Darkness Draws Nigh

This spring we picked Erica Williams to be our 2014 Surly Featured Artist from a huge pile of amazingly talented candidates (and a couple who probably tried really hard). This summer, the art she created for this year's Darkness was revealed. Instantly, people grabbed onto the mention of "barrel aged". Yes, we barrel-aged this year's bottled Darkness in High West Rye Whiskey barrels. You're welcome. You'll get a chance to get your hands on a bottle or six for the first time at Darkness Day, on Saturday, October 25. Watch for more Darkness details in the coming weeks.

Stop. Collaborate and Listen - Todd's been busy. A couple of months ago, he traveled to Europe to check in on our brewhouse equipment in Germany, attended the Copenhagen Beer Celebration and took part in some collaborative brewing.  

The first collaboration brew, Long Of Tooth, was with De Proef Brewery in Lochristi, Belgium. Long of Tooth, an English-style old ale aged on toasted oak and cacao, is available at select bars and liquor stores.     Todd also created The Axe Man, an American IPA brewed with British malt, with Amager Brewery in Copenhagen. You don't have to go to Copenhagen, though! We're brewing some right here, and it'll be on tap at SurlyFest!      The last was a collaboration brew with Lervig Brewing in Norway and the black metal band, 1349. The beer, 1349, is a black ale brewed with coffee and will be available in the coming months.    Check out an interview with Todd discussing his collaborations with De Proef in Belgium, Lervig in Norway and Amager in Denmark HERE.   In addition, Stone Brewery invited us to make a collaboration beer in Berlin, Germany as part of its Groundbreaking Collaboration series. Check out Greg Koch, CEO & Co-founder of Stone Brewing Co., at our new destination brewery in Minneapolis discussing the beer with Todd HERE.

Taproom: Open On Sundays, Cultivate On Tap, New Tour Times

We just got word last week from the powers-that-be in Brooklyn Center that our Taproom can be open on Sundays so you can now ditch the Sunday chores and Get Surly at the Taproom from noon - 5pm. For the occasion, we've tapped Surly Cultivate Dandelion Saison, our newest special release beer, which we brewed in collaboration with Chipotle for the Minneapolis Chipotle Cultivate Festival.      Plus, we now have new tour times. You can stop by most Saturdays for a tour at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm, or on most Sundays at 1pm or 3pm. Check the Taproom tab weekly for confirmed times. Sign up will still be at the taproom one hour prior to each tour. Tours are limited to 30 people.

Surly Trail Loppet  

On Saturday, September 20, we're sponsoring the SOLD OUT Surly Trail Loppet, the urban half-marathon trail run, at Theodore Wirth Park. We'll be giving away a pair of SurlyFest tickets to the Most Messed Up Runner, so if you want tickets you'll need to show off your trail scars.

Not registered? Head down to watch the race and grab a Surly from 10:30am-noon at the finish area across from Wirth Beach near the Wirth Picnic Pavilion. Proceeds will benefit the Loppet Foundation, which provides opportunities for year-round outdoor activities and adventures in the Minneapolis area, especially for inner-city kids. Get more race details HERE.

New Brewery Update  

The new brewery is looking more like a brewery than ever, now that it has actual brewing equipment in it. The fermenters traveled 6,500 miles over land and sea from Germany and installation of the brewhouse equipment has begun! After some logistics hassles, we finally received the six, 600 barrel fermenter tanks, which we dropped into place, as well as our new lauter tun, boil tank and whirlpool. Check out the camera to see the progress HERE. You can also check out the photos of our brewhouse equipment HERE.

Featured Merch: Surly Bike Jersey  

We've now got Surly bike jerseys, just in time for the end of the bike season. There's men's and women's sizes. Head to the Taproom merch store (Wednesday - Friday from 3-9pm, Saturday from noon-9pm and Sunday from noon-5pm) or get one on our web store.

