In an effort to save money and clear out my fermentation chamber and kegerator so I can actually start brewing again I have been drinking down some pretty fantastic brews. I am trying to save a few verticals for my annual stout tasting in February. But since it's my ale I will drink it if I want to. I figure I will save some brews to share that I have had before. One I have been saving for a while, and was on my must try list, was Surley Darkness. I have heard the party is the best part, and that the ale is so - so.It pours dark with minimal carbonation as one would expect. It is very sweet with lots of unfermented malt sugars, has a great sweet aroma, and notable hop bouquet. It is very rich and sweet with a bitter finish on the tongue. Lots of complexity coffee, fruity, but not your typical dark fruits, the hops are still strongly contributing for a brew from 2012. In 2014 they started barrel aging Darkness. Clearly a crack at a very big brew. Darkness is very good. It is somewhat reminiscent of Dark Lord, but not as thick and sweet. I would certainly recommend trying it. I just can't get over how much hop character it still has. Typically after a couple of years even a very hop forward brew has faded. But not this one. Stayed tuned, a few more stouts and I will have room to brew up my Black Tuesday clone.
