Tag Archives: Darkness

Surly Brewing Paints the Town Black

October 3, 2016 aaron

In an effort to create even more buzz and knowledge around one of the hottest beers in the country this year Surly is hosting Paint the Town Black. The rolling release event will build up to the release of Surly Darkness in bars all across Surly’s 7 state distribution area. Leading up to the release of Darkness are two other Surly beers; Furious Black, and Damien. Yes, if you hadn’t already guessed, they are black. The beers will come to market as a rolling release during the month of October. Appearances of some other dark favorites including Four, Nein, Ten, and Pentagram have been promised as well. Find your nearest location here.

Furious Black

This is the first time to catch Furious Black, first introduced at Darkness Day last year, and Damien outside of going to Darkness Day which will behold as the Brooklyn Center brewery on October 15th. Although in the same place as all previous Darkness Days this one is a week earlier on the calendar.

Furious Black’s name came by way of Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black, the misunderstood wizard always on the run. There’s nothing to be confused with this brew. Brewer Jerrod Johnson states that this is 95% Furious. The only addition being the roasted malts to add the black color and roasted, slightly chocolate quality.

Surly brewing Darkness damien bottles — Photo Credit: Aaron Konigsmark

Damien – Child of Darkness

Following Furious Black is the release of Damien. Always a crowd favorite at Darkness Day consumers will not only be able to find it on draft but bottles are hitting all markets starting on October 3rd in 750 ML bottles. This child of Darkness is a “small beer” created in the Parti-Gyle style of brewing. Damien comes to life as the second runnings all the rich malts that made Darkness. The addition of dry hopping makes this American Black Ale a refreshing palette cleanser when compared to its parentage.

Surly brewers — Photo Credit: Aaron Konigsmark
*Pictured: Ben Smith, Jerrod Johnson, Todd Haug*

Surly Darkness

The star of the rolling release is, of course, Darkness. This Russian Imperial Stout has all its usual characteristic notes, raisins, chocolate, slightly boozy rum taste all finished off with some hop heat to bring warmth to us all. The folks that chase rare beers (aka whales, or white whales) might be happy to know that 2016’s version of Surly’s wet hopped IPA beauty Wet was sacrificed on the altar of Darkness to make space on the brewing schedule and bring more Darkness to us all. 750 ML bottles will start hitting distribution starting Oct 17th. But you should be able to find it on draft at bars hosting the Paint the Town Black event after the 17th.

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Your First Peek At 2016 Surly Darkness Art

May 24, 2016 Taylor Callais

Darkness Falls Early

Like a beer geek guarding his cellar, so to did the legendary Cerberus guard the gates of the Underworld. The artwork for the annual Surly Darkness release has become quite legendary as well. Mummies, vampires, zombies and other such macabre creatures have graced the cover of this sought after stout. This year? Make way for the hounds of hell.

Minnesota-based artist, Adam Martin of BlueApple Studio fame has tapped into Greek mythology for inspiration in the latest edition of this sinister bottle art. When asked about how he felt being given the honor to cement his reputation among beer geeks far and wide, Mr. Martin said,

“I experienced equal parts excitement and fear after finding out I got the Darkness project. My hope is that what I made is well received by the community, and that it feels at home with the amazing Darkness illustrations from previous years.”

I think it’s a perfect addition to the Darkness artwork anthology. Mean as hell? Check. Would look great on a poster? Check. Just a touch of metal befitting a brewery that is lead by a headbanging guitarist (check out the skull inside the middle hound’s mouth). Check.

Some would say it’s what’s on the outside that counts, and with beer they may be right. Don’t over look this one however. Grab a bottle and really take in the hellish brilliance of the new bottle. You’ve only got 5 months to wait…

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Surly Brewing Barrel-Aged Darkness

September 24, 2015 Andrew Schmitt

The crew at Surly Brewing is in for a busy few weeks. SurlyFest is on shelves and their annual Oktoberfest party is happening this weekend for the first time at the Mpls brewery. Wet with Simcoe is in the tanks and should appear sometime soon. Nein will debut September 28th, at Black Forest Inn. But, there is only beer that Surly fans camp out overnight to get their hands on. That’s right, Surly Darkness. And, an interesting new Darkness label just made an appearance.

Surly works with a local artist to create a terrifying label for each release of the Russian Imperial Stout. Label art for the 2015 version of Darkness comes courtesy of Brandon Holt. The new golden version of the 2015 Surly Darkness label pictured below confirms that there will indeed be two versions of the beer. There will be a classic version and a rye whiskey barrel-aged version. No word on the amount produced of either variety or any difference in pricing.

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