Surly Darkness

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

2008 bottle courtesy of BDR. Thanks Brad! Shared with cdumler and Alraomon. Pours pure black with a medium, thick brown head. Excellent head retention and lacing. Aroma is roasted malts, caramel, bitter coffee, spicy hops and coconut. Taste is very sweet with bitter hops, caramel, soy, coconut, slight coffee and roasted malts. Full bodied and very sticky. Just a bit too sweet for my taste.

Bottle that Craig kindly handbottled and sent down to me, cheers Craig. Pours shark eye black with a tan head, really thick and oily and with a sticky consistency. This was hoppy but not overly so, roasty, bittersweet, bitter chocolate and coffee dregs I even get some grapefruit coming through. Everything is in wonderful harmony and whilst I have tired of Impy Stouts a little of late I really enjoyed this, it was a great beer, many thanks Craig. A7 A5 F9 P4 OV17 4.2

Bottle at Craigs house. caramel, resin, black, white foam, light sweetness, lightly bitter, medium body, creamy,

Bottle at home ...Big thanks to BDR for this... wow this has a lovely full creamy mouth feel. rich and silky ... Nose is a big soft smooth roast with a little chocolate and mellow big pine hops... flavour is dominated by just how nice the palate is... but once you wallow in its smooth silky richness you start to notice rich smooth chocolate malts ... low bitternesss and a spice pine hop in its linger ... Im not fond of hoppy stouts so was worried i wouldnt like this but its really quite lovely... though pine does build quite a lot over time 4.3... AH as i get further through this, its the hop that keeps on giving and destroys any other flavours. This is one of the beers. that i think a small sample(50ml) (4.3) or a larger one(250ml) (3.9) do end up with a different rating. Plus i suspect if i had the whole thing to myself it would have dropped another point or two by the end of the Bottle

thanks to BDR for the bottle. 750ml pours black with a big mocha colored head that lasts and lasts. Killer lacing. Aromas are mainly hops, slight chocolate, but mainly citrusy hops. Flavors of roasted malts, chocolate, coffee, and a semi bitter finish. Very good beer, but perhaps to hoppy on the nose for me.

Pours dark brown out of the bottle and appears black in the glass. Well looking tan head lasts well. Aroma is mainly awful, smells mainly of socks and super citrusy hops, no malt complexity. Flavor, however, is different and quite complex. Fully flavored with an incredible malt complexity. Sweet dark fruits, with layers of chocolate, roast and coffee character. Nice mouth feel. Very nice Imperial Stout.

Ok, I finally got my crack at darkness. On tap of all places at 11:00 in the morning. Poured thick and black with a cream head. Aroma was caramel and chocolate, promising some major sweetness. Taste was burnt marshmallow, sweet caramel and roast. Really reminded me of a marshmallow. For all the promises of a great hoppy stout, I thought this was incredibly sweet. Not getting the balanced I had hoped for. Really one of the sweeter imperials I have tasted.

22 oz. bottle - 2008 vintage; huge thanks to BrewCzar for cracking this open while in town; jet black with thin chocolate colored head; aromas mainly of chocolate, dank fruit, mild licorice and plenty of sweetness; don’t get much of the hops that i’ve read so much about; dry, roasty, thin body going down; very nice a drinkable; not overly aggressive in any way and just a delight to the last drop; need to revisit w/ a another bottle for sure