Surly Five

I ordered a bottle of Surly Five from France 44 after so many people encouraged me to do so, including Lee from Hoptopia. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head that dissipates rapidly a la champagne. The aroma consists of cherry, vinegar, barnyard funk, yeast, and sweet malts. The taste is sour and slightly puckering with plenty of vinegar and sour cherry tartness on the front end. A nice barnyard funk comes in to play before some red wine and grape flavor makes it through, really drying out the mouth. The after taste leaves some vinegar and plenty of oak flavoring in the mouth. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. This was a wonderfully crafted beer and the wine and oak really help dry out the mouth. I was left completely satisfied with this beer, as it is a top notch sour beer from Surly.