Surly Darkness

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

Serve in Snifter

What superchunk said. I would love for Surly to make this year-round. I had 1.5 bombers of this years batch all to myself and wish I had more. Like sexy chocolate smoke, coffee, and the perfect balance of sweetness, bitterness and a kiss on the cheek with hop lips. Drinks like a Prince blouse.

Flaske: Duft af råt kød. Bare fordi jeg er så let at påvirke. Flot kulsort øl med et skumbrunt skumhoved. Heldigvis er smagen ikke den samme som duften. Masser af maltsødme og kaffe. Den frugtige base er godt bakket op af amerikansk humle. Men duften er ikke noget at skrive hjem om. Stor tak til Mikkellers barchef for hans generøsitet.

2008 Vintage. 750ml black and gold waxed and capped brown bottle. 55 degrees. Not my 1000th review but my 1000th beer tried! It pours a thick black with a voluptuous tan head. The head is sandier and not as dark as most Russian Imperial Stouts. It holds like a marvel for a 2 year aged brew of this strength. It refuses to recede but as it does it coats my snifter with thick lacing. The smell is absolutely wonderful. I was at a brewery today smelling the fest wort, and this one has a lot of that fresh wort smell, that honey-oatmeal like malt sugar smell. Also in there is chocolate, coffee, slight roastiness, rum, and that classic stout smell with a bit of fruitiness. There are raisins and dark cherries in it as well as some caramel and a slight nuttiness. The sweetness can be smelled though there is also a cutting bitterness and sharpness sin the smell. The alcohol is present merely as an addition to the complexity of this brew. This one is pretty intense in the mouth, a sweeter, fruitier RIS. It smacks you initially with some caramel covered cherries and raisins, then another wave of vinous raisin/grape, and finally a bitter coffee/chocolate finish. The alcohol flashes itself, though not completely, it is a palate exhauster form start to finish. Though a bit cloying, the mouthfeel is pretty epic for the style, it is smooth and thick with a present but not overbearing alcoholic burn. This is the "liqueur" beer as it holds a bit more sweetness and complexity tan your average Russian imperial stout. Overall if they were to tone down the sweetness on this one it would reach epic levels of enjoyability, the nose is right on. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 08-18-2010 01:24:17

Bottle at ACBF ’11 supplied by Breena. I’ve been looking forward to this beer for years and so was a little disappointed with what I actually got. Dark brown colour with lasting tan head. Lots of hot choc on aroma. Lots of smooth drinking choc in mouth. Some liquorice. But very smooth in mouth. Not sure i like the very smooth coffee choc-ness in the mouth or on the swallow. Just ok really.

Vampire: I’ve had it on tap...good. and bottled after a few months of settlng...excellent. I could just hold the glass and smell it all day.

<2009 vintage> I had this on tap at both Bryant Bowl in uptown (Minneapolis) and at Groveland Tap (St. Paul) Appearance: came out jet Black with a nice 1-2 finger creamy tan head, nice and thick seafoamy but with that dark tan color. kind of like what you see on an espresso. you can’t see through the beer with a flood light behind it (proably a bit of an exagerating, but its black) I was so ready for this after waiting a long time to try it. smell: Brang to the nose and it was full of chocolaty notes and hints of coffee, a hair of nuttyness and some slight fruity notes(fig) I could smell some of that signature hoppiness of Surly through the entire inhale, pine and grapefruit hops. Taste(along with mouthfeel): a small mouthfull rolled over my tongue smooth as ever, almost like melted ice cream it was so creamy and smooth. a little oily on the lips. the milk chocolate sweetness came right away and moved towards a little bit of coffee as the backside hop bitterness moved in. I got a nice kick of fig on the sides and a pinch of nuttyness throughout. plenty of hoppiness to give it character and complexity. At 10% ABV i couldn’t taste a drop of alcohol. if they have the ability to kick the ABV up a notch they could easily without one noticing. Drinkablity: does wanting an endless flow account for drinkability? it was only $6 for about 11 oz. after finding that out I got a 2nd... after finishing that, i wanted a third but i think i would have hit the floor so I finished with that. Went to get more at Groveland taps a few days later... once again, I had two glasses.

Creamy milk chocolate, rye bread, caramel, and dark fruits for aroma. Flavors of milk chocolate, roasted marshmallows, raisins, and sticky caramel. Slightly cloying and a tad overly sweet. Alcohol hits like a dump truck. Not bad, but I was hoping for more complexity. A good intro into Surly brews.

Black as oil. Medium-sized, thick, dark tan head. Head sticks around like whipped cream on pie, and leaves thick lacing like you used paint to apply it. Chocolate. Roast. Hops. Coffee. Raisins and dates. Caramel. Sweet. Bit of a hop flavor drowned out by the chocolate and roasted, coffee-like flavors. Viscous. coats the mouth and tongue with a thick velvety sweetness. Bit of a sour bitterness lingers slightly. But all very good. Pretty damn drinkable. I would have to have someone stop me so I wouldn’t feel like crap the next day. But I couldn’t definitely down one a day.