A Whale A Week: Surly Darkness 2011

Surly Darkness 2011

This week we return to our continuing A Whale A Week series on Surly Brewing's Darkness.  This beer is Surly's take on the Russian Imperial Stout, and was first brewed in 2006, in a very small batch and released in growlers.  I never got to try that first year's release, but at the time it was pretty "ballsy" to put out an expensive-to-brew RIS for a very young upstart craft brewery.  They are called Surly after all.

The second year they released a limited run of bottles (under 500) that they released in the very first Darkness Day event at the brewery.  The event went well and the beer met with high praise.  The bottle for 2007 Darkness featured a Grim Reaper, and while I have held an unopened bottle in my hand, I have yet to taste that batch.  Anyone still have one of these gathering dust in a cellar?

For 2008 Surly increased production of Darkness to around 5000 bottles, a big increase from the previous year, but still a small run.  The bottle was wax dipped and the demon label was a sticker placed on the glass bottle.  The next year they began screen printing the bottles and scrapped the sticker.  Check out my previous A Whale A Week post on the 2008 vintage HERE.

For 2009 the label featured a mummy.  They sold the same number of bottles (5000) that day, but had another 2500 or so that they released to liquor stores a few days later.   My review of the 2009 vintage is HERE.

In 2010 they increased Darkness production to about 14000 bottles, also wax dipped and screen printed.  About 7500 were released at that year's October Darkness Day, and the rest to retailers later in the month.  That year the label featured a vampire and my review is HERE.

Next up: 2011!  I couldn't dig up details on the batch size for 2011.  The label art for this vintage is a very creepy zombie done by local artist Michael Berglund.  Currently he's Creative Director at the new new Surly Brewery in Minneapolis.  I think this is the freakiest label of the entire lot, so good for you Michael!

This A Whale A Week tasting took place fairly spur of the moment, since our friends Tyrone and Annette Babione were out to Victoria and Waconia for a brewery tour.  We started with Sunday Bloody Mary's at Floyd's, then over across the street to Enki Brewing for a pint.  Next up we went to Schram Vineyards Winery & Brewery in Waconia, though unfortunately they were unable to sell beer on Sunday so we settled for some good wine and sandwiches from a food truck.  And then to Waconia Brewing for a pint and a board game (Ticket To Ride!)  What better way to cap off a great day?  Why not try some vintage Darkness back at my bar...

Our cast of characters:  Me--BJCP judge, beer geek, regular geek.  Tyrone--BJCP judge, great guy.  Annette--Has taken the test for BJCP but still waiting on her scores... Bill Schmiedlin--JAB member, skilled homebrewer.  And Sarajo--my wife, woman of few words when it comes to judging beers.  This bottle has been aged in the basement in utter darkness (see what I did there?) for almost 5 years.  I served the precious fluid into stemmed snifter glasses.

Aroma: (In which we all get different aromas from this complex melange.)
Eric: Sweet!  Slightly zippy alcohol and tartness after the sweet fades.  Mild oxidation character.  Roast present but subtle.  Raisins as it warms.  Slight coffee aroma as swirled.  No hop aroma.
Tyrone: Slight soy sauce.  After initial aroma blows off, a dark, dark roast develops.  Nothing burnt or acrid--more like a fire from within a wet forest that has smoldered for days.  No hop aroma.  Very faint chocolate in the fringe.  Just a tint of vanilla.
Annette: Heavy chocolate aroma with hints of coffee.  Roasted malts are heavily present.  No hops detected.  A liquid candy bar is the best representation--or a Bailey's hot chocolate.
Bill: Dark fruit notes...Fig?  No hop notes.  Typical of a Russian stout.

Appearance: (In which Bill gets no head...)
Eric: Deep and dark as night--opaque. Fine tan head that lingers.
Tyrone: Black-opaque body.  Head is long-lasting, dark brown with fine tight bubbles.  Head low but persistent.
Annette: Very opaque.  Nearly black in color.
Bill: Very dark, nearly ruby.  Light won't penetrate the goblet.  Only a small amount of bubbles around the glass.  No notable head.

