Beer Review - Surly Brewing Company Furious IPA

 

Surly Brewing Company has never really been content to just make beer. This is a brewery that decided if the beer they wanted didn’t exist, they’d brew it—and if the law got in the way of sharing it, they’d go ahead and help change that too. For Midwestern beer drinkers of a certain vintage, Surly is less a tap handle and more a mile marker. The moment when “good enough” pale ales gave way to abrasive IPAs, dark-as-midnight stouts, and the sense that Minnesota beer could be loud, unapologetic, and genuinely world-class. ​ 

The whole thing started in a corner of an abrasives factory in Brooklyn Center, where founder Omar Ansari carved out space in 2006 to brew the kind of hop-forward, flavor-heavy beers he and his friends actually wanted to drink. From that modest setup, Surly grew fast, too fast, really, for the era’s taproom laws, which treated production breweries and on-site pints like oil and water. 

Rather than accept that, Surly helped push through what became known as the “Surly Bill,” clearing the way in 2014 for a sprawling Minneapolis brewery and beer hall that felt less like a bar and more like a statement. 

Today, that Prospect Park destination is part brewery, part community hub, and part pilgrimage site for anyone who’s ever crushed a Furious or stood in line for a special release in subzero weather. Families, beer geeks, bikers, tourists, and a rotating cast of kindly and scary grandmas share long tables, pizza boxes, and fresh cans pulled almost directly off the line. An entire neighborhood has more or less grown up around the place, a testament to what happens when a brewery leans fully into being an instigator instead of just another name in the cooler. ​ 

Now, to the beer!

Deep copper in color, the Furious IPA is balances bright orange fruit notes of apricot and orange with a spicy undertones filled with notes of clove, ginger, juniper, and coriander. 

Furious is an IPA that is malt-forward with additional bright fruit and spice notes from the hops with a medium body and creamier mouthfeel. 

When I was a college student in the Twin Cities many years ago, Surly and this beer were fresh and exciting. 

While some of the shine has worn of Surly locally, this is still a good beer, which may be supported by my own nostalgia for the craft beer boom in Minnesota as a younger man. I would still recommend Furious as a well-made IPA that is historically synonymous with Minnesota craft beer.