Surly Four
Surly’s Fourth Anniversary beer. An iced double espresso milk stout. In the Surly brewhouse brewing our Anniversary beers means one thing, forget what you know and try something different. Brewed with too many Espresso beans, too much Roasted Barley, and a healthy dose of Milk sugar, this Double Espresso Milk Stout has layers of chocolate, espresso and smoke flavors intertwined with a velvety lush body.
4
187 reviews
Minneapolis, United States
Community reviews
Shared a bottle of this. Poured a near black color with a small off-white head. Aroma is sweet malt notes, coupled with some strange green peppers and something else strange that I can’t put my fingers on. Flavor had notes of chocolate milk, light brown sugar, sweet notes. Flavor wins out over the smell!
Bouteille de 750 ml partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal. Arôme: Odeur de café avec une pointe de chocolat noir. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de café avec une pointe de chocolat et de lactose. Longue durée de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est plein avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de café en arrière goût. (Rating #4957)
Had this bottle for three years and finally broke it open. Just incredible flavor. Sweet, thick,full bodied, and very enjoyable.
Bouteille de 750 ml, merci beaucoup à Fred. Arômes de lait au chocolat et de café. Robe noire et opaque, peu de mousse et effervescence assez faible. En bouche, on retrouve une forte impression de lait au chocolat. Malgré la présence du café, elle demeure relativement peu rôtie pour une Imperial Stout et les notes maltées portent surtout vers le cacao. Finale assez courte, douce et sucrée, peu amère. À cet âge, l’alcool est très peu apparent. Une belle stout dessert, à boire en petite quantité.
Previous notes...Pours dark chestnut black with a tan head. The aroma brings chocolate and smoke, nice! There is a toasted malty backbone with a chocolate ending and some bitter flavors for sure all on a medium body.
House a great dark brown pour with a tall tan head that fades a bit, but coats the glass nicely. Aroma of chocolate, malt, lactose, and a bit of dark fruit and coffee. Taste starts with chocolate and then the coffee comes in full power and takes over, finishes with an excellent bitterness. One of my favorite beers from Surly.
Aged I thought the palate was a bit weak. It is a nicely flavored beer, coffee, toffee, caramel sweetness, roasted malts, all intense but not overly boozy.
November 4, 2012 bottle from Heritage Liquor. Damn I have been sitting on this one a while and finally decided to crack it with my crazy hot trophy wife for rating 1000. Plus got the presidential election coming up so four is the magic number for the winner. Alright, time for the rating. Poured into my Surly pint and it had that nitro look that is just awesome. It was dark brown with lots of head that lasted and some lacing. Aroma of chocolate, rich coffee and roasted malt. Taste starts out sweet and milky, then moves into the roasted coffee and finishes slightly bitter. Very smooth and creamy almost like a cask pour, and medium bodied.
Pours nice and dark with a thick coffee nose. It has a nice chocolate and coffee taste. A very nice beer.
A gift from drabmuh. Thanks Matt! Split with my wife last night.
A: Near black shade and dark brown at the crest of the beer. Small beige head that leaves a crema layer resting atop the liquid. There are random spots of lacing noticeable on the glass.
S: Heavily roasted malt, coffee, bitter chocolate, cocoa
T: The beer tastes pretty decent and has a few different nice flavors happening. The coffee aspect tastes a little too bitter to me. I wonder what kind of coffee was used in the brewing process. Nice notes of chocolate throughout the taste. There is not nearly as much of a lactic presence as I was expecting. Perhaps the roasted malt and coffee flavors have masked the milk portion of the beer.
M: Decent feel, though a bit too bitter. The bitterness continues into the finish and through to the aftertaste. Alcohol is hidden well.
D: A good beer and worth trying. Decent stuff.
750ml bottle. Rating #158. Cracked this open for my birthday. Dark black pour with a big creamy tan head with a lot of lacing left behind. Big roasty and ashy aroma with a nice little touch of sweetness in the end. Whoa, lots of stuff going on here, more roast, very roasty, it’s like bitter chocolate covered coffee beans. Very smooth, nice aftertaste, and a little sweet. Good stuff. (2412)
pours jet black with a creamy mocha head. quite bitter with lots of chocolate and dark roasted malts. again, quite bitter. i was expecting this to be sweet however i found this quite bitter. lots of dark chocolate, espresso coffee, and roasted malts just dominating. nice full body, bitterness through out, and moderate to mild carbonation. this was not what i had expected but worked out to be even better. this was a chocolate and coffee stout through out. Reviewed on: 06-20-2010
Thanks to chewy08rx for sending me this beer as part of a big box full of Surly beers.
