Beer of the Weekend #456: Overrated
The beer of the weekend is courtesy of Bobblehead, who smuggled it from the Medium White North: Overrated, brewed by the Surly Brewing Company of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Serving type: 16-ounce can. The “CANNED ON” dated printed on the bottom is “04/15/13.”
Appearance: Poured into a nonick pint glass. It is a slightly hazy, syrup-like pale ambler. Tiny, grain-like specks are suspended in the beer. Two fingers of dense, buttery, eggshell-colored head slowly settled to a fairly even skim and left a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: Like a true West Coast IPA. Bold citrus aromas (lemon, orange, and a touch of grapefruit), a little bit of pine, and grainy bitterness.
Taste: Hmm — that’s unique. It is sweet at first. For a moment, flavors of pale malts, caramel, and toffee are the first to hit the taste buds. Then the citrus and bitterness run them over. There is a lot of lemon zest, a touch of pine, and the finish is very dry. The bitterness is impressive and somewhat coarse, but nothing overpowering. As the beer warms, hints of grapefruit and tropical fruit begin to emerge, but the lemon keeps them in check. The malts and sweetness also reemerge and begin to counterbalance the bitterness, but the bitterness maintains its edge.
Drinkability: This is not overrated. It is a solid and drinkable West Coast IPA from the land o’ lakes.
Fun facts about OWCIPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American IPA,” but Surly call it “West Coast IPA.”
-Price: I have no clue, but Bobblehead mentioned Richfield Liquors so I assume he bought it there. But not on Sunday. God forbid! (This thought just dawned on me: Vikings fans always need to stock up one day ahead.)
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 7.3 percent ABV.
-IBU: 69.
-Color: 4.5º SRM. (Is SRM measured in degrees? I cannot remember, but it must be.)
-Nerdiness from the can and website:
-Regarding availability, the Surly website says Overrated is available in cans “occasionally throughout the year.” So apparently the folks at Surly brew it whenever.
-As best as I can tell, Surly’s seasonal for May is a dunkel called Schadenfreude. I just thought I would mention that.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
Serving type: 16-ounce can. The “CANNED ON” dated printed on the bottom is “04/15/13.”
Appearance: Poured into a nonick pint glass. It is a slightly hazy, syrup-like pale ambler. Tiny, grain-like specks are suspended in the beer. Two fingers of dense, buttery, eggshell-colored head slowly settled to a fairly even skim and left a thick ring around the edge.
Smell: Like a true West Coast IPA. Bold citrus aromas (lemon, orange, and a touch of grapefruit), a little bit of pine, and grainy bitterness.
Taste: Hmm — that’s unique. It is sweet at first. For a moment, flavors of pale malts, caramel, and toffee are the first to hit the taste buds. Then the citrus and bitterness run them over. There is a lot of lemon zest, a touch of pine, and the finish is very dry. The bitterness is impressive and somewhat coarse, but nothing overpowering. As the beer warms, hints of grapefruit and tropical fruit begin to emerge, but the lemon keeps them in check. The malts and sweetness also reemerge and begin to counterbalance the bitterness, but the bitterness maintains its edge.
Drinkability: This is not overrated. It is a solid and drinkable West Coast IPA from the land o’ lakes.
Fun facts about OWCIPA:
-Style: BA classifies it as “American IPA,” but Surly call it “West Coast IPA.”
-Price: I have no clue, but Bobblehead mentioned Richfield Liquors so I assume he bought it there. But not on Sunday. God forbid! (This thought just dawned on me: Vikings fans always need to stock up one day ahead.)
-Serving temperature: 45-50ºF.
-Alcohol content: 7.3 percent ABV.
-IBU: 69.
-Color: 4.5º SRM. (Is SRM measured in degrees? I cannot remember, but it must be.)
-Nerdiness from the can and website:
It's been said: "It's easier to brew an extremely hoppy beer than an extremely balanced beer." And you know us, we are always looking for the easy way out, so we jumped on the West Coast IPA Bandwagon and brewed this dry and hoppy ale. "Surly's a little bit of a one-trick pony, they just brew gimmick beers," and maybe we are OVERRATED, but at the end of the day, it's just a beer. If you like it, great, so do we. If you only liked us when we were small, then leave this one on the shelf. Let one of the fanboys grab it.
-Regarding availability, the Surly website says Overrated is available in cans “occasionally throughout the year.” So apparently the folks at Surly brew it whenever.
-As best as I can tell, Surly’s seasonal for May is a dunkel called Schadenfreude. I just thought I would mention that.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B+.
