Surly Darkness

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

Serve in Snifter

(bottle - 750 ml - Vampire 2010 vintage) Pitch black pour with a creamy tan head. Dark malt aroma with a very mild roast. Lots of raisin and coffee notes as well to cut through the roast. Chocolate raisins at the start of the flavor with lots of toffee and a light coffee hint. Not overpowering on the roast factor. Smooth and thick on the palate and finish.

Bottle 750 ml "Mummy". Thank you Footbalm and/or Douglass88. Brilliant! Black, with nice little glimpses of brown where the light managed to fight it’s way through. Nose had chocolate, hints of smoke, detectable alcohol, and was thick with dark fruits. Flavors followed aroma with chocolate, slight alcohol, bitterness, fresh dark fruit, and sweet malts. Large body, silky smooth...think gorgeous lady jazz singer...

from crackedkettle.com - dark black colour and with a chaotic beige foam; solid hoppy aroma with notes of chocolate, honey and licorice; thick and oily with a robust malt backbone, some sweetness and a solid bitterness; long bitter chocolatey finish with notes of cocoa, plum cake and honey - overrated and overpriced

Tap @ Boulder Strong Ale Festival. Deep coal black appearance with a fairly small brown head. Deep roasty chocolate malty and appealing nose. Very roasty dark chocolate flavor with a very full body. The chocolate roastiness lingers on the finish and aftertaste. Lives up to it’s reputation.

Poured into a snifter. 2010 vintage. 5.0 A: Pours black. About three fingers of thick, mostly creamy, secondarily frothy medium-brown-colored head. Very good retention and lacing covering most of the glass. 4.5 S: Mighty chocolaty is my first impression. This has a great mixture of roasty and sweet aromas with the sweet being moderately stronger. Hops are readily apparent in the form of herbal and citrus. Sweet caramel, a touch of smoke, and some toastiness to cap it off. Very nice. 4.0 T: Taste is pretty good, though somewhat disappointing based on the nose. This isn’t nearly as sweet as the nose suggests. Rather, hop bitterness is apparent and hop flavor is nearly as strong as the malts. Hop flavor comes in the form of citrusy orange, herbalness, and a touch of spiciness. Malts contribute milk chocolate, caramel, molasses, anise, a touch of smoke and fruitiness in the form of plum, prune, and parsimmon. The malts aren’t big and powerful like I like, but this is still pretty tasty. 3.5 M: Heavier medium body. Not the thick, rich imperial stout I was looking for. Moderate carbonation is a bit "dead" leaving the beer limp and heavy on the touch. However, this has a good creaminess to it and it otherwise smooth. 3.5 D: Gave this a 3.5 because the taste was a borderline 3.5. This is easily the best hoppy imperial stout out there, but I’m not that big of a fan of that approach to stouts. I like big malty flavors and low hop contribution. Still, this is a pretty tasty and I think this will be damn good once the hops have time to fade. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 02-13-2011 00:25:34

Bottled. Courtesy of Bov. 2009 vintage. Niaouli honey in the nose. Very interesting label. Decadent, full bodied, syrupy and deeply pleasant. The roasted malt/ coffee components are somehow subdued (?). Honey in the finish. I wasn’t expecting this beer to taste this way. Definitely overrated in my opinion. Huge thanks Bov for sharing this beer!

Pours black with a light head and good lacing. Aroma is chocolate and dark fruits. It is very heavy on the hop aroma. Taste has a little bit of hops, but not as much as you would expect from the aroma. Love this beer.

Pours a solid black with a good size tanish head that sticks with us for a while. Smell is the usual suspects, coffee, chocolate, a bit smokey, but with some grassy hop aroma in the distance. Taste is a bit hoppy with roast coffee, chocolate, some dried fruits. Full body, oily/creamy mouthfeel, ample carbonation. Left a slight ash aftertaste in my mouth. Great RIS I wish it were more widely available.