Surly Brewing Company- Abrasive Ale: A Fond Farewell To Finnegan’s

For reasons I’ll explain here shortly, this is a review I have been putting off for a while now.  This beer represents a lot of things to me but most of all the end of an era.  If you’ve followed this site for the last two years you’ll know that I spend an inordinate amount of time at my favorite Craft Beer bar, Finnegan’s Irish Pub in Plainfield, IL.  Finnegan’s was closed a little over a month ago and life just hasn’t been the same.  There was a lot of shit flying around about why it closed and reasons for this and that but to be honest, I don’t give a shit.  Dale & Pam Lewis are two of nicest people I have ever had the chance to share a pint with.  They welcomed me into their business & beer family and my life has been richer for having become their friend.  The larger picture involves all of the amazing people that I had got to know and become friends with over the last year and a half all due to the existence of Finnegan’s Irish Pub.  There are relationships that I forged that I know will last a life time and I know that even though Finnegan’s is no longer there, the memories will last forever.  So what does Surly’s Abrasive Ale have to do with this?  This beer was given to me by Dale the second to last night I had spent at Finnegan’s.  It was the after party for the Midwest Brewers Fest at Finnegan’s and he was given a four pack by someone and I asked if I could have one and in true Dale fashion he replied, “No problem kid.”  I haven’t heard him say that in far too long.  This review is in honor of Finnegan’s Irish Pub as well as Dale & Pam, even though it no longer exists, it will always exist in a place in my heart and soul.

Surly Brewing Company classifies this brew as a Double India Pale Ale (DIPA) and their website describes Abrasive Ale as, “We brewed this beer originally at the end of 2008 as a farewell to growler sales. As usual, we underestimated the demand for the first Double IPA in Minnesota. We brewed the beer again in the spring and released it as a draft only beer. It was originally called 16 Grit, a size of abrasive grit used at the old Abrasive factory that once stood where the brewery now resides.”

Abrasive Ale pours a dark golden orange with a ¾” tan head.  The aroma is big grapefruit up front with flourishes of hops, additional citrus notes and caramel malts.

It is a total coincidence that today happens to be Surly’s Darkness day and thankfully Steve went up to stand in line to secure me a couple of bottles.  Now on to Abrasive Ale, I’m going to go out on a limb and state that in my opinion, Abrasive Ale is a far better double/imperial IPA than Pliny The Elder from Russian River and is right up there in my book with Dogfish Head’s Squall IPA as one of the best I have had.  Abrasive Ale is quite balanced and complex.  The flavor is malty sweet with a ton of citrusy hop flavor as well as other citrus fruit notes and a hoppy bitterness that is perfectly carbonated with almost no hint of the 8.8% ABV this beer boasts.  I have to say that I was expecting a little more “abrasiveness” but at this point my taste buds are pretty tolerable to the hoppiest of Craft Beers despite the Surly website stating that Abrasive rocks a 120ish IBUs.  I love this brew.  Surly Brewing Company has a world class brew with Abrasive Ale and it’s no wonder that Surly remains one of the most coveted Craft Breweries is the country.  Surly use to distribute to Illinois but a couple of years ago they pulled distribution to keep up with demand in their native state of Minnesota.  After this brew, I can say that I will be including in my evening prayers a return of Surly to the land of Lincoln.  Maybe once their new production facility is up and running we’ll see that happen, until then I may have to resort to frequent trip to MN.  More importantly, I would not have even had this brew if it wasn’t for my boy Dale and walking through the door of Finnegan’s Irish Pub in March of 2010 and the friendship that developed from there.  Dale’s influence and knowledge truly helped me dig deeper into my journey into the Craft Beer industry and I will always be truly grateful.

ABV: 8.8%

Consumed: Founders CBS Snifter Glass

Verdict: Buy a Keg