Surly Darkness 2014 - Bottled
The legendary Harpy tortured unwary travelers by stealing their precious food and drink. This year’s cruel creature defends her cauldron of Darkness with razor claws and a dead stare of malevolence. Don’t mess with her Darkness.
She’s hoarding this massively opaque barrel aged Stout screaming with notes of chocolate, coffee, dried tart cherries, vanilla, rye whisky and raisins. The thick body of this Russian Imperial Stout finishes sweet, with a piney resinous hop character.
Dare if you will to open the bottle and steal from the imagination of our 2014 Darkness artist, Erica Williams.
Note: The 2014 bottled version is aged with High West Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Darkness. Though most kegged 2014 Darkness does not have any whiskey barrel aged, a handful of barrel aged Darkness does exist.
She’s hoarding this massively opaque barrel aged Stout screaming with notes of chocolate, coffee, dried tart cherries, vanilla, rye whisky and raisins. The thick body of this Russian Imperial Stout finishes sweet, with a piney resinous hop character.
Dare if you will to open the bottle and steal from the imagination of our 2014 Darkness artist, Erica Williams.
Note: The 2014 bottled version is aged with High West Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Darkness. Though most kegged 2014 Darkness does not have any whiskey barrel aged, a handful of barrel aged Darkness does exist.
4.1
244 reviews
Minneapolis, United States
Community reviews
Bottle, shared @ Potjepalooza, from an IP trade with charule. Black color. Beige head. Aroma’s: sweet, roasted, boozy. Retronasal: sweetish, alcoholic, rue bread. Flavor is above moderate sweet. Full bodied, rather strong alcohol feel. Finishes bready, a bit alcoholic, roasty. Good stuff.
I think I’m rating in appropriate place. 2016 bottle. Pours thick black and a huge tan head. The aroma is sweet sugar and whiskey oak. The palate is awesome. Thick and creamy. The taste is sweet sugar. Vanilla and chocolate. Some licorice. Then a rye sweet whiskey burn. This is awesome.
To date, this offering of Surly’s Darkness is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten the pleasure of enjoying at a fest. Really, this brew just tastes like a slightly smoother version of the already smooth and beautifully balanced Darkness. It pours opaque black. Charred grains on the nose. It has dark chocolate, coffee, smoke, subtle dark fruit, and subtle umami flavors. Just a hint of oak. While it’s full-bodied, the feel is very approachable for an Imperial Stout.
Pours black in color with a soft off white head. Deep chocolate aroma with notes of coffee, and roast malt, vanilla, light alcohol notes. Rich and robust flavor that coats the mouth; chocolate dominates, vanilla and wood roasty malt, sweet but not syrupy, flavors linger with some charred notes and a touch of alcohol in the finish. An excellent beer. Notes: On tap at Mimosa in the MSP Airport, Apr ’17.
Really well done. Incredibly smooth mouthfeel, very chocolatey, some toffee and dark fruit. Barrel aging melts into the background. Tried with Dad at the Omaha Extreme Beerfest in 2017.
Bottle - 2016 bottle opened because I made it through Wednesday. I used to love these sort of beers, then I hated them, now I kind of like them again. This bitch is black with a big tan head. Sweet and boozy nose with whiskey all over the place. Taste is more balanced than I figured. The barrel aging cuts the sweetness a bit, resulting in a boozy German Chocolate Cake feel. Nice. Thick as hell. I remember going to Darkness Day in 2009...this is the first one since then I’ve liked!
Bottle/Fest.
A- Whisky, oak, chocolate, subtle coffee.
A- Black color, black liquid, tan head.
T- Whisky, chocolate.
P- Full body, average texture, average carbonation, complex finish.
O- I had this as a 2016 Barrel Aged Darkness. I guess that leads me to this entry. Not normally does Barrel Aging do much for a beer other than add make it boozy and cover up impurities. In this case, the aging somehow makes Darkness even smoother and more flavorful than the original. Hard to say which is better but this was a fine beer. It was so balanced it was hard to detect any single flavor.