Flavor: (In which we discover that this is a very thick beer...)
Eric: Powerful sweet and dark fruit flavors of raisin, prune, and dark cherry.  Well balanced roast and dark malt smoothing out the sweetness.  No hop flavors, but the beer is not overly sweet to cloying.  Slight sherry notes of oxidation but not cardboard yet.  I do get some chocolate and molasses cookie as it warms.  There is an umami rich flavor as it warms.  Medium/high carbonation.  Body is fairly rich and thick.
Tyrone: Oxidized paper.  Medium high carbonation with slight carbonic tingle up front tip and side of tongue but not a bite.  Balance to the sweet end.  Molasses/syrup sweetness.  No particular hop flavor.  Medium body with alcohol viscosity.  Weight of the beer lingers and coats the tongue but not unpleasant--rather a warming and filling sensation that warms the oral, nasal and chest cavities.  Slight tartness.
Annette: Heavy on the chocolate and coffee flavor with a little hint of oak involved.  No hop flavor, medium hop bitterness.  Very heavy on initial chocolate sweetness.
Bill: Sightly sour and metallic finish.  Unsalted soy sauce.  Bitterness increases as it warms, as does the complexity.

Overall: (Where we find that we are all over the board on this one...)
Eric: Very well balanced for such a big beer.  Not overly sweet, but still plenty of thick warming complexity. Not as oxidized as the previous beers in the series but less carbonation than the 2010.  Slight tartness that I can't quite figure out but doesn't seem infected. I actually liked the 2010 slightly more. 4.75
Tyrone: For a RIS, it is filling and alcoholic.  Sweet with the right amount of bitter as one would expect.  It lacked the chocolate and roasted complexity that this style typifies. 3.5
Annette: A very heavy, malty beer that has a great emphasis on the roasty, chocolaty, coffee aroma and flavor.  Hop bitterness is on the back end which balances with the heavy malt sweetness.  Perfect beer for an evening in January by the fireplace. 4
Bill: 3.5
Sarajo: A little tart.  4.5

Overall Score: 4.05

So there you have it!  This one still got a decent overall score but not as high as 2010.  Interesting that Annette picked up on more chocolate and coffee in this, while I just got a little bit, and Tyrone got none.  Proof that every one's palate is different and that's why we judge in groups!  Several of us also picked up on soy and oxidation as well as a slight tartness.

Has anyone else tried this beer recently?

NHC 2015 Trip: Lost Abbey, Stone!

Ok, so for those not in the know, the National Homebrewer's Conference was in San Diego this year.  My wife (Sj) and I were able to go out a few days before the conference began to explore some of the more popular beer destinations out there.  And there are a LOT of great breweries and beer bars out in San Diego!

We arrived by plane in the afternoon and since we had rented a car, we drove straight to Port Brewing/Lost Abbey in Escondido, about 35-40 minutes north of the airport.  Port and Lost Abbey are both from one brewery, but I think there's some legal mumbo jumbo where one is considered contract brewed.  In any case, the brewery is located in a light industrial area and is quite unassuming other than one external grain silo with both logo's painted on it.  Once inside you see a long bar and a plethora of taps to choose from.  The Port beers are mostly American styles (IPA, Imperial Red, etc.) while the Lost Abbey focuses on Belgian and other unusual strong ales.  Frankly it was a little overwhelming with how many choices were available for me to try!  The place was bustling and very hot inside when we arrived, many were familiar faces from back home including Terri Sarne and Curt Stock.

We slowly forced our way up to the bar and started working our way through as much of the stock as we could.  Our server would only let us get 4 samples at a time, and with how busy the place was, we did a fair amount of waiting.  I found the Port beers to be all well done and clean, with my favorite being the Board Meeting coffee brown ale.  But Lost Abbey is more my style with funky Belgians galore!  All were good, but some were better than others.  Most of their special beers (barrel aged) that they are most known for were not for sale to take out this particular day, but several were for sale to drink at the brewery.  We shared a small bottle of the tart and raisiny Cuvee de Tomme, and the bourbon barrel wonder that was Deliverance with Terri.  I really wish I had been able to grab some to bring back home to Minnesota!  The place was very cool and well worth a 30 minute drive north of San Diego.

Oh, and it was 90 degrees in here!

Since we were already in Escondido, and in need of sustenance, we drove a couple more miles to the famous Stone World Bistro and Gardens.  This is the huge, up-scale restaurant/bar/swag-shop of Stone Brewing, and is one of the inspirations of Surly's new brewery.  The place is very large and very impressive, with huge granite boulders, water features and bamboo taking up space inside and making one feel that you are eating outside (just less heat!)  We got there fairly early in the evening and had no wait to get a spot near the bar.  Apparently the grounds outside are very impressive, but I'll admit I didn't actually go out there--I got distracted by beer!

