Surly Sleek
I love an IPA with a good amount of oats in the grain bill — that velvety smoothness that it typically adds is a joy to experience. With Surly’s Sleek IPA (6.5%), the inclusion of flaked golden oats and malted oats don’t necessarily soften this particular beer’s mouthfeel, but, instead, provides a bit of snappiness and hint of sweetness. This single-hopped — hello there, Simcoe — IPA is wonderfully balanced between that smooth oat presence and a wickedly fun hop profile.
A pleasing melon aroma and light flavor mingles well with grapefruit, soft pine resin and grain from start to lasting finish. The aroma is all Simcoe while the flavor brings in more of that grain bill and smooth oaty influence that provides a good body and refreshing mouthfeel. At 6.5% ABV, Sleek shouldn’t drink as easy as it does, but that oat presence and Summer-time flavor profile just makes this IPA a hell of a treat to enjoy on a hot August afternoon. Add in a moderate hop bitterness to tantalize the tastebuds and it’s just about a perfect hot weather, thirst quencher.
As you may have guessed from reading the above lines of text, I thoroughly enjoyed Sleek. This IPA is just simply fun to drink. The flavor and body/mouthfeel combination simply just work. There’s really no other way to describe the experience, except that I would have loved to have had another can to enjoy further after this sample was drained.
This is a review of a promotional sample.