Surly: Barrel Aged Darkness (USA: Imperial Stout: 12% ABV)
Visual: Black. Still. Moderate sized browned head that leaves suds.
Nose: Vanilla. Shortbread. Milky coffee. Liquorice.
Body: Thick. Treacle. Boozy. Vanilla fudge. Sticky toffee pudding. Bitter cocoa. Spirity bourbon character.
Finish:Treacle to treacle toffee. Vanilla. Massive bourbon taste. Vanilla cheesecake. Vanilla fudge. White chocolate. Bitter cocoa.
Conclusion: Ok, Surly Darkness was amazing. This is the barrel aged variant of that beer. The super special version. Does that take the amazing beer and give it the little push it needed to become top of the mountain, amazing, one of my all time favorite beers, top of the Imperial Stout battle?
Simple answer. No.
What this feels like, is a slightly less polished Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, covered in Surly Darkness clothing. Which is no bad thing, but a major step down from standard Surly Darkness.
And for context I have not tried Goose Island Bourbon County Stout for a while now so have no idea if they have run it into the ground since it was bought out. This is based on back when it was definitely good.
I’ve mentioned many a time where barrel aging has overwhelmed a base beer and unfortunately this is one of those times. This has massive bourbon influence, oh and sure some Surly Darkness. Very spirity, very raw bourbon character rather than the more subtle barrel influences.
Not a bad beer, lots of bourbon influences as said but there is also a lot of the vanilla the barrel brings in everything from vanilla toffee to vanilla cheesecake and everything in-between, but as time goes on the more vanilla elements get less and less and the raw bourbon character gets more and more overloading it. Even worse, from the very start all the delicious cinnamon notes from base Darkness are lost completely.
Having had Deschutes’ The Abyss recently I am kind of wishing there was a version of Surly Darkness treated with all the clever subtlety that used for its barrel aging. While I kind of preferred base Surly Darkness to that beer, it was a masterclass in how to use barrel aging and I think that ethos used here would create an amazing beer.
This as is, is enjoyable but base Surly Darkness is far superior – showing so much more skill and subtlety. This is big but one note – fun but if you have to pick one, pick standard Surly Darkness. Trust me you will not regret it.
Background: So, I return to a Surly Darkness, this time not one in ratebeer’s top 50. I had spotted this in Tanakaya Liquor Store when I was in Tokyo, but I had gone for the standard Darkness instead. Since I had enjoyed that so darn much, on my final day in Tokyo, just before the flight back I popped my head back in and grabbed this barrel aged version to take home with me to drink. Which is what I have now done. For a big beer I wanted big music so went with the classic Iron Maiden: Powerslave!
