Surly Darkness Recipe

solbes · Nov 22, 2015

syd138 said:
I'm bumping this thread because I am planning on brewing this up in a couple weeks.

Has anyone else tried to brew this?

I'd love to hear how people did with this recipe also. Love me some Darkness, so mine is roughly patterned after it (won't be the same). I am going to use English finishing hops, so 'm sure it'll be a little different.

Brewing this as we speak:

9 lb Marris Otter
6 lb Marris Otter syrup, late addition (easier than trying to have a huge grain bill) (78.6% total)
1 lb Roasted Barley (4.6%)
8 oz Special B (2.3%)
6 oz pale chocolate (1.7%)
6 oz Crystal 80L (1.7)
8 oz flaked oats (2.3%)
1 lb of D180 syrup added a few days into fermentation (4.6%)

Est OG: 1.118

1 oz Warrior (13.4%) FWH
1 oz Warrior 60 min
2 oz UK Fuggle 15 min

Est IBU: 89

I have some bourbon whiskey barrel oak chunks that have sat in bourbon for a few months. I'll pitch the whole thing into the latter part of secondary (6-8 weeks). Cheers!

syd138 · Feb 25, 2016

solbes..

I never got around to brewing this.. how did yours turn out?

solbes · Mar 1, 2016

Pretty good. I brewed on Nov 22, 2015, and bottled on Feb 21st. Hit 1.111 OG and finished at 1.024, for a 11.7% ABV with priming. Only other notable difference from the recipe above is I added 1 lb of light Munich to the recipe. About 6 oz total of bourbon went into secondary with the bourbon barrel chunks that had been soaking a long time.

I hope to crack my first bottle in a week or two, but I wouldn't be surprised if it needs more time to carb. Tasted pretty damn good at bottling, wasn't even all that hot from the 2 month secondary. Will probably slowly consume over the next 2-3 years.

Minnesota_Micro · Feb 15, 2017

Like many before myself, I have scoured the internet looking to make a darkness clone. I recently pulled off an AG clone, hitting OG of 1.124, and finishing at 1.033 hitting 11.98 abv.

A few misunderstandings out there...

Darkness ABV is 12%, and not 10.5%
does Darkness use Belgium Candi Dark Syrup/brewers crystals? not listed as ingredients on surly website, but is listed in the Barrel Aged variant
Secondary aging cannot be 1+ years. Fresh out of the tap Darkness has a very prominent hop profile that quickly fades in bottles - hop schedule?

After cold crashing secondary (brewed on new year's Eve 2016) I've recently kegged the beer, and waiting to hit carbing levels. So far, this beer has a strong resemblance to Darkness, but is missing the thick body and cloying sweetness. I did not include brewer's crystals or Candi syrup. My next brew attempt will include 1 pound of dark Candi Syrup, and approximately 5% or 6% brewer's crystals.
Other than a prominent hop characteristic this beer is smooth and about ready to drink after about 6 weeks, surprisingly.

Anyways I'm hoping to jump start this thread with new information regarding dialing in darkness. Recipe to be posted soon.

skibb · Feb 15, 2017

The beer's ABV has changed over the past few years - I believe that it is now barrel aged? I did hear that somewhere but I haven't confirmed it yet. Also it's my understanding that when they use brewers crystals it's because they can't get the gravity that high with malt alone do to mash tun/space restrictions. Subbing maltodextrin out might be a nice way to ensure you get a higher FG. The beer finishes in the 1.040s

Minnesota_Micro · Feb 15, 2017

Here's the link to the regular darkness...
http://surlybrewing.com/beer/darkness-2016/

Here's the link to the BA variant of Darkness...
http://surlybrewing.com/beer/darkness-2016-barrel-aged/

Notice that there's different ingredients? Very strange that they list more ingredients for the BA variant.

mumblingsages · Mar 9, 2017

Minnesota_Micro what did you end up with as a recipe. I'm looking to clone it as well.

shilinshuai · Feb 12, 2018

Made this in January according to skibb's layout. Compared last night to the barrel aged 2017 darkness...other than missing the oak/whiskey notes this is a dead ringer for the retail version. Thanks for the recipe.

bassmang4 · Feb 20, 2018

shilinshuai, what was your FG? I hit 1125 OG w skibbs recipe and it pooped out at 1045. Mashed too high, but did so based off a big dark barleywien w 1968 that went from 1127 to 1034. So I was a few point higher than my 1040 target. Drank the hydro sample and it didn't seem overly heavy for what I'd expect at 1045.