The restaurant makes a big effort to get locally sourced ingredients and as a result tends to be a little spendy.  The food was very good, but not quite as impressive as it sounded from the descriptions.  I do appreciate that they had lots of variety on the menu--vegetarian options, different cultures, etc.  The beer list was impressive and I was able to sample several good Stone beers.  At one point in my life I would have been in heaven with those beers, but we can get the majority of them in Minnesota now, so I had tried a goodly portion of them already.  They also had pages of rare bottles--most from other breweries including a bunch from Belgium.  Very cool, but why would you sell bottles of someone else's beer at your pub???  They also had an amazing amount of merchandise in their shop, along with growler fills for the locals.  I may have come home with a shirt and a bottle of beer...

Once we got to our hotel near the conference center, we decided to venture out once more before the day was done.  We headed to Toronado,  known to be one of the best beer bars in San Diego, figuring that Monday would be less busy than later in the week.  The vibe of the place was a little underwhelming, looking and feeling like pretty much any other bar I've been into, just lacking a big screen TV with sports on it.  They did have a large tap list to choose from, but having just arrived in town, I figured I'd get to try many of those over the coming week at NHC.  We waited in a short line to order our beer and food.  Refrigerated cases behind the bar bristled with rare beers, but the bottle list was woefully out of date and the first 4 things I asked for were no longer available.  The bartender seemed a little put-out that I was making her check on these things, but wasn't outright rude.  We finally opted for a couple of Almanac sours to share with some simple burgers to gnosh on.  We were happy to find a couple spots at the bar, as the place was busy but not packed.  The food was decent pub grub but nothing to write home about...wait I'm doing that right now!  Maybe I hit the wrong day, but I found several places with better ambiance and food during our stay in San Diego.  I'd certainly go back here if I was searching out a $40 bottle of Cascade beer...

At the Toronado

A Whale A Week: Surly Darkness 2010

Surly Darkness 2010

This week we return to our continuing series on Surly Brewing's Darkness.  This beer is Surly's take on the Russian Imperial Stout, and was first brewed in 2006, in a very small batch and released in growlers.  I never got to try that first year's release, but at the time it was pretty "ballsy" to put out an expensive-to-brew RIS for a very young upstart craft brewery.  They are called Surly after all.

The second year they released a limited run of bottles (under 500) that they released in the very first Darkness Day event at the brewery in Brooklyn Center.  The event went well and the beer met with high praise.  The bottle for 2007 Darkness featured a Grim Reaper, and while I have held an unopened bottle in my hand, I have yet to taste that batch.  Anyone still have one of these gathering dust in a cellar?

On October 25, 2008 Darkness Day was much more organized as well as publicized and by 10 in the morning, a line snaked all through the neighborhood around the brewery.  I arrived there around 9:30 or so and was able to get a spot fairly close to the front of the line.  A few folks from out of state had camped out overnight and shared some epic beers the night before.  They were feeling no pain.  That year Surly increased production of Darkness to around 5000 bottles, a big increase from the previous year, but still a small run.  The bottle was wax dipped and the label was actually a sticker placed on the glass bottle.  The next year they began screen printing the bottles and scrapped the sticker.  Darkness Day itself featured live metal music, various Surly beers, and limited food options.  Check out my previous A Whale A Week post on that vintage HERE.

And we move on to October 24 of 2009 for another run at Darkness Day.  I was able to make this event as well, but now that the cat was out of the bag, crowds were getting bigger, requiring me to get there early.  They sold the same number of bottles (5000) that day, but had another 2500 or so that they released to liquor stores a few days later.  The event again had metal music, Surly beers on tap, Smoke right out of the bright tanks, and tons of swag to buy.  Last week's review of the 2009 vintage is HERE.

Which catches us up to 2010.  In 2010 they increased Darkness production to about 14000 bottles, also wax dipped and screen printed.  About 7500 were released at that year's October Darkness Day, and the rest to retailers later in the month.  This was the last Darkness Day I was able to get to.  My mom came with for her allotment and to keep me company in line, oh, and to drive me home after.  We arrived just at sunrise, about 6 AM and was several blocks away from the front of the line.  Most of the folks in front of us had camped out the night before and many were either half frozen or half-in-the-bag.  Not thinking about it, I hadn't brought anything to share in line so we just watched folks drinking beers, cooking breakfast on portable stoves, serving from portable kegerators, etc.  Yup this event had turned into some kind of crazy brewery tailgating thing over the past 2 years. We got our beer, enjoyed a couple of pints at the brewery, and headed out.  A good time, but getting much too crowded for my comfort level.