2014 bottle from bvery. Nose is moderate booze. Some fudge. Some chocolate. Black with a medium sized khaki head. Dies quickly and leaves just a small ring of bubbles. Initially quite bitter, dark chocolate. Thick viscous and chewy. Short of syrupy. Light alcohol warming. Good but hard to digest more than a small pour of this. Very full mouthfeel. Thick and cummy
2016 vintage, draft at the taproom. Pitch black withh a small head. Aroma of vanilla, cherry, and chocolate. Flavor like an ultra boozy, dry mocha, with stone fruit and sweet whisky. Great balance between hop/roasted grain bitterness and sweetness. Full bodied. Excellent.
Sample @ Copenhagen Beer Celebration, 2016. Black body with a small light brown head. Roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, oak, vanilla, whiskey. Complex.
2015 Rye Whiskey shared with brother in my condo. Aroma: big rye with lots of alcohol, lots of chocolate, coffee and molasses. Full body, medium high sweetness, alcohol finish. Pretty good but preferred the 2014 version. Could be related to the moment as well. 4.2 for the 2015 version seems fair.
2014 vintage. 4.5. Bomber from trade with Yannick shared en Guillaume to celebrate the sale of my house... Finally! Aroma: wonderful mix of licorice, wood, chocolate, vanilla, light spices. A bit boozy in a good way. Damn good. App: dark almost black, medium beige frothy head leaving little lacing. Taste and palate: full body, so creamy, medium sweetness, spices and light bitter and alcohol finish. Overall: I’m in love. This is so damn good! I’m not the biggest fan of RIS because I don’t like licorice that much but that one is so well blended with everything else. Amazing! I want more.
Poured deep dark brown with a bubbly beige head. Aroma of vanilla smoothness, roast malt, fudge, alcohol soaked berries. Full body, flavour of the aroma, smooth and lovely. Kudos to Kermis for the share.
Pours a viscous pitch black color with a solid, stable mohagony head.
Smells of an interesting interplay between toasted malts, leafy hops and spicy coconut with a decadent chocolate coating. Awesome, just like the original, enhanced by a nice oaken note, which adds even more complexity on the nose.
Incredibly smooth and thick on the tongue with a nice spiciness as an antagonist to loads of whipped cream and melting milk chocolate. Has a bigger body, revealed by the Rye barrel, producing a pleasant warmth.
Tastes of untamed hops with ripe oranges and leaf wrapped lime, coated by rich, smooth milk chocolate. The chocolate then turns dryer, more bitter, as toasty malts turn more present, spiced up by a hot, dry Bourbon bite. The beer never loses its balance though, mainly due to its well functioning malt foundation and gentle smoothness with an awesome interplay between chocolate, hops and the barrel. Finishes with alcohol soaked pralines, firewood, bakers chocolate, fudge and and a hint of glazed caramel, again, pleasantly soothed up by cream.
A real treat! Definitely lets the base beer shine through, but it allows the barrel to develop beautifully atop. Decadent and rich, while remaining easy drinkable, featuring an amazing amount of milk chocolate, amped up by the tasty hops, which cut through.
2015 bottle poured into a snifter..opaque with a medium light brown head..aroma
of whiskey,chocolate,tobacco,dark fruits,vanilla & oak..tastes of chocolate,booze,
tobacco,vanilla,dark fruits..worth the wait.
CBC2015, Pours black with a beige head, aroma of honey, caramel, coffee and chocolate, flavor of chocolate, coffee, wood, vanilla, medium to full bodied, Great
Poured from a 750 ml bottle.
Aroma is very malt forward with a lot of chocolate notes and some light roast notes. Light tobacco, leather and honey. Medium bourbon notes with some light oak and alcohol spice. Hints of dark fruit.
Pours black with a medium sized, fairly thick and somewhat creamy, mocha head that slowly and steadily recedes to a thin film that lingers in the center and on the edges. No lacing and moderate legs.
Flavor is fairly sweet with a lot of chocolate notes, both milk chocolate and dark, bitter chocolate. Light roast notes with a touch of tobacco and leather. Some medium light raisin notes with a bit of prune and fig. Medium light bourbon notes with some light oak and alcohol spice.
