee, chocolate, caramel
Appearance: dark brown with a tan head
Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness,
Palate: medium body, creamy, average carbonation, long finish,
Tasty
Velvetty carbonation. Vietnamese coffee, roasty, oatmeal, chocolate, malt, and cold brew. Very good
If you like coffee, have this. It's morning jolt with alcohol. If you don't like coffee, stay the hell away. That is all.
5/4/18: 16 oz. canned 11/17/17 @ 8:32 AM gifted by brother Andy poured into Chimay chalice. Pitch black pour, light tan head. Very strong pleasant coffee roast aroma. Roasted coffee taste, balanced by sweet caramel. Thin mouth feel, slight carbonation, creamy and smooth drinking. Overall excellent offering by Surly!
Draft at Surly event at Craft Brewed. Pours a clear chestnut brown with a full finger of beige foam that lingers. Very big coffee and cream forward nose that lingers throughout. More iced coffee and cream notes on the palate. Not roasty bitter notes on the palate at all, very smooth like a cold brew coffee. Lingering coffee, chocolate and cream on the finish. Very well done.
Outstanding brown ale. Tons of coffee, a lot of caramel and a thick mouthfeel throughout. Tried with Jess and dad at extreme in 2018.
Pours a deep, dark brown, with mid-sized, fluffy, tan head that lasts. Aromas of coffee and roasted grain. Flavor is coffee, roasted grain, some chocolate, a very slight sweetness. Very smooth-drinking beer with just a touch of bitterness in the finish. Good stuff!
Heavy aroma of bitter coffee with a hint of chocolate. Deep brown color with an off white head. Sweet bitter chocolate up front. Notes of roasted malts, bitter coffee, and some vanilla. Slick mouth feel. Finishes with bitter coffee flavor and an echo of sweet chocolate.
Very authentic coffee flavor with a good thicker mouth feel. lots of aroma too.
Really smooth. Tastes a lot like coffee but not bitter or overpowering. Had it at the brewery
Good coffee taste, smooth, light brown flavor
Pint can. Strong coffee aroma with notes of caramel, toffee and some nuttiness. Pours dark brown with one finger of mocha brown head that has excellent retention and lacing. Starts with coffee, caramel, toffee and some nutty flavors. Finishes smooth, but dry and very roasty with strong coffee flavors that quickly overpower any other flavors that are present. Too much coffee overall, definitely prefer the regular version.
Big CAN from the US...THANXXXX Scottieeee :)...5,5% Edition : O.K., soll wie kalter Kaffee schmecken und das ist extrem gelungen. Rösty, coffeeSour, mit earthy Nebenwirkungen😉..Style Nerd👌
16floz can, COD: 09.12.2017, $2.75 single, imperial pint glass of sorts. It's medium dark brown in color topped with a frothing tan head that sloshes around with every drink. Smels like coffee with some milk added to it. Taste is of a cold pressed coffee with husky grain tossed in. For a slyly robust palate, the body feels kinda light. An excellent coffee beer. An excellent brown ale.
C-. Pours a black color with khaki head. I would probably enjoy it more if I liked coffee.
True to its name the coffee is omnipresent in this beer. Great hop balance too.