The bottle art for 2010 features a close up of a vampire, done by local commercial art and printmaking studio Aesthetic Apparatus.

For this particular tasting, my wife Sarajo, friend Anna Osborn, and I were invited over to Brian and Tina Ackermann's place for dinner and games (Pathfinder card game for my geek readers.)  Not until that day did I realize that it was Brian's actual birthday, so I quickly threw my 2010 Darkness into the car with our games to take along.  A little background on our cast of characters:  Me--BJCP National ranked judge, president of our brewclub Jack Of All Brews, and geek.  Sarajo--my wife, dark beer lover, with no problem judging me but less likely to judge beers. Anna--one of the few female homebrewers I know, proprietor of Irate Princess home brewery.  Tina--beer judging novice, but willing to give it a try!  Brian--a very good homebrewer who has recently started up the hobby again...and our birthday boy!

Aroma:
Eric: Deep dark bitter chocolate with a mild roasted malt aroma.  Sweet toffee.  Notes of sherry.  A bit of alcohol zip.  Dark bing cherry or almost dried cranberry aromas as it warms up in the glass.  No hop aroma.
Anna: Lovely--so vanilla!  It reminds me of that Creme Brulee from Southern Tier (that I love).
Tina: Coffee notes.  Toasted something...couldn't quite place my finger on it.
Brian: Chocolate covered cherry.  Toasted coconut or something else elusive.

Appearance: (Normally I combine these, but I loved our panel's descriptions so much I left 'em.)
Eric: Black in color.  Very deep tan colored head that is amazingly persistent for this style of beer.  Larger sized bubbles.  Completely opaque.
Anna: Black as night!  Beautiful.  Great carbonation.  Black is beautiful.
Tina: Deep ebony with a beautiful caramel head.  Even after 20+ minutes there was notable presence of head on the beer.
Brian: Dark as midnight.

Flavor:
Eric: Sweetness up front.  I get a very light acidic tang that combined with the raisin and cherry flavors reminds me of a chocolate covered craisin.  Roast malt present but subtle, this is dark, but not a bitter roasty stout.  Sherry cask flavors from age and oxidation.  No hop flavors.  Mild coffee notes.  Slight anise or licorice flavors.  Moderate to almost thick mouthfeel.  Some alcohol present but not hot.  The elevated carbonation really helps to keep this from being cloyingly sweet.
Anna: Full flavor--lingers nicely and feels like a warm blanky.
Tina: Very smooth finish.  Something fruity up front.  As it sat there was a richness that wasn't present at first.
Brian: Full bodied, rich and velvety.  Chocolate and fruits.

Overall:
Eric: A very good beer!  This reminds me of a dark chocolate and cherry milk shake.  There is oxidation here, but it adds complexity to the beer.  So far my favorite of the three vintages I've tried recently.  This one seems to be at it's peak, so I'd drink it now and enjoy! 5
Anna: I feel this has aged and held up nicely over time.  My opinion is that this is at it's peak, and may start decreasing in enjoyment over the coming year. 4.5
Tina: Very warm and restful--use in place of cognac.  I think this is the best dark beer I've tried. 5
Brian: Delightful and heavy.  Sweet and sticky. 5
Sarajo: "Vanilla and licorice shouldn't go together.  I'm a hater apparently".  4.25
And in response from Tina: "She'll shake it off."

Overall Score: 4.75

So what did we discover from this tasting?
1) That the 2010 vintage is very good and that you should drink it now.
2) That the women in our group are much more descriptive than our guys.
3) Darkness goes great with birthday cake and cherries.
4) Brian and Tina's cats can open all the cupboards in their house when being ignored by guests.

Stay tuned for our next A Whale A Week!  Next week will likely be Surly Darkness 2011...

Jack Of All Brews July 2015 Meeting Recap

Hey folks!  This is the quick recap of this past week's Jack Of All Brews Homebrew Club meeting.  We meet the second Friday of the month with a variable theme, so put it on your calendars now!  This month we had a fairly small crowd (about 15) but that's never shocking in the busy summer months.

