It was about a year and a half ago, in better times. There was no Covid then, back on May 28^th of 2019. I was on a flight from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Bullhead City, Arizona, with Laughlin, Nevada our destination just over the Colorado River. The flight was chartered by Harrah’s Casino, where we were staying, and the airline they used was Sun Country based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Once we got to cruising altitude, there was good news! Drinks were coming, and Harrah’s was buying! I looked at the drinks menu and, as you might have guessed, scoped out the beers they had. Surly! They had Surly beer listed! Well of course they did, Surly is from Minnesota, and so is Sun Country. I asked my flight attendant for a Surly IPA (I can’t recall which one), and she looked at me quizzically and responded that they did not in fact have Surly beers on charter flights, but that if I should be so kind as to fly with them on a regular flight, there would surely be Surly.

My friends, all I can say is I was furious. OK, well, maybe not furious, but disappointed anyway. I had such wonderful things about Surly! Last week, though, I was shopping for Christmas beers at Sherlocks in Kennesaw, Georgia and there it was: Surly Furious IPA. I might not have been furious on my flight, but I was going to be Furious that night.

Surly says on their website:

Surly is called “Surly” due to our inability to find a good beer in town. Furious is one of the first beers we brewed to rectify that situation. The rest is history.

People ask us to describe Furious all the time. It’s not quite like any other IPA out there. We give them the flavor notes and the hop profile, but it never seems like it’s enough. What makes Furious Furious? Let’s try this: You know that feeling when you do something that pushes you to your absolute limit? And people think you’re a little off your nut for even doing it? And you kind of agree with them, but goddammit, it’s getting done? And then you fucking DO IT? And there’s no one there to see it but you and the dog so you high-five the dog?

That’s Furious.

Ingredients from the website:

HOPS

Warrior

Ahtanum

Cascade

Simcoe

Amarillo

MALT

2-row

Golden Promise

Aromatic

Medium Crystal

Roasted Barley

On the can label, Surly calls Furious IPA “Iconic |Hoppy |Aggressive”. I agree with all those things. Surly Furious IPA has an alcohol content of 6.7% by volume with “high” IBUs. I paid $11.98 for a 4-pack of pint cans which seems about the going price for hard to find beers, by today’s standards. My cans are stamped CANNED ON 10/08/20.

Surly Furious IPA pours to a dark amber color with a thick head of rocky foam and an assertive pine and resiny hop nose. Taking a sip, the beer is firm up front with caramel and slightly toasty malt. It’s infused with citrusy grapefruit pith and peel. Furious is resiny piney, too, and finishes long and dry and very bitter. This is what West Coast IPA used to be like back int the good old days.

This is, simply put, a magnificent beer. It has malt, malt you can sink your teeth into, and hops to match. Now that I know how good Surly beers can be, maybe I should be furious I didn’t get one on that flight across country. I’ll look on the bright side instead, and just be glad I’m furious now.

 And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

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