Mouthfeel is medium full bodied and creamy with medium low carbonation. This has a much better mouthfeel than the older non BA versions. Low astringency and low, but present alcohol warmth.
Overall, this is a nice beer. The beer has a lot of complexity with nice bourbon notes and mouthfeel. Oxidation is subtle and adds some nice complexity. Tons of chocolate.
On tap at CBC 2016, red session as BA Darkness. Pours black with tan head. Roasted heavy malty, dark chocolate, whiskey, oak, vanilla. some dark fruit. Sweet with bitter finish. Warming. Full bodied.
Bottle for rating #6700: Pitch black, thin khaki head, sudsy, little lacing. Certainly look like its barrel aged. Whiskey nose, sweet roasted malts, rye, chocolate, and soft coffee on the nose. Similar on the tongue. Big and smooth. Warming on the tongue. Finishes with sweet roasted malts, whiskey (seems more like straight up bourbon), toasted marshmallow, and chocolate graham cracker. Very nice! Thanks for sharing Nat!
Tap at CBC 16, red session. Malty. Aroma of roasted malt, caramel, riped fruits, vanilla and chocolate with oaky notes. Light whiskey notes. Balanced. A great one.
750ml bottle as Barrel Aged Darkness from bananabi11, cellared for a year and shared with him. Thanks! Very dark brown pour, no head. Now this is a barrel nose! Sweet bourbon, chocolate. Caramel. Some alcohol. Full bodied. The blend is very good. Finishes slightly to the sweet/vanilla side of bittersweet. Yum! 16.8
Sampled at GABF 2015. This is from my tasting notes where I am picking up a few I neglected to enter. In the tasting glass was black. Tan head. Nose of rich roasted malts with chocolate and bourbon. Full in body and a very creamy mouth feel, Some alcohol shows. Flavor is very rich with molasses, chocolate, and some citrus or floral hops. Finishes with a lot of aging nuances. whiskey and wood. Really, really good.
Bottle to tulip (thanks dresden)
Consummation: Soy, chocolate, blackberry, toasted malt, alcohol, coffee...so much going on...love it
Adjunct: Fish sauce, soy, blackberry, mint, light coffee; reddish brown, tan head; brulliant fucking beer
CBC 2016 Red session. Black body with a small tanned head. Aroma of bourbon, mocca, roasted coffee, leather, mild alcohol. Taste of srong cappuchino, bitter chocolate, vanilla, bourbon , malty and bitter finish. Very well done barrelling, smooth interaction between the layers of elements here.
Black pour with a single finger espresso head. Aroma of oak, vanilla & bourbon. Smells very sweet. Full bodied with a creamy mouth feel. Sweet with vanilla, oak, chocolate, leather & smoke. Lingering bourbon notes. Lace present.
Bottle shared thanks to KVN. Almost black with nice light brown head that leaves a small ring. Lots of vanilla, sweet red berries, chocolate, obvious whisky notes, sugary, peach, old coffee. Very sweet and light bitter. Almost full bodied. Very nice.
2015 bottle. Black body. Smells of licorice, chocolate, booze, and some whiskey. Tastes of more whiskey up front. Still very sweet. Licorice and fudge. Oaky in the back end. Heavy and sweet. Gets sluggish and too sweet after a big pour, but at first it was really tasty.
Bottle (d’uh). Dark brown with a mocha film. Strong roasted malt, chocolate, leather, vanilla, slight bitterness but smooth, light espresso grinds, more booze than the regular version but compliments rather than overwhelms. Full body and moderate carbonation, light bitterness, nice long finish as things dry out.
Sample @ CBC-16. Very dark brown with a tiny brown head. Malty and woody tones. malt, wood, vanilla and chocolate. Full body with a long bitter sweet finish.
Tasted during Savor Week. Jet black color, thin tan head. Aroma of espresso, licorice, vanilla, chocolate. Taste has vanilla and chocolate, light tannins. Tasty.
Draft, 2015 BA Darkness. Small beige head atop dark red-brown body. Aroma is moderately sweet, rye, vanilla, some chocolate, light wood. Taste is sweet, vanilla, some chocolate, alcohol warming. Sticky full body.