Brewcred:

1) Josh Welch will be brewing up his Sundrop summer ale with Waconia Brewing Company as the grand prize in the inaugural JAB/Waconia Brewing Competition.  I'll post details once we have a brew to try!

2) Mike Behrendt's Pub Ale is currently on tap at Schram Vineyards Winery & Brewery!

Upcoming Events:

1) Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition--this is one of the premier comps in the state and is run by one of our favorite other clubs the Primary Fermenters!  Registration is now open.

2) Carver County Fair--Entry drop off is Aug 3 from 5PM to 8:30PM, or Aug 4 from 8AM to Noon.  Free entry!  Check details of what to enter HERE.  Registration is HERE.

3) All Club Campout--This is from 7/31-8/2 near Cold Spring, MN.  Details are HERE on the the MN Homebrewer's site.

Talk:

This month I gave a talk on making tinctures for addition to beers, meads, ciders, and cocktails.  We tried some of my Belgian Strong with a few drops of hibiscus tincture which changed the aroma and taste just a bit.  I also demonstrated the ease of adding vodka (or you could use everclear) to dried elderberries in a mason jar to start out a tincture for future use.  I hope to use some homemade bitters for a beer cocktail demo soon...


Mash Paddle:

This month's theme was fruit beers, and we had 8 entries for the Golden Mash Paddle.  Several of these were fruited versions of the group lambic experiment from almost 2 years ago.  In order we tasted them:
Joe L.--Orange Kolsch
John F.--Raspberry Rhubarb Cream Ale
Anna O.--Raspberry Wheat
Mike L.--Strawsome (strawberry lambic)
Andrew G.--Stawberry Lambic
Mike L.--Peachness (peach lambic)
Eric W.--Cherry Red (cherry Flanders Red)
Eric W.--Cherry Rhubarb Lambic

And the winner was Eric Wentling (that's ME!) for Cherry Rhubarb.  We had several grain, hop, and swag giveaways for everyone who entered this month.  Put those things to good use!

Next Month:

Next meeting is August 14 starting at 6:30 at Mike and Joan Behrendt's place in Eden Prairie.  We will be having special guest Steve Piatz (author of The Complete Mead Guide to Mead Making) giving us a talk about mead!  The theme of the month is of course also mead, so bring your meads to share and for the monthly Golden Mash Paddle contest!  And maybe you'll learn something to improve your meads in the future.  Also Steve will be bringing some copies of his book to sell and sign so bring some money if you want one.  I already have my copy!

Tin Whiskers Review: Edited 9/2015

A few weeks ago my wife and I were in Saint Paul and decided to hit a couple of newer taprooms.  The first one we tried out was Tin Whiskers Brewing Company.  I had tried a couple of their beers at last year's All Pints North in Duluth and wasn't incredibly impressed--however, they were recently opened at that time.  I gave them almost a year to get the hang of things before getting to the taproom to review.

Tin Whiskers was started by a trio of electrical engineers, and much of the naming, decor, and style of the brewery nods to that background.  On their website their self-proclaimed mission is to "make technically excellent beers."  The taproom is located in the Rossmor building along with Sawatdee (meh) and Black Sheep Pizza (yum!) so food options are close.  On the day we arrived they actually had an Asian fusion food truck selling food inside to go with the beers.  The food smelled and looked wonderful, but we were meeting later for dinner at Tongue In Cheek, so didn't partake.

Robots need beer too!

Following the little robot sign outside we entered the taproom to find it fairly crowded and well lit by afternoon sun.  A large mural of their robot mascot hoisting a pint adorns the wall to the left of the entrance, drawing the eye and making one smile.  I'm a big nerd and really do like the way these guys have embraced that culture in their brewery.  There are a few large community tables across from the entrance with a mid-sized bar off to the left.  Behind the bar is the brewery itself, bristling with stainless tanks and equipment in easy view of the entire taproom.  This is something I value in a taproom--I want to know I'm not in some random bar, but in a working brewery!

Several groups of people, including entire families were situated around the tables, many playing board games together.  Being a big board game fan, I'm always happy to see others taking part, and also to see taprooms embracing the culture.  I've seen a similar trend at my local Waconia Brewing and at Insight recently.  Seeing folks playing games and having a pint is great and puts these taprooms into a different category than bars and pubs filled with sports on big screen TVs.

