Surly Darkness

Brewed by Surly Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota USA

22oz bottle from C&P Throwdown. Thanks to uh..Juiceisloose I think. Pours a deep evil black. As evil looking as the badass bottle. Small tan head. Big dark chocolate nose. A little whiff of citrus as well. I am expecting hops. Suprisingly not a hoppy IS, contrary to what I had heard. I also heard this beer is different than it used to be. This is a new batch. Super malty with a rich roastiness, hints of nuts and caramel. Huge dark chocolate and coffee roast finish. Great mouthfeel though, similar to Dark Lord in that respect. Not as oppressive as Dark Lord but it still coats the mouth in a great way. Very very good.

Deliciously thick sludge of a stout with more emphasis on sweetish, dark chocolate than bitter coffee or hops. Looks perfect on the pour but brown head fades. Pretty reasonable bitterness with roasty backdrop. This is a beer where I enjoy that sweetness; it has the backbone to hold it up. Well-built, round and serious, and doesn’t really put a foot wrong. It’s tasty without having to think too hard.

A sweet mess. Difficult to drink a whole bottle. Nice mouthfeel, but overall a very mediocre and INCREDIBLY sweet RIS. 2008 Vintage.

tasting at the bluebird before the hucklebucks show. this beer was so good i thought i saw jack hannah.

08 version. Pours a bit lighter than I was expecting, but with a beautifully thick head. Displays a lighter floral aroma with a bit of citrus. Not nearly as intense as I was expecting from what folks had said about the previous years vintage. Huge creamy character that really stood out. Very much the calling card of this vintage. A dryer overall beer and quite easy drinking compared to other beers in its class that leave a much higher finishing gravity. However, too sharp of a contrast between the sweet/roasted malt backbone and the citrus/orange hop profile. Overall, it left me a bit confused. It seemed like it was trying to be both a sweeter/creamier imperial stout and one of the more highly hopped examples of the genre at the same time. While I really loved the first side of this along with how nicely attenuated the gravity was, and is why my score is so high, I really didn’t care for the choice of hops. They just seemed to detract a bit from the overall experience. I know there was a change in the recipe, particularily in the type of hops used, but I think they would’ve been better off doing what made this beer so exceptional initially.

07 version A: First and foremost its one bad ass looking bottle. Pours a deep dark black hue with a nice bubbly one finger head on my pour. There were spots of lacing noted. S: Nice hoppy aromas right from the start. There were hints of roasted malts and chocolate along with bitter coffee. It had a somewhat green aroma beneath the roast. The ABV makes itself known in the nose as well. T: This is a hoppy ass stout. Tons of bitter hops noted as soon as it hit my tongue. Beautifully roasted chocolaty malt does come thru as does a hint of vanilla, a nice dose of smoke, and a touch of dark fruit. A slight alcohol burn lingers after each gulp. M: Full in body, rich and somewhat syrupy. D: The beer is sort of sharp on the tongue. I could of had more than my 1/6 of the bottle but this is one to be shared. Overall: It’s a great beer but overall I was a bit let down. I thank ibrew for the chance to try. Would love to get a bottle of my own to age for a bit. 07 is much better than the overly sweet 08 version.

Thanks moelikebeer for sending this my way. Gold waxed 750. Black in color with a medium brown head with some good retention. The two most prevalent qualities in the aroma for me were chocolate and some nice dark fruit character- plum and raisin. Some roast, molasses, and a touch of alcohol as well. Taste is pretty intense: A good amount of chocolate, some mild to moderate roast, alot of raisins/plums, licorice, touches of sherry, molasses,and brown sugar.A light hop profile- there but subdued. Body is very full and coating. Finish has some lingering coffee, mild roast, and some light to moderate hop bitterness. An excellent RIS, worth getting your hands on for sure!

In short: A fantastically smooth and velvety chocolaty impy stout with a kick-ass grassy and fruity hopping. One of the best Impy Stout.
How: Bottle 22oz, 2008 vintage. Huge thanks to both Levi (MatSciGuy) and Scott (Oakbluff) for sending bottles my way.
The look: Black body topped by a large tan head with very good retention.
In long: Nose of bakery chocolate and green hops. The one truly striking feature about this beer is a soft and velvety the body is. This is like drinking creamy silk. Relaxed carbonation of cushiony mouthfeel. Medium-low roastiness. Taste of artisan bakery chocolate, some over-backed fruit pie (dates, prunes, and such), rich dark caramel, distant coffee. This is not your usual bitter black chocolate flavour, this really tastes like bakery chocolate (the fancy little pieces). And let’s not forget the hops, this beer packs quite a bit of American hops and they work very well the bakery chocolate. Freshly cut green grass, citrus fruits and tobacco leaves add a lot of depth and also lighten the beer up. A truly fantastic and highly drinkable beer. Finally a hyped impy stout that lives up to the hype. If like me you we’re loosing hopes after too many over-hyped impy stouts disappointments (Kate The Great, Sexual Chocolate, Bourbon Barrel Aged xyz) then I’m telling you, don’t loose hope there is a Darkness at the end of the tunnel.