Become Part Of Our Crew  

The Surly family is getting bigger! No, no one's knocked up, we've just been hiring a lot of folks in preparation for getting the new destination brewery running, and everything that goes with it. And our most important hire in a long time is the person who is doing the rest of the finding and hiring, Autumn Amadou-Blegen, our new HR Director. Yes, it's a little weird to think that Surly has an HR Director, but she's pretty kick ass and doesn't write up our crew for saying words like "ass", so that's cool (she's also cool with us saying "ass" in our newsletter...).

Anyway, we'd like to introduce our new hires to you:

Jordon Aberman, Market Manager (WI)

Kelly Armstrong, Shift Brewer
Anna Caswell, Hospitality Accountant

Brian Hauke, Chef de Cuisine

Dawn Kuehl, Event Center Manager
Jeff Litke, Warehouse Ninja

John MacDonald, Retail Manager

Jason Peterson, Controller

Weston Shepherd, Brew Assist

Bob Sodman, Tour Guide PT

Brian Wheaton, Tour Guide PT

We're not done hiring. So if your job sucks, your coworkers have too few tattoos, and your workplace doesn't smell like fresh beer, check out our job listings. We've even got our own LinkedIn page thingy.

Check out our LinkedIn page thingy here:

http://bit.ly/SurlyLinkedIn

Check out our job postings and submit your resume on our website:

https://bitly.com/SurlyCareers

Chipotle Cultivate Festival Recap  

We had a great time at the Chipotle Cultivate Festival at Loring Park in Minneapolis a few weeks back. Thanks to everyone who came out and tried the great beer, food and music. It was awesome to see people enjoying our special collaboration beer, Surly Cultivate Farmhouse Ale, a Belgian-style Saison brewed with Pils and Rye malts and bittered with Dandelion greens. Didn't get a chance to try Cultivate? Head to the Taproom for a taste.

Summer Full Of Giving A Damn  

The Surly Gives a Damn (SGAD) crew has been busy as usual. In June 65 SGAD folks worked to cleanup the Greenway, the team held a Memorial Blood Drive at the brewery and 31 volunteers helped at the UCare Tri-Loppet event in Minneapolis.

There's also a group that's been heading out monthly to maintain the park at Chowen and the Greenway since July. AND in August, 20 volunteers weeded, harvested and washed vegetables at the Open Arms Farm in St. Paul. Thanks to everyone who has given a damn. Check the SGAD page for updates on upcoming projects in the coming weeks.

Dates For Your Diary  

Cheer up, buttercup! You don't have to drink beer alone, you can drink beer with us. Here's where and when:

9/10: Long of Tooth Tapping at Buster's On 28th - Minneapolis, MN
9/11: Surly Beer Run: Furious Five-Miler - Minneapolis, MN
9/12: Grumpy's NE Special Release & Food Pairing Event - Minneapolis, MN
9/15: First Avenue Clutch Show featuring Surly & PBR - Minneapolis, MN
9/20: Long of Tooth Tapping at Pig & Fiddle - Minneapolis, MN
9/20: SurlyFest - Brooklyn Center, MN
9/20: Surly Trail Loppet - Minneapolis, MN
9/22: Wolves in the Farmhouse Dinner with Three Floyd's & Solemn Oath - Chicago, IL
9/24: Surly/De Proef Collab Artisanal Imports Beer Dinner at Haute Dish - Minneapolis, MN
9/26: Triple Rock God Came From Space Show Featuring Surly - Minneapolis, MN
9/27: Autumn Brew Review - Minneapolis, MN
9/28: Ramen Massive Attack Party - Minneapolis, MN
10/1: Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats Show at Triple Rock - Minneapolis, MN
10/2-10/4: Great American Beer Festival - Denver, CO
10/2-10/4: Look for Surly at Star Bar and The BSide - Denver, CO
10/2: GABF After Party with Three Floyd's & Trve Brewing at the Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
10/3: Dorchester Social Eatery Surly Event - Denver, CO
10/4: Freshcraft Surly Event - Denver, CO
10/25: Darkness Day - Brooklyn Center, MN