My wife and I sidled up to the bar and ordered a sampler flight to share, wanting to make sure we were able to try everything.  Our sampler came out on an awesome and unique circuit board and plexi-glass tray that continued their nerd theme.  But what about the beers you ask?  I'll give a quick run-down of my impressions.  Keep in mind that your results may vary according to personal tastes and batch.

The first two we tried were the Wheatstone Bridge and the special jalapeno version of the same beer.  The original was not bad, but a bit sweet for me.  It looks like it has honey and chamomile in it which added some interesting flavors to the normally bland American style wheat.  The jalapeno version really popped with a nice heat that evened out the sweetness for me.  Sj liked that one too.

The Flip Switch IPA was a bit different from many I've had recently.  I enjoyed the hop aroma and bitterness in the beer, but there was a dry, almost roasty finish that was unusual for the style.  Still, it was clean and easy to drink.  I actually ordered a pint of this after we were done with the flight, so it was my favorite of the visit.  I have a free growler fill from these guys and wish I had remembered to bring it...I would have taken this one home gladly.

My least favorite of the bunch was the Short Circuit Stout.  This one was flawed.  Stouts are normally among my favorite style of beer to drink and often and hide flaws more easily than many styles due to their bold flavors.  This stout, however, was bursting with apple Jolly Rancher flavors, consistent with acetaldehyde, a common beer flaw usually arising from poor yeast health or from fermentation being rushed.  After the apple faded a bit, there was a sweet middle to the beer and a decent roast finish.  Between the two of us we didn't get more than halfway though the sample glass.  This is one of their flagship beers, so tasting this makes me question their process and why they would release this batch to the public.  I'd be curious hear other people's experiences with the Tin Whiskers beers, and with this beer in particular.

So, my overall impression of the place?  I like the vibe of taproom.  Service was good.  The beers ranged from good, to OK, to fail.  If I lived close by I'd gladly stop in for some games and a pint, but I probably won't make a trip out there from Waconia very soon.  I love the beer names, geeky culture and logo--I even bought a tin tacker sign for my home brewing area.  I'd love to see this brewery succeed but I want to see some more quality control in their products since that's their own stated goal in brewing!  

Addendum 9/2015

I recently met with Jeff Moriarty and brewer Derek Brown at the brewery for a tasting of some of the beers.  We tasted through their line-up and I was very pleased that they have fixed the fermentation flaws I had noted in my previous visit.  They've also instituted a more regimented tasting and quality control program to make sure their beers are as consistent as possible.  Derek really seems to know what he's doing in the brewery and has a great palate.  It was also interesting to hear about some of the difficulties that newer small brewery face such as shortages of ingredients requiring on-the-fly recipe changes to batches of beer.  I loved their Schottky Pumpkin beer (but I'm one of those people that actually like pumpkin beers).  I also enjoyed trying a couple versions of a special spiced beer they made for an Iron Brewer style show-down with LynLake brewing.  In all, Tin Whiskers is continuing to evolve their own style, and to make changes based on feedback from their customers, both important factors in succeeding in the increasingly crowded local beer scene.

A Whale A Week: Surly Darkness 2009

Last week I took a little hiatus from A Whale A Week due to the Fourth of July holiday and CONvergence.  But this week we are back stronger than ever with another vintage Surly beer!

Surly Darkness 2009

This week we return to our continuing series on Surly Brewing's Darkness.  This beer is Surly's take on the Russian Imperial Stout, and was first brewed in 2006, in a very small batch and released in growlers.  I never got to try that first year's release, but at the time it was pretty "ballsy" to put out an expensive-to-brew RIS for a very young upstart craft brewery.  They are called Surly after all.

The second year they released a limited run of bottles (under 500) that they released in the very first Darkness Day event at the brewery in Brooklyn Center.  The event went well and the beer met with high praise.  The bottle for 2007 Darkness featured a Grim Reaper, and while I have held an unopened bottle in my hand, I have yet to taste that batch.  Anyone still have one of these gathering dust in a cellar?

On October 25, 2008 Darkness Day was much more organized as well as publicized and by 10 in the morning, a line snaked all through the neighborhood around the brewery.  I arrived there around 9:30 or so and was able to get a spot fairly close to the front of the line.  A few folks from out of state had camped out overnight and shared some epic beers the night before.  They were feeling no pain.  That year Surly increased production of Darkness to around 5000 bottles, a big increase from the previous year, but still a small run.  If you were in the first 700 people in line you got a wrist-band allowing you up to 6 bottles for a total of $100, about $16.67 a bottle.  The bottle was wax dipped and the label was actually a sticker placed on the glass bottle.  The next year they began screen printing the bottles and scrapped the sticker.  Darkness Day itself featured live metal music, various Surly beers, and limited food options.  Check out my previous A Whale A Week post on that vintage HERE.

