I have to say that I have a new favorite beer.

Beer is personal though, and my personal reasons for loving this beer may not jive with your own.

Let me start by addressing my take on microbrews. Love them. If I see a Bell’s product, I generally order it. Thing is, more often then not, I never order more than two. Why? Too hoppy! If I am burping and hiccuping after two beers, I am going to be switching to something sensible, like the venerable Amstel Light. Or I will just cough up half my paycheck and start drinking Stella Artois. (Though I do not care for the stupid Stella promo glasses… just gimmee a pint glass! If I wanted wine, I would order it, dig?)

This bring me to a point I would like to make… namely that the Microbreweries do not seem to make a habit of brewing lighter beers like lagers. Drinkable beers. Summit is the prime offender. The IPA is, in my humble opinion, not very good. After two IPA’s, I feel like I just ate a cheap Chinese buffet. I am a guy that generally eats and drinks locally when I can, but Summit IPA? I am going to get a Heineken. Sad but true. That said, I do REALLY love the Scandia.

Thankfully Surly has entered the scene. Both the 331 Club and Grumpy’s NE have it on tap, and God bless ‘em for it. Grumpy’s has even been known to test out some of Surly’s more esoteric beers from time to time. I remember ordering a Surly there once, and ending up with some kind of Lambic, fancy glass and all. I like both the Bender and the Furious, and will always order them on site.

SO, here is where I get to the point.

Last Monday. Happy Hour. Grumpy’s downtown. I ordered a Stella (or something like that) because it was hotter then hell, and the folks I was meeting decided to sit outside! I do not have central air… when it is 90 degrees out, I am going to be sitting at the coldest bar I can find. Anyhoo, in the heat, I was not in the mood for the usual glass of Bender, or one of the Bells Products. Ponied up the $4.50 or whatever it was for the privilege of drinking “Belgium’s finest.”

(Editors Note: Author is referring to Stella as Belgium’s finest, how shall we say, a tongue and cheek way.)

Turns out, my friend Dave had ordered a Surly. When the ‘tron brough him his glass, I was deeply skeptical. Compared to the Bender and the Furious, the hue of the beer was very light. I was confused. So I asked.

Turns out, he had stumbled upon a new (well, new to me) Surly ale, called Surly Cynic. It is a beer made in the tradition of the Belgian Saison, though the folks at Surly Brewing are very clear that they are not trying to recreate classic Belgian Beers note for note. This style has been around a long time. Though it is a summer beer, it was brewed in the winter and stored until summer because brewing in hot weather proved to be inconsistent. Much like the IPA, it needed to be strong enough to not deteriorate during lengthy storage. Thusly, we have a lighter beer, but still strong in both flavor and alchohol content.

So, how is the Cynic? GOOD! I absolutely love it. Hoppy? Yes, BUT. Not burp and hiccup after three swigs hoppy. Delicious fruity undertones? Check, but again, with a delicate hand. This is a beer you can actually eat with seafood. Halibut with a gut buster like Summit IPA? No gracias, amigo. This is the beer you want when you order a nice delicious fresh herb filled Vietnamese dish.

This is simply the best beer I have had in a long time. Fantastic.

Anyway, at the moment., the only places that I am aware of that have it on tap are Sea Salt, Grumpy’s downtown and NE, as well as Mac’s Industrial Bar. Some of the nicer liquor stores in town have the stuff in cans as well. You can also visit the brewery itself on Saturdays from noon till two and pick up a growler.

If anyone encounters the stuff, let me know. I will keep a standing list.

-shogunmoon

List of bars the carry Surly (not necessarily the Cynic.)

List of Liquor Stores the carry Surly.

Thanks to our beer loving readers, I have the beginnings of a list of bars that have the Cynic on tap. Note, the list above from the Surly website has a full list of those that carry the Bender of the Furious. The following list is Cynic specific.

Here is the list of bar’s known to carry the CynicAle:

Grumpy’s NE
Grumpy’s Downtown
Mac’s Industrial bar (My apologies, all I could find was the MySpace page… let me know if there is a better link! Great bar, and fun bar menu.)
Acadia Cafe (I must say, looking at the website, that I need to drop in here fast.)
McKenzie
Blue Nile (City Pages link)
Sea Salt Eatery
Mill City Café

Special thanks to commenter al for the heads up on several of these awesome Surly supporting Bar’s.

And I agree with commenter Ben, Surly does make the best brew around.

Happy Drinking!