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Health & Fitness

A Beer For Every Occasion: Surly Darkness Day 2011

It's true, there really is not a bad occasion to enjoy a well-crafted brew.

Every year just before Halloween, droves of loyal beer fans flock to Surly Brewing for the release of their Russian Imperial Stout called Darkness at a brewery event known as Darkness Day. This year a few friends and I packed up the car and drove over to the brewery to see what the fuss was all about. If you haven't heard of Surly, you will in the near future as they have just announced the plans to build a $20 million super brewery equipped with rooftop patio, beer garden and a brewpub making them one of the largest craft breweries in the midwest. This type of success doesn't come overnight, but its beers like Darkness that can put a brewery on the map and are quickly transforming the midwest into a mecca for beer lovers worldwide.

We arrived at Surly at 1 a.m. (yes you read that right, 1 in the morning!) to claim our spot in line. In past years this would have put us near the front of the line, however we were surprised to see that we were roughly 600 people back from the front of the line (the first 1,200 people get a wristband that guarantees them the opportunity to purchase six bottles). We quickly set up our chairs to hold our spots, grabbed a few goodies to share and wandered up the line to see what the commotion was all about.

We were greeted by people from Pennsylvania, California, Indiana, Texas, Canada and all stretches of the world that were there for one thing.....Darkness. The back of the bottle equates the waiting crowd to a marauding army of undead whose thirst for Darkness is unrelenting. I think that is a fair assessment seeing that roughly 3,500 people lined up for their shot at purchasing this year's Darkness.

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One thing that has always impressed me about the beer community is the overwhelming cameraderie and generosity of fellow craft beer lovers. The scene at the front of the line was much like a family reunion, although many of us had never met. Tasting tables were set up like a church potluck where people could offer their finest and rarest beers for all to sample. It didn't matter if the beer you brought was readily available at the corner store or one of just a few hundred bottles ever produced. Everyone was there to enjoy great beer and great company.

We were able to get a few hours of sleep before being pulled from our slumber by a Surly employee on a megaphone alerting us that wristbands would be handed out soon. Darkness Day had begun!

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I was more than impressed at how smoothly the day was run by the Surly staff and volunteers. One would expect that an event that revolves around alcohol would have the tendency to get out of hand, however this was not the case other than one incident which was taken care of quickly. The day consisted mainly of good beer, good food and best of all good friends.

Click here for a short video of our Darkness Day experience put together by Corey Gaffer of Gaffer Photography. In the video you will see a brief interview with Omar Ansari, owner and founder of Surly, as well as his dad Nick. I hope you enjoy!

Surly Darkness: Tasting Notes

It is a tradition to drink the current year and last years Darkness each Halloween. This year we drank a 2010 and 2011.

Appearance: Pours jet black, visocous like motor oil. A nice mocha colored head formed on the beer for a few minutes before being overtaken by the thick black sludge beneath it.

Smell: Smells of dark fruit (figs and plums) with a brief aroma of chocolate and roast. Fairly boozy.

Taste: On draft I preferred the 2011 over 2010 as I thought it had a nice hop character whereas the 2010 was much more roasty with very little hops present. My opinion was reversed however when we drank the two vintages out of the bottle. 2011 is still quite hot (strong alcohol flavor at 10.3% ABV) and very closed in terms of the flavor.  The 2010 had a much more balanced flavor with a lot more chocolate and roast flavors which I thought were hidden in the 2011 by the booziness. It was amazing to taste how much the beer had opened up after only a year.

If you are still reading, thank you! I hope you have a better understanding of the subculture that has developed around the craft beer industry.

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