And we move on to October 24 of 2009 for another run at Darkness Day.  I was able to make this event as well, but now that the cat was out of the bag, crowds were getting bigger, requiring me to get there early--8 AM or so--and I was still pretty far back in line.  The first 800 people in line got a wristband, allowing them to buy 6 bottles for $18 apiece once they finally got into the brewery.grounds later that day.  I made it!  As had been the case in the previous year, folks had camped out the night before and had epic bottle shares through the wee hours.  Some people were already drunk/hung over before we even got into the brewery!  Pace yourselves people!  The Surly crew did have a keg of Coffee Bender for those in line in the morning--a perfect way to stay happy and awake.  They sold the same number of bottles (5000) that day, but had another 2500 or so that they released to liquor stores a few days later.  The event again had metal music, Surly beers on tap, Smoke right out of the bright tanks, and tons of swag to buy.

The 2009 bottle label art was done by local artist David Witt (or DWITT) and featured a creepy mummy in bright white and orange.  Since then, DWITT has done several other beer related projects including can design for Indeed Brewing and the art for Zombie Crawl.  This was the first year that the Darkness bottle was screen printed instead of having a sticker label, though was still wax dipped.

For this tasting I had over Steven Mathistad, fellow homebrewer and convenient neighbor to help me out.  Also as usual my wife Sarajo helped us out with drinking...We served these into Darkness snifter glasses for proper effect!

Aroma:
Eric: Molasses or slightly burnt sugar.  Sherry cask/oak tannin--bordering on cardboard.  Almost an herbal or minty quality as swirled.  Hints of red grape or red wine.  Raisin and prune as it warms up.  No hops to speak of.
Steven: Caramel.  Licorice and dark sugar.  Not much dark fruit.

Appearance:
Deep black and opaque, but with slight ruby highlights at edge of glass when held to bright bar light.  Fine to nearly absent tan head that fades quickly to nothing.  Pitch black.

Flavor:
Eric: Very sweet up front. Strong flavors of molasses and bitter licorice root.  Oxidized but not overwhelming.  Body a bit thin for the style and much more so than the thick 2008 vintage--more like an Imperial porter.  Stronger roast and and dark baker's chocolate than previous year, but still subtle flavors compared to many RIS style beers.  Some bitterness, but no hop flavor.  Some alcohol warming but not hot.  Lots of prune flavors present--this one might keep you regular!
Steven: Plums or dark fruit is strong.  Slight tannin flavors.  Medium body to almost thin, but not watery.

Overall:
Eric: Actually improved from previous tasting of this vintage.  Smoother than remembered.  4/5
Steven: Not bad, but lacks something.  4.25/5
Sarajo: "Very anise-y...not to be confused with anus-y, which is completely different..." 3.5/5

Total average score: 3.9

This beer has always been my least favorite vintage of Darkness.  I will say that compared to about 2 years ago, I liked it more this time.  The oxidation has actually added complexity to this batch, but I think another year will push it over the edge into cardboard territory.  Drink this now if you have any stashed away.  So far I like the 2008 better.  Continuing on with my Darkness series, we will do the 2010 Vampire bottle next!  Stay tuned...

Brewery Review: Sidhe Brewing

Earlier this year I was living the geek life at the 50th anniversary of Minicon, Minnesota's oldest science-fiction and fantasy fan convention.  If you're interested, you can read my take on the event, as well as some internal geek monologue HERE.  At the amazing complimentary CON bar I had tasty Surly Furious and Summit Porter, but more intriguing to me was what I thought was some homebrew.  As I ordered my free taste of the mythological Greenman's Harvest brown ale, I discovered that my server was actually Kathleen Culhane, the brewer for the then nearly open Sidhe Brewing Company.  As a beer geek and beer blogger I was excited to hear about a new brewery that I was not already aware of.  Even more, I was also happy to discover this at an unexpected place and time!  Getting to be the first test market of a budding new brewery while hanging out with a ton of science fiction and fantasy lovers?  Sign me up for that!  I talked briefly with the busy Kathleen, and got a little background on the place.

