"Ruined" by Surly Darkness

I can sympathize as Darkness is probably my favorite non-BA stout.

And it's just echoing what some other have said, but I think MZ and Hunahpu are a couple others worth seeking.
I could be wrong, but I don't think 2013 Huna should be as hard to land as in the past due to the increase in bottle count.

Edit -- also Expedition and Founders RIS are more easily attainable.

 

This and founders for regular RIS.

 

'12 Darkness side by side with '12 Parabola was one of my favorite nights ever.

Probably my #1 and #2 stouts and I've had (nearly) all the big dogs.

Old Raspy 12 was really good too which I didn't see mentioned yet.

 

Marshal Zhukov is the best non BA stout by far. Everything else lags behind. Even Dark Lord...

 

So glad to hear the love for this beer. I was able to score one of these as a trade at DLD. Thanks once again to Bobbypaulson! Truly my biggest trade at DLD with a bunch of Surly stuff.
Now comes the wait time to figure out when I can crack that thang!

 

I am a RIS lover and I totally agree, Darkness to me is the most well done RIS that is Non BA. But Geez louis, DarkLord that is my baby.

 

Dude, IMO it is good right now, no need to wait.

 

I just got my first Dark Lord, 2013. At what age do you recommend drinking it?

 

Sure, plenty of overly sweet Imperial Stouts should give you exactly what you're looking for. Luckily for you, there's such an abundance of them, I need not list them.

 

Parabola is where I was going with it. Abyss is my favorite Impy stout, but being it's partially barrel aged I try not to compare it to others because its different in that way, but after that darkness and parabola are my two preferences.

 

Just say the word and I can get you all the 4-packs you want bud.

 

I recently did a vertical of 2008-2012... and I found 2012 to definitely be the most unique of the other years. 2010 was probably the best IMO. 2012 had much more dark fruit flavors...leaning more toward a Belgian style dark ale than all the other years. All were amazing beers, I just wouldn't think 2012 would be the best example of an RIS.

 

Southampton RIS

 

Some of my favorites off of the top of my head are Bell's Expedition, Deschutes Abyss, Lagunitas Imperial Stout, Firestone Walker Parabola, 3 Floyd's Dark Lord w/ vanilla beans, De Struise Black Albert, Portsmouth Kate The Great, Emelisse RIS, North Coast Old Rasputin bbl, stone RIS.

I'm not a fan of comparing beers, these are just some that I like off of the top of my head.

 

i'm looking forward to my single bottle of darkness (2012), so without any perspective on how good it is, i would add that serpent stout is my favorite non-BA imperial stout. i have not, however, tried many of the probably awesome ones named in here.

 

Wait a year to a year and a half at a minimum. And it slowly keeps getting better after that.

But I haven't had anything more than 4 years old at the time.

 

Founders Imperial, Ten Fidy, and Marshal Z are all better than Darkness IMO. I'm typically a fan of very perceivable, bitter RISs.

 

2012 Surly Darkness was amazing. I had two bombers of it. One I drank right when I got it (Feb 2013), and one just last week. For what it's worth, the fresher it is, the better it tastes in my opinion.

 

As others noted, Founders IS. Sure doesn't hurt that you can get 96oz for the same price as 25oz of Darkness...

 

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy as has already been mentioned.

Not mentioned, Great Divide's Yeti.