Review: Coffee Bender by Surly Brewing

This week we review our tasting notes for Coffee Bender by Surly Brewing, out of Minnesota. Coffee Bender is an oatmeal brown ale brewed with Guatemalan coffee. The malt bill includes pale ale, aromatic, medium crystal, dark crystal, and chocolate malts. The hop bill is comprised of bittering hops: Columbus and Willamette. Finally, the yeast is an English ale yeast.

I first tried this beer way back in 2012 when I was researching craft beer in a can and in those days it was hard to find. Since, at the time, Surly was only available in Minnesota I reached out and asked them to send a few samples and I’m glad I did because Coffee Bender is a great beer.

Appearance

Pours as a very clear with a dark brown amber hue. In the glass it has the color of a rich dark, well-made cup of artisan coffee, dark brown, almost black, with an oaky brown glow on the edges of the glass. The head is like the dark part of the foam for a cafe latte. The head has average retention, with thin but ubiquitous lacing.

Aroma

Every morning I grind whole beans to make coffee. This aroma of this beer is like fresh ground, medium roast, coffee beans. It also has an aroma that softens the roasty coffee notes, as if it coffee with a touch of cream or milk. A little nutty and malty aromas in the background. As should be, no hop bouquet. It also has some rich notes of licorice and cola.

Taste/Flavor

For some reason I was expecting a sweeter, maltier brown ale but was surprised by noticeable but smooth bitterness. It’s a roasty bitterness like drinking a cup of coffee. The beer is also definitely malty and sweet to balance against the hop/coffee/roasted bitter flavors. The combination of the dark brown ale and the roasty coffee notes further enhances the experience of this beer and coffee combination. It has a slight amount of acidity just like a cup of coffee.

Mouthfeel

This is a medium-full bodied beer with carbonation that gives is a smooth and creamy texture. Despite the roasted nature of this beer, it is not very tannic, which is quite an accomplishment. 5.0

Overall

Overall this is a fantastic creation. A dark brown ale with coffee works so well. It makes the brown almost like a porter but not a roasty and dark. It takes the best of brown ale and the best of fresh coffee to make a fantastic beer. 4.5

Recommendation

Drink it!

Recommendations are on a 3 point scale: drink it, you decide, and don’t drink it.

Disclosure: Surly Brewing provided a sample of this beer and a few others at my request. However that does not influence this review.