Surly Brewing - Wet 2011

Surly Wet is finally here.  There are VERY few things that I find more enjoyable than a cold mug of Surly Furious......Surly Wet is one of those things.  4,811 pounds of Citra hops freshly picked from Oregon, shipped to Minnesota, brewed into the beer 3 days later.  I'll let the can do the rest of the essplainin'...

"GET SURLY!  You are about to drink a wet hop beer - brewed with American hops so fresh they've never had the chance to dry out.  Day 1: picked. Day 2: shipped. Day 4: tossed in the brew.  The only delay from the field to your glass is the time it takes for fermenting.  The hop varieties vary, but you can always expect the intense resinous character that only comes from the fresh hops.  This ain't a beer for aging.  The beer quickly loses its aromatics.  So invite your friends over and enjoy this West-Coast Style IPA....now."

The beer-geek statistics vary with this one from year to year, but you can expect this years version to be around 7.5% alcohol and 90 juicy, citrusy, delicious IBUs.  The beer is a clear deep copper color with a big, bubbly tan head that sticks firmly to the glass.  Those citra hops.....are......insane. STRONG hop aroma with loads of fresh citrus - grapefruit peels, orange marmalade, lemongrass.  This beer smells decadent...it's hard to believe, but I think this beer smells better than the 2010 batch!  The beer tastes just as good as it smells, starting with up-front bitterness that carries tons of tropical citrus.  Grapefruit rinds, hint of pineapple, orange peels, some pine and herbal lemongrass make up the bulk of the hop profile.  Sweet caramel malts, slightly nutty, hang out in the background - I wouldn't say they balance things out, because they certainly don't, but they help keep the beer grounded in reality.  The finish leaves an interesting, bitter green-tea like aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is oily and resinous, silky smooth.

Overall Rating:  Come on, folks.  It's Surly.  Of course it's amazing.  The 2011 batch is slightly different than last year's....while it was still packed with citrus, it was slightly less juicy and a bit more piney and herbal.  I bought two 4-packs at $16 each, and I don't regret it....great fresh-hop brew!  Get your hands on it now while you still can.  A