2014 Darkness: On Tap

getting a pint of Darkness at Mimosa last year for $9 was one of the better deals around.

 

Last year they had Darkness on tap at a Timberwolves game I went to for $10/12 oz glass. Compared to $10 for a bud light I'd say that was the best deal going, lol.

And our seats were about 30 feet from the Darkness cart. I drank my fill that night.

 

If those numbers refer to the final age of the whiskey they contained, and if Surly didn't blend the barrels before bottling/kegging (does anyone know if Surly did blend?), that adds another wrinkle to what people are tasting, as the barrel of an older whiskey generally will add more whiskey flavor, and a different mashbill will contribute a different set of flavors. Heck, even if all the barrels were of identical age and contents, if Surly didn't blend their contents, I would still expect some minor variation in flavor impact. High West does use 5-year-old 95/5 rye/barley in its Son of Bourye Whiskey. I expect that Surly did blend the barrels because that would seem to be a natural step to accommodate its bottling and kegging lines, but, as always in this thread, I'm speculating.

For the record, both the 2-year-old and 5-year-old 95/5 rye/barley mashes are distilled by the large MGP Distillery in Indiana. This is the same mashbill that is sold to Bulleit and Templeton among others. This is a controversial practice in the whiskey and marketing worlds, although I personally don't have a problem with it as long as companies are straightforward about what they're selling, and High West is indeed straightforward about its involvement in this practice (at least today); most of the information I'm conveying is available at High West's website. I think High West makes some really good whiskeys, but what makes High West's products special is choosing the right blends of whiskeys of the right ages. A 2-year-old MGP-distilled rye is about as basic and boring a rye as you're going to find, even as the "High West" label elevates its cache. The 2-year-old MGP product is the primary whiskey used in High West Double Rye. High West's more highly lauded Rendezvous Rye primarily uses the 6-year-old version of the same MGP product. Some caveats: 1) I don't know if Surly is using the MGP 2-year-old standard rye barrels; I'm just speculating. High West does do some of its own distillation, but my understanding is that very little of that product makes it into High West-branded bottles. Still, perhaps Surly purchased barrels that contained the actual High West-distilled product. 2) The barrels of a basic and boring young rye whiskey could well be exactly what 2014 Darkness needs.

 

Here are the 2 pics if you wanna see. I love your analysis! The one in the 2nd pic actually looks like it says 205 (furthest right barreL), though the 5 is a lot more prominent.
http://imgur.com/a/SJgPk

 

I'd be pretty surprised if the barrels weren't blended prior to bottling. Bottling straight from the barrel is almost certainly a no-go straight from the start as it'd probably be a huge pain in the ass for a decent sized batch, so at a minimum they'd need to blend all of the same barrels together. Doing this and not blending the entire batch together just seems like crazy talk. Of the beers that I know of that use multiple barrel types, all of them blend prior to bottling as otherwise there would be a huge variation bottle to bottle.

 

I'm pretty sure it was all blended. But, not to say there can't be a little variation from bottle to bottle if there wasn't a constant barrel.

 

Tapping at 4:00 Friday at Valley Tap House. No idea if BA or not.

 

Very possible. If the Dorkness I drank at The HG wasn't BA, "than" this year is by far the best. Big roast, not sweet, and hoppy. Maybe they have the old girl a makeover? Beats me. Best D I've ever had, and I've had em all.

 

Wow. You've had all of the D? Thats a lot of D!

 

Yep, every one. You guys have all been geeking on Old Rasputin and didn't even know.

 

BTW, anyone have a line on a spare liver?

 

Per their Facebook page it is BA....

 

I'm in town for the next two nights and have called quite a few places on Darkness with no luck. I know that 3 Squares is tapping it today, but does anyone know who else might have Darkness on tap? I'm in Edina/Bloomington area FWIW but willing to drive.

Feel free to send a message directly!

Cheers!
Grant

 

Drive north on hwy 100 to Pub 42, or catch a movie at the new hope theater and get pints of Darkness for $9?

 

The Cinema Drafthouse has Darkness? interesting...

 

Surly has been having events at what used to be called the New Hope Cinema Grilll since at least 2006. Saw Beerfest there in '06 at a Surly event. In more recent years it was a sort of "secret" place to enjoy Darkness for weeks....

 

I am having happy hour with coworkers on friday. Is darkness at pub 42 or still at the new hope cinema grill? Those places are nearby work.

 

Still on at Pub 42, not sure about the cinema grill.

 

Sweet! Going to try and go there today and maybe tomorrow! My coworkers will love to try it!

 

Don't let your co-workers drink all of it today!! I'm driving down from Winnipeg tomorrow morning and will be on the hunt for some on tap and looks like not many other options these days.
Too bad 3square kicked their's first night as that was right off the highway on way in to downtown (where we are staying).