Surly Darkness

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

Serve in Snifter

The Heat on this one was noticeable. It has vanilla/woody notes. Is true the style... Dark and complex. really worth the find

UPDATED: JAN 18, 2012 On tap at local option. Black with tan head, sweet malts with a bitter finish delicious

I’m from Northfield, a small city in Minnesota large enough to have four fast food restaurants but not so big that you see more than the one homeless person on the way. You can get a taxi here but they’re not out roving around where you can jump off the sidewalk and hail one. You have to call them on the phone, and they’re not yellow. The weather varies explosively from day to day in this part of America, the jet stream undulating over us like an angry snake god. I’ve seen a day when the temperature hit one hundred and eight degrees, another when it dipped twenty-eight degrees below zero, another day when the temperature swung sixty-three degrees in eight hours. We’re also in Tornado Alley, so every spring swirling, howling charcoal demons materialize out of the air and shred mobile homes as if they were dropped in huge blenders. We’re not far from Iowa, which marks the unofficial border to the South, so one sees more than enough pickup trucks decorated with stickers of Confederate flags and slogans proclaiming their brand of truck is superior to all others. There are a lot of things about this city that the chamber of commerce won’t tell you, like the fact that we have more than quadruple the rate of mental illness per capita than any other city in the state, or that in the ’80s the EPA did a very discreet study of the town’s water supply in hope of finding a cause. The chief inspector on that case was found dead inside one of the water towers a week later, which was considered strange since the largest opening into the tank was a valve just ten inches wide. It was also considered strange that both of his eyes were fused shut, but that’s another story. But all that aside, it’s not a bad town. Not really. My name is Evan, by the way. Um, hi. I once saw a man’s kidney grow tentacles, tear itself out of a ragged hole in his back and go slapping across my kitchen floor.

Thanks Mark for the share. Nice punch of hops on this one. Good but certainly not great. The term overrated comes to mind. ’11

UPDATED: DEC 10, 2011 Bottle. Dark black in colour with brown head. Vibrant fruity, hoppy, coffee aroma. Taste is sweet, fruit, slightly bitter, dark chocolate, coffee (but not overpowering.) Excellent beer. Thanks to Brian for this.

On tap at Tracy’s saloon Minnesota, 2011 version taste is huge creamy coffee with lots of malt balance and subtle hop finish thin head and pitch black body mild alcohol taste strong coffee note on the exhale

Black with creamy tan head. Notes of coffee, chocolate, black cherry, booze, and...Band-Aid...? Velvety, but not as viscous as come of its brethren. Perfectly carbonated. Some must dark dried fruits balanced by coffee, chocolate, and lasting bitterness. Band-Aids are back in the taste, and the demise of this otherwise very good beer.

Had this at Surly Darkness day, poured a nice black color with tan head. Had a thick mouth feel with a nice sweet and bitter taste.