Coffee Bender (In A Growler)

It was a lucky day last Saturday when I was standing in line for the some of the last growlers to be sold at Surly. I had a great plan of two furious, two bender. When I got near the front I discovered they had Coffee Bender for sale, in a growler... How cool is this! Plan derailed but I now have a more better new plan.
I've had coffee bender before at the brewery and some bars around town. I don't think its hard to find if you live in the area ( Twin Cities, check the Muddy Pig and Happy Gnome, I believe I've had it both places). It pours with a good sized head, tan. The beer itself is a deep brown maybe slightly reddish, I have a hard time telling in my lighting situation. The smell is coffee for sure. Very strong coffee, a nice dark roast, like the kind my grandpa used to make on the stove when I was a kid, but without the grounds getting stuck in your teeth. You get a little bitterness at the front of your nose, and then it smooths out as I breathe deeper. I can smell a lot of chocolate in this one too. Then the taste. A nice malty sweetness hits the front of my tongue, followed by the bitterness of the coffee near the back of my mouth. The coffee isn't over powering, and its backed by a nice hop flavor. For me I notice the coffee more in the back of my mouth and the aftertaste. To my taste the hops are not as forward as other Surly beers, but its hard to compete with the coffee. There is good balance between the malty taste and the coffee. Its very tasty. I hear it's coming to cans soon so hopefully it will show up in your neighborhood soon.

Darkness

One day last month the guys at Surly threw open the doors to their brewery and let the unwashed masses (namely my buddies) buy six bottles each of this years batch of Darkness. Sadly I was not at the event but I hear it was a good time. Thankfully I've got friends. Good friends. Friends who give up bottles of this stuff because they are "good guys".
It pours smooth. Too thick to really believe you're pouring something water based. A little head, maybe 1/2 a finger of tan that fades back into the glass pretty quickly. Lots of lacing. The smell is unbeatable, smooth chocolate, a background hop smell and well.... darkness. You almost hear a wah wah and Barry White in the background and you start to wonder what your in for.
It tastes unbefreakingleavable. If chocolate milk were beer, and then the gods smiled upon it and then so did the devil for good measure, this is what it would taste like. Upfront you taste chocolate, and a huge sweetness that I wasn't ready for in something billed as a Russian Imperial Stout. No boozy overtones at all maybe some dark fruit, figs and raisins. Mostly you get the sweetness and the smoothness. Then you feel a little carbonation on your tongue, not too much, just a touch to show you it's not a one trick pony. Then you realize how thick it is... your mouth is coated, you can feel it in the back of your throat.... Quite a complex taste, well balanced, but with a definite emphasis (to my taste buds at least) on the sweeter side of things. A dessert beer if ever there was one.
Surly does a pretty good job with everything I've had from them but they really hit this one out of the park. Hats off to Omar and the gang, keep it up.