Getting Surly

HPR chats with Surly Brewing Co. Founder Omar Ansari

Monday December 14th was a big day for the craft beer community. Zorbaz in Detroit Lakes had a Surly Brewing Co. tap takeover which included 37 beers. This was the biggest Surly take over in history. Not only were there beers on tap that have never graced the lines outside of the taproom but there were also 4 years of Darkness (2012-2015), as well as 2015 Barrel Aged Darkness.

This event boasted a great turnout; from young to old, people flocked from all over Minnesota and North Dakota to enjoy unique and hard to find Surly beers. To make this event even crazier the founder of Surly Brewing Co., Omar Ansari, was in town for the event and took the time to take pictures and meet with people who love beer and support his company.

HPR had the opportunity to sit down with Omar Ansari and ask him a few questions about the event and Surly Brewing Co.:

HPR: What do you think about the turnout tonight?

OA: It is awesome to see so many people out on a Monday night, drinking Surly beer.

HPR: How do you come up with the names for your beer?

OA: There is the comedians lament, make me laugh. Creativity is hard to make up. It has a lot to do with head brewer Todd Haug and me.

HPR: What are the challenges of making beer?

OA: Some people get pissed when they can’t get our beer, but we try to make it work for everyone. There are a lot of beers you can only get in the Surly Beer hall; Dumpster Fire, Witch’s Tower and Furious Black are some of them.”

HPR: What is your favorite beer that you make? What are you drinking right now?

OA: That is a tough question! (Laughs), I really like hoppy beers. Right now I am drinking Todd the Axe Man.

HPR: What have you been up to lately?

OA: We recently had the Abrasive release at the JL Beers (Burnsville, MN location), hopefully we can do some more stuff with JL Beers soon.

HPR: I see that you brought your mother with you. Does she accompany you a lot?

OA: This is a family business and I figured I would bring her along for the ride.

HPR: When do you plan to come to the area again?

OA: Hopefully we can get up here again this summer.

HPR: One Final Question, when do you plan on expanding into North Dakota, if ever? Also what would it take for Surly to come to North Dakota?

OA: North Dakota is definitely in our plans, and has been for awhile now, but exact timing is still being determined. We expect it to be in the near future at this point.

Everywhere you looked within Zorbaz, you could see sleek Surly tap handles, Surly clothing on the majority of customers, and Surly décor all over the walls showing support for this local Minnesota brewery. No matter which beer you chose, and boy was it hard to choose, you could pick from a 4oz, 8oz, or 12oz pour. I had the opportunity to try the Darkness 2012, 2014 BA, and 2015 BA, not to mention the Furious Black, SYX, SeVIIn, and NEIN, and they were all as delicious as I had hoped.

I also had the opportunity to talk with Tate Jansen, the proprietor of Zorbaz in Detroit Lakes.

HPR: How did you get 37 Surly beers on tap? AND 4 years of Darkness?!

TJ: Working with Cory Gilbertson of Artisan and the company itself and having them commit to getting all these beers here is how this all came about.Without people like Cory and Omar this event wouldn’t be as big as it is!

HPR: What is your favorite Surly Beer?

TJ: Right now I am drinking Todd the Axe Man; I could smell it all day and not even drink it. It smells so tropical, but my favorite beer right now is Hop Shifter an IPA hopped with select experimental hop varieties.

HPR: What is your relationship with Surly?

TJ: We usually have 5/6 Surly beers on tap. Furious is our best seller; it is on all the time!

HPR: I saw on your sign outside that Surly is the brewery of the month. Do you do a lot of tap takeovers?

TJ: Beginning in September, we started our brewery of the month, and of course tonight is the Surly tap take over and next month we will be featuring Goose Island.

I had a wonderful time talking with Tate Jansen about the Surly event and what goes on in Zorbaz on a month to month basis.Familiar faces from Fargo-Moorhead along with hundreds of unfamiliar faces from all over the area partook in this massive event supporting craft beer and the people who make it possible. “ It was busy and full, just as I expected. This event provided a viable meet and greet with the owner of Surly,” stated Amelia Wright the General Manager of JL Beers in Grand Forks.

This event was a surreal experience to gain knowledge about the craft beer scene and meet the founder of Surly. Also, the chance to try new beer, old favorites, and rare suds on tap was like having Christmas early. “Good people make good beer happen; great people make great beer happen.”said Cory Gilbertson of Artisan, and I couldn’t agree more.