Surly Darkness

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

Wonderful idea of an ultimate beer. Giant hops, strong but clear chocolate flavors, a fine textured body, aromatic, not too strong/alcoholic. Very well put together -- flawlessly bright, clean and clear without anything fuselly, dusty, phenolic, soy saucey or other common big beer flaws.

Bottle obtained in a trade i shared with BrianK. Pours jet black with no color hues and a dark tan head. Aroma is very misleading for an imperial stout, wait 80 ibu’s what is this beer? A double ipa with chocolate malt, you tell me. Flavor is rich with chocolate at first then quickly turns into a pine floral hop finish. It works, its quite good when you give up your exceptions of a big malty imperial stout. Very complex but nevertheless no quite what i was expecting but not a disappointment either. 4.0 Bottle 2008 offering. Bottle. Pours a viscous black body with a dark oily tan cascading head. Sweet with rich molasses and a noticeable hop bitterness. Earthy floral hoppiness. Over ripe fruit. Big etoh but well masked by the hop character. 4.1

Bomber with a huge thanks to Dmac for sharing this treat. Black with a small creamy tan head. Really nice piney/grapefruit hop aroma mixed with dark roasted malts and dark chocolate. I really wish there were more hoppy imperial stouts like this one. The flavor of the citrus hops combine seamlessly with the roasted malts. Add in some chocolate, a bit of coffee and also some tropical fruits and you have one delicious beer.

shared by I forget at the cuvee de tomme release....good stuff. lives up to the name colorwise....tastewise it is a bit smoky and a good but not great imp stout....not worth the hype in my opinion.....want to try another bottle though

Tasted at the February Northern California Beer Tasting. OK This beer is worthy of the hype. And thanks to Garret for sharing this gem. This Imperial Stout pours a deep black color from the bottle. Small to medium sized tan foamy head. The aroma is chocolate, raisins, coffee, vanilla, molasses and dark fruit. A medium to full bodied Imperial Stout. The malts are chocolate, coffee, dark fruit and roasty malt. The hops are earthy. There is a lot going on in this beer, very complex, yet each of the flavor components seems to blend together well. Very rich and smooth. Hides the alcohol well. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Bottle shared by fiver29. Thanks John! Black as night with a big brown head. Aroma is bitter hops, roasted malt, chocolate and bacon. Flavor is sweet chocolate and a bitter finish. Full bodied, smooth and creamy. Not bad, but didn’t quite live up to the hype. I will get to try this again later in the month, so it will get a rerate if necessary.

Bottle number 082. Pours pitch black into a schott zwiesel glass with a dark tan head at 51-52 degrees fahrenheit. Smells like alcohol, hops, earth, and a slight roasted malt sweetness. Has a medium mouthfeel with some carbonation. Taste has a chocolate character, is hoppy, sweet, smooth, creamy, coffee, licorice, with a side of dark fruit. This beer looks good in my schott zwiesel glass. Overall, a nice brew all around. I think I had this one built up in my head to be something more than it was. It was still a great brew to try.

22 oz bottle, shared by acrdz. Pours a pitch black body with a nice foamy dark brown head. Nice roasty nose with some burnt malt and light alcohol. It took on a little more of a maple surgar character as it warmed. Heavily roasted malt with lots of coffee and moderate hop bittterness. Not a whole lot of bitterness from the malt, which I liked. Finished with a slight salty note. Kinda reminds me of a burnt steak. Mouthfeel is soft and gentle with prefect carbonation, slightly oily in texture. Overall, a really great beer, not a cookie cutter Imperial Stout.