Darkness in Chicago

All markets outside MN, will see the rollout of Darkness in December.

 

The first year it came back to Chicago, it hit in...January, I believe. Last year it was earlier than that, which would be in line with what cl3 just posted.

Do we know if both the BA and non-BA versions are being distributed? I liked 2013 more than 2014, so I'd be interested in having a go at both.

 

I wonder why they're waiting so long to distro it out of MN. Seems to be all over the place in the Twin Cities area.

 

I am not from Chicago so I can't speak to distribution. But I was confused about BA vs. non-BA as well. Here is what I gathered from Midwest forum (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

In 2014, due to space limitations related to move, they only did a BA version, and did no "regular" non-BA version. This year they are doing both, non-BA is out in MN already, BA version is coming out in MN later.

 

Yeah it seems quite odd to be so late

 

That is correct. A couple of other notes:

In 2014 there was both BA & Non-BA Darkness in kegs. All of the bottles were BA Darkness and utilized second run barrels. At Darkness Day this year we were allowed to buy 6 bottles of Darkness and 1 bottle of BA Darkness. The 2015 BA Darkness utilized First Run Barrels. As far as distribution, Non-BA Darkness has hit Minnesota, and BA Darkness is scheduled to be released here in December.

 

Any idea how many months the 2014 or 2015 spent in barrels?

 

3 months for the 2015.

 

Last year 2014 Darkness was in stores on Halloween. This year Reg is due in November and BA is due in Dec.

 

jlsims above has it all correct: last year we had non-Barrel Aged Darkness ("regular") in the Chicago 'burbs the Friday after Darkness day on 10/31. Some stores may see it this Friday 10/30, but most will see it in the next week or two.

I am in Minneapolis this week (total coincidence, really...) and the talk in the Surly Beer Hall today (besides how AWESOME Darkness is) is that the Barrel Aged Darkness will be released only in the Minneapolis area. It sounds like they are trying to reward the locals, not unlike Goose Island and their Proprietor's BCBS only being available in the Chicago area.

 

It should not be very long before WI and IL have it. I am heading through WI from Minneapolis and I expect to see it in Madison by Friday and will report back if I see it.

 

@VinHalen54 - Is there a reason why you say that WI/IL will have it soon, when Surly themselves said it won't be until December? Just trying to clear up the conflicting reports.

 

Except Surly's FB page says "If you're not one of those who'll be trying to smash down our gates this weekend, we'll be releasing the Barrel-Aged version of Darkness to all of our markets in December."

 

They made non BA Darkness last year???? I thought last year was all barrel aged.

 

ALL of last year's bottles were barrel aged most of the kegs were not.

 

I mistyped - too much Darkness today. Yes, you and striker are correct - 2014 was all barrel aged.

As for when Darkness will be seen in Chicago, I was told by my "beer store guys" that they would have it right after Halloween which directly contradicts Surly's post on Facebook that said it would not be in IL until December. So who knows?!?

 

Expect to see regular darkness in the next 2 weeks or so.
Expect to see BA darkness closer to Christmas.

 

Spoke with two different stores and their main buyers and they said they thought they would have it in the next week or so, but are being told Darkness (regardless of BA or regular) won't hit us until December now per their distributors.

Seems no one knows for sure at this point until someone sees it or picks it up at a store. Hopefully we don't have to wait until December.

 

Update: spoke to two sales guys in WI that distribute Surly - they were initially told in September that WI/IL would get Darkness 1st week of November, but received updates 2 weeks ago that changed it to 11/30, so retail would see it in December. They are guessing it has to do with wax dipping all those damn bottles, but couldn't say for sure!?!