The Crewe midfielder struck to cancel out Scott Dobie's first-half opener, which had owed as much to poor goalkeeping from home keeper Ben Williams than the striker's brilliance.
And the Cheshire side could have taken all three points had Steve Jones and substitute Andy White accepted late chances.
Forest's gung-ho approach failed to unsettle Crewe, who had the better of the opening exchanges with Paul Gerrard forced to scramble across his goal to keep out David Vaughan's belting 25-yarder.
Luke Varney did well to burst past John Curtis on the right and pull the ball back across the box where Jones was offered a gilt-edged chance in the 15th minute, only to belt the ball well over from eight yards out.
Little was seen of Forest as a creative force in the opening exchanges other than when Kris Commons hammered a free-kick into the wall.
But the left winger grew in stature as the half progressed and he was slipped in behind the defence by Darryl Powell's diagonal ball only for Chris McCready to make a vital block.
Crewe failed to heed the warning though and Dobie was allowed to run into space in the 37th minute and his weak low shot squirmed out of reach of Williams at the keeper's near post.
Forest were inspired by their stroke of fortune and Commons pulled a 25-yard free-kick wide of the post, although David Vaughan responded in kind for the Alex as the half finished, cracking an effort a couple of yards wide.
The Welsh midfielder played a key role as Crewe came close to drawing level in the 51st minute when he slammed in a rising 15-yard volley, which Gerrard brought down from the top corner.
Commons' withdrawal in the 65th minute was a turning point in the game and Forest were soon retreating into their shell. Any hopes Forest had of holding on to their narrow lead were dashed when Adie Moses slung over a quality cross from the right wing and Sorvel popped up at the far post with a well-placed header, which flashed across Gerrard into the far corner.
White could have won it for Alex in the 87th minute when Kenny Lunt's cross picked him out at the back stick, but he failed to connect cleanly with his head and glanced the ball wide.