The beer pours a dark brown to black color with a tan head. The aroma has a ton of strong coffee and chocolate notes, with some light smoke and heavily roasted malt.
The flavor is more complex. I get a lot of coffee and lactose, as well as some roasted malt and some light chili pepper notes. Overall, the beer tastes quite a bit like malted milk balls. The alcohol is very well hidden and the beer is extremely drinkable and enjoyable.
Thick, heavy, full mouthfeel and low carbonation. A great beer. Glad I got to try it.
(750ml bottle, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours an opaque black body with spare beige head. Aroma of coffee, pine, chocolate, and smoke. Flavor of chocolate, coffee, lactose, and roasted malt.
ah.... maze.....ing. Wow. Thanks Eric, couldn’t have had a better birthday present. Pours thick, dark and black with a small brown head. The nose is black licorice, coffee, chocolate milk, resinous pine, nutmeg. So complex. Taste is rich. Sweet with a great bitter balance. The taste is like a barrel aged beer even though this isn’t. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, medium body with a huge aftertaste. Decedant.
Bottle shared by Darren. Thanks for knocking off one of my wants!
An intense coffee stout with lactose. There you go, that pretty much sums it up. Rich in aroma and flavor. Lots of dark coffee, bitter chocolate and some roast in the background. Soft body with a smooth finish that ends with some lingering alcohol. Really great beer!
Bottle @ Papsø. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a roasted malty chocolate and coffee aroma. Roasted malty sweetish chocolate and coffee flavor. Has a roasted malty coffee and chocoalte finish.
This beer has been aged in my cellar since purchase. Wanted to see how it would change with age. It’s probably past it’s prime.
A - Pours jet black with a medium tan color head. Light lacing on glass and the head dissipated quickly.
S - Very sweet blackberry, currant, with espresso lightly in the background. The coffee has really mellowed out since last time i had this and the sweet berry smells are overpowering everything else.
T - The taste of this beer now reminds me of a chocolate covered blackberry mixed with espresso. Definately get the a smooth coffee finish but has mellowed out significantly since it was bottled. Alcohol present on the finish.
M - Smooth and perfect level of carbonation for the style, in my opinion. Can get the alcohol a bit on the backend.
O - Overall, at the time of release, this was one of my favorite Surly beers however it has changed significantly from what i had remembered. It’s still a fabulous milk stout but in my opinion, this beer is past it’s prime, so if anyone has any, you should consider consuming it now. I’m very surprised at how sweet/tart this beer has converted to, i dont remember it being so sweet orginally - most likely because the espresso was stronger and balanced it better.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 01-21-2012 18:23:49
22-MAR-2012, bottle @Papsø.
Almost black with no head.
Dusty coffee notes. Roast, espresso and almost bourbon like.
Taste the same with quite a smooth body.
Fine.
Bottled. A pitch black beer with a thin beige head. The aroma has notes of coffee and roasted malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malt, lactose, and a bit of coffee, leading to a dry roasted finish.
75 cL bottle. Pours pitch black with a fully gone head. Aroma is dense herbal coffee and dark roasted malty. Dry coffee, toasted and caramelish. Light breadish note. Lasting coffee herbal finish. Coffee in a 75 cL bottle - nice...
Bottle 75 cl. Courtesy of Skyview. Pours an opaque black with a tiny beige head. Heavy coffee aroma in the dusty chilli sense. Medium body, sweet vanillaish roast, quite some malt astringency. Alcohol appears late. 220312
Waxed 750ml from an awesome BA trader. Pour is thick and black with a creamy, tan head that leaves some lacing. Aroma is big coffee, chocolate, vanilla and sweet milky caramels. Flavor is milk chocolate, espresso, light roasty malt with very well hidden alcohol. Full body with soft carbonation and a thick, creamy, lush mouth feel. This is an amazing beer, it’s exactly as I imagined it would be. Lots of chocolate, coffee, and cream without being overly sweet and so smooth and rich. So good.
