Surly Brewing unveiled two new imperial stout collaborations for its annual Darkness Day: a 12% ABV beer aged in a mix of Elijah Craig, Evan Williams and O’Shaughnessy bourbon barrels with Firestone Walker, and a dessert-leaning Brewer’s Variant Jelly Donut version aged in Buffalo Trace barrels with raspberry, vanilla and date syrup added. Both are 750ml bottles built for the barrel-aged beer crowd. If massive stouts are your thing, see how they stack up against the picks in our best stouts guide.
Darkness Day started as a low-key Surly Brewing release party in Minneapolis and has grown into one of the more anticipated single-day beer releases in the Midwest, built entirely around the brewery’s Russian Imperial Stout, Darkness. The event now draws lines of collectors before doors open, plus a rotating slate of food trucks and, this year, two barrel-aged variants brewed specifically for the occasion rather than just the flagship beer.
Barrel aging is what turns a big stout into an even bigger event beer. Resting an imperial stout in a used bourbon barrel for months pulls vanilla, oak tannin and residual whiskey character out of the wood and into the beer, on top of whatever roasted malt and dark fruit notes were already there from the base recipe. Blending barrels from three different distilleries, as Surly did with Elijah Craig, Evan Williams and O’Shaughnessy casks, lets the brewery balance out barrel-to-barrel variation rather than relying on a single barrel’s profile.
The Brewer’s Variant Jelly Donut version pushes further into dessert territory, layering raspberry, vanilla and date syrup on top of the same bourbon-barrel base. That kind of pastry-stout treatment has become a whole subgenre in the last several years, following the same instinct that turned Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout into an annual collector’s event on Black Friday. If big roasty stouts are your thing generally, not just the barrel-aged specialty releases, our best stouts guide ranks a dozen worth tracking down.
Both new Darkness Day releases come in 750ml bottles rather than standard 12oz bottles or cans, which is typical for barrel-aged specialty beers meant for sharing or slow sipping rather than a full session. Expect them to sell primarily through the Surly taproom and Minnesota distribution first, with limited quantities reaching other states after the initial release weekend.
Collectors treat Darkness Day releases the way whiskey collectors treat allocated bourbon: bottles often get traded or resold well above retail once the release sells out, particularly limited variants like the Jelly Donut version. That secondary market has become part of the culture around barrel-aged stout releases generally, from Bourbon County Stout’s Black Friday drops to Darkness Day itself, and it’s part of why breweries increasingly cap purchase limits per person on release day rather than letting anyone buy in bulk.
Surly’s own taproom capacity means most out-of-state fans will realistically rely on secondary distribution or a planned trip to Minneapolis rather than expecting these specific variants to show up at a random liquor store; that scarcity is very much part of the appeal for the collector crowd this release targets.
Barrel-aged beer culture in Minnesota specifically has grown alongside Surly’s own rise, with the state’s brewing scene now regularly cited alongside Michigan and Colorado as a serious hub for big, complex specialty beers rather than just approachable session styles. Darkness Day’s growth from a modest local release party into a genuinely anticipated national event mirrors that broader trajectory, and it’s part of why out-of-state collectors increasingly plan trips around the release date itself rather than waiting to see if bottles trickle into their home market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Darkness Day?
It’s Surly Brewing’s annual release event in Minneapolis built around Darkness, its Russian Imperial Stout, plus barrel-aged and dessert-style variants brewed specifically for the day.
What does barrel-aging actually do to a stout?
Resting the beer in a used spirits barrel, usually bourbon, adds vanilla, oak and residual whiskey character while softening some of the beer’s sharper roasted edges over several months of contact with the wood.
Is 12% ABV unusually strong for a stout?
It’s on the stronger end but not extreme for the imperial stout style, which commonly runs from 8% up past 12% ABV once barrel-aging and long conditioning are involved.
Where can I buy Surly’s Darkness Day beers?
The Surly taproom in Minneapolis gets first access on release day, with limited bottles reaching other Midwest and national accounts afterward while supplies last.
How long has Surly Brewing been around?
Surly launched in 2006 in Minnesota and built its reputation on aggressive, hop-forward and barrel-aged beers, helping establish the state as a serious craft beer market well before Darkness Day became an annual tradition.
Do Darkness Day beers age well in the cellar?
Big barrel-aged imperial stouts like these generally do improve with a year or two of cellaring, as the harsher alcohol notes mellow and the oak and dark fruit character integrates further, though opinions vary on the ideal aging window.
Source: My Beer Buzz →
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