Surly Blakkr

I recently took a trip to Minnesota. Like many places, there has been an explosion of new breweries there and you will see quite a number of Minnesota beers on here in the near future, some from brewers of long standing and some quite new. 

This double black IPA is from the Surly Brewing Company of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. They have finalized plans for a huge new brewery and taproom in Minneapolis near the University of Minnesota campus and have begun construction. They were until recently only distributed in the greater Twin Cities area, but have now expanded and are available recently in Chicago and now starting into Iowa.

This beer was brewed at the same time by Surly, along with Three Floyds out of Indiana and Real Ale out of Texas. 

The beer pours deep black in color, with mahogany brown and ruby on the edges when held to the light. There is a short head of thick, light brown foam. The aroma is hop forward, citrus, melons, light tropical fruit, some pine, over dark roasted malt with some char. The taste is fruity, tangy and sweet, almost a fruit liqueur note at times, dancing in and out of the dark roasted malt, char, some coffee, touch of bitter dark chocolate, a light musky note. The finish is fairly bitter and also tangy. It is quite dry. It is medium to full bodied, a light syrupy note here and there, but also amply carbonated and smooth. This is one big beer, but in pretty good balance between its hop and dark malt notes.