BA 2017 Darkness Is Not Good.

Definitely agree with this. Sorry Surly, BA Silhouette blows this out of the water and it's cheaper to boot.

 

I really enjoyed BA Darkness at Fobab but sorry to hear the bottles are underwhelming

 

The local store had it sitting on the shelf next to BA Ten Fidy. I got 2 cans of the Fidy for the price of one bottle of BA Darkness. They also got more CBS. Picked up one of those as well instead of the Darkness. Time for Surly to put this beer in a 4-pack of 16oz cans for around $20. Worth it at that price, not worth it for what it's priced at now.

 

I haven't had BA Darkness yet (hope to remedy that tonight), but completely disagree that the base is "serviceable". I thought the 2017 Darkness was marvelous, & much better than the sweet mess that was 2016.

2015 BA Darkness was heavenly (as was the base), 2016 was fine but unremarkable (as was the base), so I'm hoping that the excellent 2017 base translates once again into a fantastic beer.

As for it being "not good", well, it's your palate, so your judgment. But I'd be shocked.

 

I haven’t gone into any stores looking for BA Darkness this year. I’d rather save my money for BA prairie beers. You can normally get 2-2.5 12 oz bottles for the same price. Better beer (for my personal preference) and easier to solo. I’m sure surly will have no problem selling Ba Darkness, but what a time to be able to actually have so many great options to pick from.

 

Totally agree with this and the post above regarding BA silhouette. 10oz pour of 2018 sil was $5.50 at the brewery and was tasting great and will likely age wonderfully like the 2016 I had last week. I was not as impressed with the 2016 BA darkness I had a month ago. I know the 2015 BA darkness was amazing but the following years have not really captured the same flavor profile for whatever reason.

And at $25/bomber, I'd rather save my money for prairie stouts and even kbs coming in a couple months. Not saying kbs is as good but I'd much rather get a 4pack of kbs for the same price as 1 BA darkness bomber.

I still see 2017 GI bcs on shelves and would reach for those at $10/bottle over the BA darkness as well.

 

100% agree. After buying 10 of them last year, didn’t even consider buying BA darkness this year. Laying off large formats and there is better bang for your stout buck as you mention.

 

I completely forgot that bcs is almost a shelfie at this point (it was when I visited Houston). I’ll buy two of those over a Ba Darkness 99 times out of 100.

 

So it’s the same as the 2016 version? Normal darkness is a beer I do love but the BA version is just a joke IMO, will not waste the money this time around.

 

Yep I agree, it's not good. Wish I wouldn't have purchased 3 bottles....

Oh well.

 

Wow, tough crowd. I disagree, I thought it was pretty good. I thought '15 was better, but there is nothing wrong with this year's IMO. I will say that out of the BA stouts I've tried this year, I like BA Ten Fidy and Silhouette better. You could argue that BA darkness is overpriced and I'd agree with you, but it isn't bad by any means.

 

I disagree as well it is very smooth almost too smooth. I like it better than 16 for sure. 15 still probably the best. I guess if someone prefers a whiskey barrel smack in the face this beer is not that. I think it’s just becoming fashionable to bash anything Surly does nowadays after Todd left. And the darkness in cans chatter will never die that is never gonna happen unless they finally kill darkness day. I will gladly consume this.

 

Why would they have to kill Darkness day for cans? Due to our silly liquor laws, they use the BC muni to sell the bottles. Due to a liquor store selling it, they don't have to worry about the stupid container volume laws that they would have to abide by... if they could even sell bottles since they haven't been able to do that for sometime now due to their volume.

 

I think it’s just tradition darkness day always been bottles. So if Darkness day goes away I could see cans. Never know might be this year anyway weird calendar says November Darkness maybe just delaying bottle distribution?

Ha will say not complaining 17 BA Darky still in a bottle it’s an easy bottle drain!

 

Just had 2017 Darkness BA on tap and I’m not sure how people say this is a drain pour. The woodford rye barrels provide a nice barrel flavor with a bit of spice. It’s not super thick, but fairly full bodied. Great flavors all around. Fudgy and a bit like Bcs. Glad I didn’t listen to all the haters. For $7 a glass at the brewery, this is a steal.

 

Sort of liked '15 immediately when it came out. Became my top 3 best ever.
Did not like '16 immediately when it came out. Regretted not buying more months later.
Sort of liked '17 immediately when it came out. Will see what that means in a few months.

 

Also just had the 2017 BA Darkness & despite the corrosive presence of @mothman, this is an excellent beer. Far superior than the 2016 but not up to the benchmark of the 2015. Not sure what people are tasting to make them drain pour or question the quality of this beer.

Quoted for truth. Put this in a bottle with "Barrel Theory" on it & people would be wetting themselves over it.

 

After reading OP and saying barely any barrel, i remembered and laughed at the time the tenemu article that specified the beer is aged "over 3 months" in barrels. Is that true, why would they advertise such a short time? Maybe that's why it's lacking? How long were previous years?

 

About the same from what others have said.