Later, while again hanging out at the CON bar, we met Erica and Robin, two of the other owners of Sidhe.  I got to try Erica's very nicely balanced orange blossom mead, and shared a couple of my own meads with them.  Hey, this was a fantasy convention--you have to bring mead!  At different times over the weekend Sidhe had several beers and ciders to test out on us.  I found the brown ale to be a bit roasty for my palate, but still tasty.  The Dark Moon Rising dry Irish stout was one of the better versions I've had recently, and served on nitro it would be even better!  I was also very happy with Kathleen's Dry Cider:  very dry and tart, reminding me of the slightly funky and complex French cider style.  I will say that my wife (the cider drinker in our family) would have liked it a bit sweeter.

Which brings me to up to the actual brewery.  The brewery itself has been open for about two months now, and my wife and I finally got a chance to get over to East St. Paul to check it out.  Normally I try to give about 4-6 months before reviewing a brewery to let them get the kinks out, but I thought I'd break with tradition and write this up anyway.  The name Sidhe (pronounced "she") comes from Irish mythology and usually describes the fairy folk, especially female fairies like the beautiful and dangerous Leanan Sidhe and the deadly Banshee.  The group of women who started the brewery are self described "fringey folk" including members of the LGBT community, and have brought a unique point of view and style to their project.  As such, the group is very open and inviting to those of alternative religious and sexual orientations.  Despite focus on their woman-owned and operated tag-line, their admirable goal is to make the brewery a comfortable place for all people.

At the time of this writing we found the brewery to have a small sidewalk placard and a vinyl banner outside to draw us in.  I really like their colorful logo, bringing in the classical elements of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth in a pleasing and beer-centric way.  After entering the doorway, you make your way down stairs into a fairly small sunken taproom.  I'm not going to lie, the place is not the most attractive taproom I've been in.  Mismatched stools at the utilitarian bar, small tables, and a stage in the corner round out the space.  A few paintings on the walls add a bit of character, but the room needs a bit more work to get that comfortable pub vibe that I think they're looking for.  Hey they opened this tiny 2 barrel brewery on a shoe-string budget and I think they have done what they need to do to get the place open and running!  Hopefully, once they start getting some publicity (that's why I'm writing this!) they can start bringing in money to spruce the place up a bit.

There were several people at the bar when we arrived, without the place being crowded.  There were a couple of servers behind the bar, including Jacqueline Stoner, a recently made homebrewing friend.  These folks all knew their stuff--being able to describe all the beers in detail!  We also got to say hi briefly to Kathleen, who was actively working back in the brewery.

We didn't have much time to linger, so we ordered the sampler of 7 beers to get a taste of everything.  Soon we had our sampler glasses before us.  Both my wife and I agreed that our favorites were the Bast Kissed (a fantastic example of a cream ale) and the Greenman's Harvest brown ale (more balanced and tasty than the preview tasting I had previously had.)  My next favorite was the well-done dry Irish stout Dark Moon Rising--very spot-on for style.  I still want to try this on nitro!  The Barking Cat strong Belgian golden was very tasty as well, and funny to us since our cat Freya will often bark at the birds nesting outside the house.  I think my least favorite of the group was the Hopped Up McGonigal--a higher ABV (8.6%) IPA--while beer was not bad, it really lacked hop aroma and flavor.  I'm hoping to see some cider or mead in the future...

We were sitting at the bar when a fellow on my left (also tasting through everything) commented on how clean and good all the beers were.  I had to agree!  Even my least favorite beer was well fermented, just not to my personal taste for the style.  No sign of infection or poor yeast handling here!  For a place just recently open, I think the beer quality was better than many places I've been to that have been open over a year.  This is more impressive when you take into account their home-made 2 barrel brew system and the potential for quality control issues inherent in small batch brewing.  Good job so far Kathleen!

Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised with the beer quality at Sidhe.  I think they could spruce up the taproom a bit, but it works and gives folks a place to hang out and try that beer!  I like the inclusive nature of the brewery's mission and, as a geek, find their mythology/Wiccan/fantasy vibe to be fun and very different from most breweries.  I'm looking forward to seeing how they do over the coming year and encourage people to give them a chance.  If any fellow geeks are reading this, Sidhe will be providing beer at the Royal Manticoran Navy room party at CONvergence over July 4th weekend in Bloomington--I'll certainly be swinging by.  And if you need any other incentive to get to East St. Paul, the wonderful fine dining restaurant Tongue In Cheek is right across the street.