2021 was better than 2020. And 2021 sucked. But we’re still here and so are you. For that we’re grateful. Let’s review the year in Surly:
JANUARY GOOD: We canned Pentagram for the first time ever. People expecting a sour with jolly ranchers and lucky charms in it were surprised, but the rest of the world was pleased.
JANUARY BAD: People wondered why there was a Cynic can underneath their Furious label, including CBS News. Minnesota and America would soon become very sick of the words “supply chain.”
FEBRUARY GOOD: The award-winning Barrel-Aged Darkness saw its annual release.
FEBRUARY BAD: There were still a few months of winter left and everything was still shut down.
MARCH GOOD: Surly’s Shannon Stroh and Julia Maclean collaborated with Minnesota’s other women brewers to release Nevertheless West Coast IPA.
MARCH BAD: Everything was still shut down. It was still winter. We ran out of shit to watch on every streaming service.
APRIL GOOD: The Supreme Variety Pack started hitting our entire footprint, allowing folks to argue about their favorite Supreme. A couple Mango people got in a heated argument with the Key Lime partisans, but they kept it civil.
APRIL BAD: The phrases “Hey, remember going to bars?” and “Do you know anyone who’s got a bunch of cans sitting around?” were heard repeatedly in the offices and Zoom calls of Surly Brewing.
MAY GOOD: The vaccines were rolling out and things seemed to be getting closer to normal. “Seemed” is doing some heavy lifting in that sentence.
MAY BAD: The “free the growler” bill didn’t pass the Minnesota legislature despite bipartisan support and the closed bars and the aluminum shortage. We’ll be back.
JUNE GOOD: Surly’s Beer Hall reopened.
JUNE BAD: We started learning more about the Greek alphabet than we ever really wanted.
JULY GOOD: With the Beer Hall back, we were able to relaunch Intelligent Design, our brewer-driven series of experimental beers in all manner of styles, hop varietals, and more.
JULY BAD: It was super hot and the Twins were 20 games out of first place.
AUGUST GOOD: We collaborated with Jackson Hop Farm and Yakima Chief Hops on a beer featuring the Idaho 7 ® hop varietal. And live music finally returned to Festival Field! Ween fans drink a lot of beer, it turns out.
AUGUST BAD: It was still super hot and the Twins were 25 games out of first place.
SEPTEMBER GOOD: The State Fair was back and so was Surly. We ate too much. We also welcomed Oktoberfest back with open arms and full steins and released Fifteen, our 15th anniversary beer.
SEPTEMBER BAD: Remember when we thought this was the year the kids would finally have a normal school year?
OCTOBER GOOD: We brewed our 1000th batch of beer (Furious, appropriately enough) and released our version of Brave Noise to benefit RAINN. Plus it was 65 degrees on Halloween for our annual Darkness release and everyone in the Beer Garden was dressed like Ted Lasso.
OCTOBER BAD: Can’t think of anything specifically bad, so just assume it was cans.
NOVEMBER GOOD: Definitive Few hit the Beer Hall.
NOVEMBER BAD: No, really, do you have any cans?
DECEMBER GOOD: We began celebrating the 15th anniversary of Furious at local bars and restaurants (look for more in January, btw). Also, the new Darkness variants hit!
DECEMBER BAD: As did the COVID one.
We’re thrilled to still be getting beers into your hands, be it at home or in the brewery. We have a terrific slate of 2022 beers headed your way in the new year. Like you, we hope for some semblance of normalcy in the coming 12 months. We wish you good health and look forward to raising a pint with you somewhere down the line.
P.S. We’re serious about the cans. If you have some email Tia or Will.
