Surly Mole Darkness Russian Imperial Stout

 Surly Mole Darkness Russian Imperial Stout.

12 % ABV. Surly Brewing Company, Brooklyn Center/Minneapolis, MN. 

And now we have the first appearance of Darkness variants here in the Bitter Nib. They were first released in bottles at the Darkness Day event in 2018, when it was moved to Wisconsin. I didn't go. That year, or the next. I was only able to try them at festivals. Ah, remember them? 

This year, this horrible, no-good year, there  is no Darkness Day, and the variants are going to liquor stores for the first time and not in bottles, but in this new can in a box format, which I am becoming fonder and fonder of...although I miss wax-dipped bombers. And this year, I work at a liquor store, so I didn't have to chase any trucks, or get up too early, no, I just had to show up at work in the (Ugh!) morning, and put some aside. And now, I will drink one. 

Mole Darkness. Bourbon Barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout with vanilla beans, cinnamon, chiles, and chocolate. 12 % ABV. Brewed and canned by Surly Brewing Company, Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, MN. 

Complete and utter you-know-what, with a slim, short-lived brown head. 

In the nose: Cocoa first, soft and sweet, and then comes the heat, growing in intensity. Cinnamon, chocolate and peppers, chocolate taking the lead. 

In the mouth: Sweet at first, rich and luxurious, with the pepper heat, and the cinnamon spice coming on quickly. Vanilla, cherries, molasses, and more lurk just below. It's the imperial stout wrapped in bourbon and smothered in chocolate, spices, and pepper heat, but it starts mellow and cool and I like it like that. Sweet keeps time with heat. 

It's thick, yet supple, rich, yet smooth, and abounding in flavors. So, I like it. Yum. A dum. Dum.

(Although, the vanilla beans made no impression whatsoever. Wait, one more sip. Nope. Or, maybe, a little? No, nope...Okay, a smudge, caught up in the recipe...)

Mole Darkness is inspired by the impossibly complex and satisfying sauces native to south-central Mexico. Mole comes in almost infinite varieties, and our take features bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, and a mild heat from the use of guajillo chilies. Time well spent in bourbon barrels tempers the spice, adding a rounded, vanilla-esque sweetness.

Can artwork by Barbara Guttman.