Darkness - Bourbon Barrel-Aged
Surly Brewing Co.

 

2026 edition. Pours a solid black color with a few dark brown bubbles. Smells of roasted malt, oak, and raisins. Full bodied with a slightly syrupy feel. Roasted malt and chocolate with a bourbon note on the finish. Very smooth for the high ABV.

750ml bottle. Gold wax over cap. This is the 2016 vintage, with a stamped on bottle neck date of 01/24/17. The label has the three headed wolf motif (gold, white, and black coloring). Barrel aged in High West Rye Whiskey barrels. Omar and Todd's signatures on the label.
Black colored body, with a thin mahogany back lit edge. Bright tan colored head and it persists as an interrupted cap and full ring. Leaves behind torn sheets of lacing.
Aroma of bourbon barrel soaked roasted malts, with smells of chocolate, oak, vanilla, coffee, toffee, and dark fruit.
Taste is sweet and boozy. Barrel aging soaks into all flavors. Flavors range from chocolate (fudge and dark), toffee, vanilla, oak, a hint of coffee, and a backside of raisin and cherry. Spicy note from the rye whiskey barrels. All flavors merge in the sweet and lingering aftertaste.
More than medium mouthfeel. Smooth syrup that coats the tongue and mouth. Bitterness is low. Higher ABV% is very warming and produces vapors but does not burn, and is mitigated by the fudge chocolate and toffee. Excellent carbonation.
This has held up well for nine years in the bottle. Dense and bold profile. High echelon barrel aged stout. The late addition of dark fruit that mixes with the darker chocolate and toffee flavors adds complexity and enjoyment.
https://surlybrewing.com/beer/darkness-2016-barrel-aged/

Grabbed a few cans at Bird Girl in Feb 20/6. Assuming most recent release. Looking fwd to finally trying BA Darkness. Excited to read that reportedly used Elijiah Craig then French Oak barrels…love EJ, and expect raw French Oak will bring some wood and spiciness.
Served in Bird Girl snifter at 55 degrees. Gorgeous dark pour that expressed a nice full tan head that reduced to very nice lacing, surface foam and halo. Nose was fully fragrant with wood, vanilla, dark chocolate and dark fruit sweetness. Flavor magnified all above especially the characteristic vanilla depth, the grain/corn sweetness of the EV, some raw wood and zip from the French Oak…with an otherwise surrounding roastiness. Excellent. Super smooth going down with no oiliness.
Excellent BARIS.

2022

2022 vintage that I sampled with slightly more than 4 years of age on it.

The nose still has nice bourbon notes to it. There is also bourbon in the flavor profile along with a little bit of chocolate. There is an alcohol presence but it is very manageable. The mouthfeel is sticky and the body seems a touch thin for the style.

I can’t believe I haven’t rated this before. I’ve rated two variants at or near 5 stars. While this is great, it’s not that great. Dark color, tannish edging. Big time roasted malt and bourbon barrel presence on the nose and tongue, with plentiful notes of chocolate, dark fruit, coffee, and molasses. Boozy, bold, big bodied, but not thick or oily. Just a bit of a metallic tang on the aftertaste. Super flavorful, a very easy sipper, and hopefully I won’t drink it too fast so I can see how it is warming up. The worst thing I can say about it is a 16 ounce can is not enough.

2023 can. Pours opaque black with thick beige head and great retention/lacing. Nose surprisingly grainy, cocoa puffs, woody, and mild bourbon. Taste is also toasty grain forward with molasses, mild anise, and bourbon with detectable booziness. Big body and carries some sweetness along with much more carbonation that typical of the style.

The pour is espresso black with a light brown head that has surprisingly large “bubbles”. Still, it looks very inviting.
The taste is what I hope for when I drink a bourbon barrel aged stout; not too sweet, no harsh bitterness, but a very nice middle ground with dark chocolate, mild coffee, leather and dark fruit. Just a hint of bourbon to surround it all.
The feel is lightly viscous; this is far too easy to drink and I enjoyed every sip.
OA, I hope to find this again, I enjoyed it quite a lot.

 

 

 

 

Thick pour, smelled like a quality stout, but with barrel. Gave me hope. Taste is all over the place: choco sweetness, dark fruit, wet cardboard, barrel heat

Pours jet black with a medium dark caramel cream head. Dark fruit/ licorice smell. Taste is exactly like how it smells. A little bit of burnt malt as well. No barrel present.

Canned 1/2024 (14 months ago)

Appearance: Pours a completely dark black color with a strong rich tan head. SRM of 24. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong aromas of rich cocoa, earthy grains and bourbon, some vanilla and dried cherry aromas.

Flavor: Strong flavors of rich cocoa followed by an earthy grains, bourbon, vanilla, strudel flavor. More bourbon overpowers and lingers off of the end.

Feel: Heavier-bodied, average carbonation. Finish is smooth, rich, and earthy with bourbon lingering. Hides the alcohol well and mildly sweet.

Overall: First try at this BBA version of Darkness, one of the best Russian Imperials out there. This is enhanced with bourbon. Has the classic rich chocolate notes upfront, then evolves into earthy and rich bourbon flavors. Some dried cherry. Earthy and rich bourbon lingers. Finish is heavy, sweet, rich, but hides the alcohol well. Nice, robust and complex bourbon flavors. (Rating: 3.99+)

 

 

16 oz can (2024 vintage) split with a friend, poured into a snifter. Nice and fresh, just picked this up in WI (off the shelf!) last month. Pours pitch black with a medium tan head. Decent retention and lacing. Aroma and flavor feature dark roasted malts, plenty of bourbon, oak, vanilla, coffee, dark fruit (dried fig, prune), and some earthy/piney hops. It's definitely on the sweet side, but not cloying. A great sipper. Mouthfeel is slick and hot, but not over the top. Overall a fantastic BA stout.