Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy a keg from the brewery?
Nope. Minnesota state laws prohibit us from selling keg beer or canned beer to customers.

Can I get a keg at a liquor store?
Nope. As of 6/30/2009, Surly no longer sells kegs at liquor stores. Not enough beer.

Can I set up a private tour for a group?
Nope. We’re too damn busy making the beer you like so much. We have regularly scheduled tours and that is it.

Where do you guys distribute your beer?
At the moment, we only sell our beer in the Twin Cities area, Duluth, MN area and Chicago. That is it. If you live somewhere else and want our beer, you’re gonna have to come and get it.

When are you going to start selling beer in other states?
Hey, we are 2 years old. No brewery starts selling all over the place in that amount of time. We have a lot of liquor stores and bars in Minnesota we need to get to before we start selling our beer in North Carolina or wherever else you live. Like we say, come to Minnesota to drink. We suggest you come in the summer.

Can I stop by during the day and buy some merchandise and growlers and look around?
Nope. We’re too busy brewing beer to take your money. Our doors are locked so don’t come by unless you have an appointment. We are open every Saturday from 12-2 selling merchandise and growlers. You can always purchase merch online.

Can you ship beer to me?
Nope. As stated above, if you want our beer, you have to come to Minnesota to buy it. It is not legal for Surly Brewing to ship/sell beer to anyone but a distributor. I don’t wanna hear that other breweries do it, every state has its own laws and in Minnesota we can’t ship beer.

I’m a bar / restaurant / liquor store in Minnesota and we want to sell your beer.
Awesome. Drop us an email or call and we will put you in contact with the right people.

Who distributes your beer?
We distribute our own beer in much of the Twin Cities. Dahlheimer Distribution handles some of the Twin Cities. In the Duluth area and parts of Northern Minnesota, Rohlfing Distribution sells our beers. Windy City Distribution takes care of our kegs in Chicago.

Where can I find some Darkness?
Again, sorry, but there is none around. We brewed 12 barrels of this beer in 2006, 25 barrels in 2007 and twice as much for 2008. It will be released around Halowwen this year.

Where did the Surly name come form?
In 2005, Omar & his wife Becca headed out to Portland for a weeklong beer drinking trip. On the flight out, Becca came up with the name Surly. The name was a reaction to the question posed: "How do you feel when you go into a bar and there is no good beer?"
Answer - You Get Surly, and say "Let's go to another bar that cares about decent beer."
Surly: The anger fueled by the inability to find good beer.