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.
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.