Minneapolis, Part 3

It’s pretty tough to leave Minneapolis without swinging by Surly Brewing Company. So we crossed over the Mississippi, drove through U of M campus and sauntered into Surly’s digs. Right at the front doors, you are met by Surly personnel giving the low-down on the beer-making operations at the beginning of their beer tour. Just beyond the tours, a hallway led to a large German-style beer hall fit for a hundred beer-swilling Vikings (except for the fact that they were pumping in reggae music). I ordered a Bender and Cindy ordered its sibling, the Coffee Bender. 

I like oatmeal brown ales and the Bender fits the bill. Dark as cola with a finger of tan head, the Bender smells slightly of chocolate and Nutella. Easy drinking and smooth, if you like sweet beer, this is a selection for you. Obviously, Coffee Bender is simply regular Bender except with the addition of Guatemalan coffee, roasted in Minnesota. In the Coffee Bender, the coffee aroma pushes out the Bender’s lighter hazelnut, and coffee bitterness stomps down the sweetness of the Bender with a longer, roastier finish. The question of which you would like to drink really only depends on if you like coffee or not. I prefer the Bender with food, and the Coffee Bender without.

As we left Surly, we stopped by their large gift store and had to purchase a couple of T-shirts featuring Surly’s most famous product by far, their annual Darkness offering- rich, black Russian Imperial Stouts graced with labels sporting some of the underworld’s creepiest denizens from Cerberus to minotaurs.