From notes. First reviewed 7/6/2011. Poured from a 750 mL bottle into a tulip. Thanks to Dunt for bringing this bottle.
Out of the bottle comes a mahogany brown, viscous liquid with ruby edges. A quick-fading brown head forms with the initial pour.
The aroma is full of balanced roast malt, nice full espresso and milk chocolate aroma, like chocolate covered espresso beans.
The flavor is very smooth, one of the key features I enjoy about milk stouts. It starts with some molasses sweetness and a sugary lactose flavor that lingers throughout. A milk chocolate presence turns from sweet to bitter as the sip progresses. The dark roasted malt starts to play a factor and a burst of espresso comes through, leading toward a bitter end. Just a touch of booze at the finish.
The mouthfeel is creamy although not over the top. The lactose adds an extra layer to the smoothness. There is a noticeable level of carbonation, maybe just a bit much, and there is a definite stickiness to the texture. All of this is wrapped in a fuller than medium body. To create a 10% milk stout that does not have an over the top body takes some great skill, and I definitely appreciate the effort.
This is a very enjoyable beer. The flavors blend very well together and the rich, creamy mouthfeel supports the flavor nicely.
Four pours pitch black with a two finger tan head. Smooth looking head without much bubbles or crators. Retention is good but over time goes down to a small lacing around the glass.
The smell on this beer is inviting. Very sweet aroma mixed in with roasted malt and coffee. Sweetness took the number one aroma in this beer followed by the coffee. Hints of chocolate round out the smell. Wow! The way everything comes together just hit the spot for me. If I could wake up to that smell everyday, everything would be right in this world.
At 10% abv you would think some kind of alcohol would come through on this beer but nope it doesn’t. Instead the espresso comes through like a champ. Coffee and chocolate. Then the sweetness comes in and lingers in with the rest of the ingredients and leaves just an awesome aftertaste.
Mouthfeel is thick and heavy bodied. Perfect. Just what you want from a big stout like this.
Cellar aged, on tap at the Bavarian Lodge, Black Friday 2011. I’ll never have this again so I’ll give it my best review now. Wow what a beer. Definately the best stout I ever had. Had this right after Darkness, and these are very close to each other, this is basically Coffee darkness. Strong coffee smell. Thick sweet coffee chocolate malty goodness. Awesome.
Bottle from a trade with StoutFest. Pours black with brown head. Aromas of espresso, chocolate and roasted malts. Flavors of roasted malts, espresso and sweet milk chocolate. Medum to full body with soft carbonation and a creamy mouthfeel. Excellent! Thanks Ramiro.
On tap at republic for beer school. Dark black pour with huge beige head. when it was being poured it looked like iced coffee. The aroma had major coffee notes with tons of sweetness. It was definitely a delicious taste. Very sweet. It was very smooth with a lingering coffee flavor. I love this beer.very excellent.
Bottle: Nearly black, just a smidgen of light comes through on the edges, large frothy light brown head,
nice lacing. Fairly assertive sweet coffee aroma, definite beans, even a bit of dark bittersweet chocolate,
hops, and alcohol. Very smooth and rich on the tongue, wow, very silky... velvety in fact! Strong coffee
with a hefty dose of cream and sugar. This blows most examples clean out of the water. A little warming on
the backside. As it warms it develops more hop character on the backside. Still can’t get over how smooth
this is. Body and mouthfeel are excellent! Lingering coffee and hops, smidgen of peat and campfire.
Tasty stuff, and one I would recommend. Thanks Bob!
In short: A bubbly old cup of cold coffee with milk and cream. Meh.
How: Bottle 750ml, thick turquoise wax-top. Consumed when a little bit more than one year of age. Bottle sent to me by oakbluff, thanks a lot Scott
The look: Black body topped by a medium tan head with medium retention
In long: Nose is intensely coffee, but not super-nice roasted coffee beans, more like burying your nose is a used and still wet coffee filter. Taste has some vanilla, a lot of used wet coffee leftover from a coffee filter, a lot of lactose, some fresh tobacco leafs. This beer is absurdly and overly milky. Basically this beer tastes like chewing on a used coffee filter while drinking a glass of milk, yep, that much fun. Drinking a full 750ml by myself was almost impossible. I thought that beer was just wrong. That beer sucks, I typed the entire rating using only my middle fingers.