Darkness Day 2014 Thread

I also heard from an employee that it would be after Darkness was released. But it was on tap at ABR - so it's not that far fetched that it could be on tap Darkness Day.

 

Hey folks-

Some of you may remember us from last year (Pumpkin tap anyone?), and we will be back again sharing kegs of our funky, sour, and Brett fermented beers again this year. We will have a nice sampling of things to try, including a 100% Brett Pale Ale loaded with Mosaic hops, a red wine barrel aged sour red ale, a Belgian strong ale aged on whiskey oak, and more!

The 24th can't come soon enough...Hope to see some familiar faces and meet some new people too!

 

Doing the pumpkin tappers again? haha

 

Likely not...too many people didn't believe us when we told them that there was actually no pumpkin in the beer. The power of suggestion is a powerful thing...

 

Were you the guys with just the whole tap set-up. Several taps of mostly sours/funky beers?

 

Unless there was a second table set up of sour/funky beers, yes!

 

Ah snap. Those were so freaking good. Looking forward to coming by again!

 

I searched thread, so apologies if I missed it...

Does Darkness hit stores or is it all sold on Darkness day? If it makes it to stores, is it a couple days later? a week later? Do they sit in stores for a few days, or are they gone immediately?

Thanks

 

Most of it will hit stores. It usually starts hitting the stores the following week. It is not impossible to get, some stores it will be gone the day it hit, others it may sit around for days or longer.

 

Last year it hit stores the Monday after to whomever got distro at that time. Some places get it later in the week. Honestly it was relativly easy to find. If you keep your ear to the ground you shouldn't have much problem. Places like Four Firkins and Zipps might sell out quicker just because they are known hot beds for this stuff, but, some of the smaller or less traveled places will have it. Atleast that's my experience.

 

Thanks all. Trying to get a friend to buy one or two for me; I'll tell him to look out starting Monday the 27th I guess

 

My favorite thing last year was a keg of Westbrook Gose that someone hauled up here. Readily available in NC, but cool as hell to have it on tap - gratis - here at Darkness Day. It was an incredibly kind and generous gesture - which is the theme of DD, people going out of their way to share good beer with complete strangers.

 

Incredibly difficult to find in NC actually since Westbrook distro doesn't hit NC. SC on the other hand...

 

Sorry, mixed up my Carolinas

 

One week until epic bottle share 2014...

 

On Saturday, October 25, the Surly Nation horde will arrive at the brewery, clamoring for the impending release of our Russian Imperial Stout, Darkness, and will spend the afternoon drinking great beer, devouring food, listening to live music (METAL!), and claiming their allotment of Darkness bottles. And this year's bottles of Darkness will be especially coveted, since they were aged in High West Rye Whiskey® barrels.

What: Darkness Day 2014

When: Saturday, October 25, 11am - 5:30pm

Where: Surly Brewing Co., 4811 Dusharme Dr., Brooklyn Center, MN

Beer:

Darkness Tappings (ONLY outside): Barrel aged and non-barrel aged Darkness will be tapped at both outside locations at 1, 2, 3 and 4pm.

We'll also be pouring The Devil's Work, Todd the Axe Man , Damien, Cacao Bender, Overrated, Hell, Furious and Cynic.

AND we have a few special casks for you to try:

• Non-barrel aged Darkness dry-hopped with Simcoe and Amarillo
• Damien dry-hopped with Chinook and aged on Red Oak
• Overrated dry-hopped with Chinook
• Mole Bender (Bender with cacao nibs, vanilla, ancho and chipotle peppers and aged on oak)

Beer tickets are $5. CASH ONLY.

Food:

From 6am until 11am Chef Shack and Caribou Coffee will be available to those in line. Caribou will be giving out coffee and collecting donations for SGAD to donate to a children's hospital.

Chef Shack, Red River Kitchen (Republic's food truck), Stanley's On Wheels, Asian Invasion, Groveland Confections, Natedogs and AZ Canteen will be serving up grub from 11:30am until 5:30pm.

Music:

We've got a live music lineup befitting Darkness Day, as usual and it's gonna be LOUD. (Note: Set times are subject to change without notice).

• 11-11:45am: God Came From Space (featuring employee #3, Sarah on guitar)
• 12:15-1pm: Yakuza
• 1:30-2:15pm: Oozing Wound
• 2:45-3:45pm: Vulgaari (featuring our head brewer Todd on guitar)
• 4:15- 5:30pm: GOATWHORE

Merch:

Darkness swag, featuring artwork by this year's Surly featured artist, Erica Williams, will be available for purchase at Darkness Day, and on our web store the week following the event. Erica will be signing merch at Darkness Day in the Taproom from 2pm to 3pm.

Parking:
Surly's neighbors have been gracious enough to let us use their parking lots. Don't make a mess. Overflow parking is available at Caribou across Hwy. 100. Limited bike parking is available for those of you who are hardcore enough to go green. Look for it on the North side of 48th and Drew. If you need to leave your car here, no problem. Please have it moved by Sunday morning or it will be towed.

Rules:
Must be 21+ to enter unless accompanied by a parent. No tickets needed. Don't be a dick or we will throw you out and as always, be safe and arrange a ride or take a taxi home.

(Pro Tip: The event always thins out later in the afternoon. Come on out in the afternoon to enjoy the free bands, delicious special release beers and the brewery.)

Heed The Gatekeepers


You don't need a ticket for Darkness Day, but if you want to buy Darkness you need a wristband. To get a wristband and get yourself a few bottles of the precious stuff, heed the rules of the gatekeepers (a.k.a. our awesome volunteers).


1,500 wristbands for Darkness bottles will be given out on a first come first serve basis. Darkness bottles are $20 each, CASH ONLY, with a limit of 6 bottles per wristband.

Darkness wristbands will be color-coded and marked with your purchasing time. The bottle purchasing line is no longer in the brewery, it has moved just down the street to a warehouse near the corner of 48th Ave. N. and Drew Ave. N. Don't worry, it'll be clearly marked on the day of the event. Please remain within the event grounds until it is your specified purchasing time. No loitering in the street or around the warehouse will be tolerated.

If you miss your allotted time, you will be able to enter up until 2:30pm to purchase bottles. If there are extra bottles after the initial sales, you will be able to buy up to four bottles of Darkness starting at 3pm (while quantities last, which typically is not long).

We will have Surly volunteers working through the night and early morning getting ready for the event. The volunteers can and will blackball anyone being a dick in the line. Please respect the line because line cutting and space holding are not cool.


You Must Obey...

DON'T SHOW UP BEFORE 3:30pm on Friday! If you do, we will ask you to leave! Neighboring businesses will still be open and we want to respect their space and employees. Any tents/structures that are up during daylight hours will not be allowed. We will have volunteers helping with the line overnight. Please follow their direction as they can blackball you from the event if you don't. As always, be safe and arrange a ride or take a taxi home.

 

I just want to go to drink some Darkness and see Goatwhore, sounds freaking awesome.

 

Spending $20/bottle on BA Darkness seems immensely more palatable to me than spending the same amount on the regular version. Hopefully my optimism proves to be well founded when we actually get to crack some open!

 

I'll be there volunteering 1-6 Friday, please don't show up before 3:30. I don't want to have to yell at you people.

 

That was capra12, who also brought a keg of Imperial Biscotti Break and other crazy stuff, like a growler of 2008 BCBS. He's on this year's video at 0:45.