Darkness D-Day Saturday
We’ll see you all at the brewery at 4:30am, right? Yikes! Come join us in line on Saturday for Darkness at Surly! At least some of the MNBeer crew will be on hand to join in on the festivities, drink your spare beers and of course get our grubby little hands on some Darkness.
Dare I ask when you all are planning to arrive? If they start checking IDs at 9am and start selling Darkness at 2pm, what shall we do to entertain ourselves?
Tip of the day from MNBeer… dress warm! Cotton kills! SmartWool is my favorite choice for keeping your feet warm and dry in cold weather. It’s not cheap, but it’s warm, super-soft and doesn’t stink!
Good morning Surly Nation. You’ve been having fun all weekend and its time to get back to work… great job, it’s not even 9:00 and you’re thinking about beer.
D-Day (Darkness Day) commeth! This Saturday, December 15th. Since people have promised insanity, we present the following ground rules.
Surly will open the gates to the brewery at 9:00 A.M. At that point we will start checking IDs. Individuals can not “hold” places in line for others, and we will not save bottles for people. 480 bottles will be available, thus after 240 people have queued up, will we let people know that we are sold out. As soon as we know, we will change the message our phone message and this web-site.
There will be access to a restroom before 9am. We will start selling Darkness 750’s at 2:00PM. 2 bottles max per person, $15 each (plus tax). To help speed things along, we are taking CASH ONLY. The total will be $33 for 2 bottles, including tax.
If you have more than $33 burning a hole in your pocket, good news! We will have warm food available for purchase at the brewery. Uncle Frankies will be selling Hot Dogs during the day. We will also be selling growlers and merch from our regular hours of noon-2:00. Individuals waiting for Darkness will be able to purchase merchandise and growlers of Bender and Furious during that time - you won’t lose your place in line. If we are sold out of Darkness, you can still come on in and purchase growlers of Bender and Furious to get a Surly fix.
The Darkness sale will happen at a different location in the brewery than normal, so we can keep things moving quickly.
And for those who just can’t join us, there will be 6 individual bottles of Darkness sold on Ebay to raise money for EnergyCents, a Minnesota non-profit group that works to keep the lights and power on for folks that are having trouble with their utility bills. There will be a link on this page when the sale starts, December 16th.
Being that it is a Surly event, there are some surprises, and it should be fun for everybody.
One more thing… numerous people have asked when they should show up to guarantee that they get Darkness. We’ll soon be able to tell you when to get there in 2008, but 2007’s start time is anyone’s guess….
Smoke has been released and delivered to the following bars:Mill City Café, Washington Square Grill, Mad Cappers, Stub & Herbs, Pracna, Busters, Blue Nile, Café twenty-eight, Acadia, Grumpy’s NE, Muddy Pig, Happy Gnome and Mackenzies.
We will be having a cask event at Groveland Tap next week and the two release party will happen in January at the new Acadia Café. What is two you ask, it’s our second anniversary dark ale brewed with over 40 pounds of cranberries per barrel!
Omar,
See you drinking.
www.surlybrewing.com
December 10, 2007, 12:53pm :: Posted by ryan in breweries
I still can’t believe the fanboy hysteria over Surly.
It’s decent beer, but not stand-in-line good.
I am glad you dared. I am curious too. I mean, Darkness is great and I would love to get some bottles. But…. do I want to wait outside in 10 degrees for 3 (or more?) hours? Not sure. I’m sure the craft and homebrew will be flowing from person to person. It will probably be a fun time, But it will be interesting to hear from anyone who is for sure going to know what time they plan to arrive.
My guess would be if you get there 3 hours early, you will be outta luck. Omar and co. will make it well worth our time for coming out…I’ll be there miiighty early to shoot video.
You can line up at 9 am and they don’t start selling ’til 2 pm?
The projected high that day: 20 F.
What is it with this brewery that they like to make people line up in line and you fanboys just eat it up?
Like Apple it’s a great, world-class product with great, world-class design. Brand loyalty and even fandom naturally follow. It’s easy to understand that the thin part of the wedge will be waiting in the cold for this release.
Design?
I guess I evaluate the beer first and don’t care about the marketing.
It’s definitely a little ridiculous to line up at 9am (or earlier?) to buy a couple of beers, no matter how good they are. That being said, I like Surly, I love local beer and dammit, I’ll be there.
In a sense, the ridiculous factor is party of the fun.
I just want to know who is planning on showing up the earliest? I mean, really, isn’t 9am early enough? I know how these events go and how the lines start… I just can’t imagine coming much earlier.
If you don’t want to give up your precious arrival times in a public forum, e-mail me at ryan AT mnbeer.com. I don’t plan on publishing anything, but am curious as to how ridiculously early some of you might plan on arriving.
10am or so. It will be a good time regardless if I get a bottle. Besides, I know someone out there will invite me to a tasting of theirs, right? Right?
I think ridiculous is the correct word and it applies to Surly’s marketing and the lemmings who stand in line.
Just look at Autumn Beer Review and the 4-5 special releases Surly did and the huge line it created.
I think that was a cheap stunt to build buzz and attract attention.
If your beer is so good, bring enough for people to taste.
ABR special releases have gotten to be a bit ridiculous in the past few years. I’ll agree that it’s overkill. Of course Omar & co. are arguably following a path that had already been paved by other locals… for example the line/crowd for Fitger’s Cherry Batch is notably ridiculous. It’s a great beer, but the lines are nuts. I’d much rather see “special releases” be done quietly… Surly’s lines were long, as were Fitger’s and even Summit for their Oatmeal Stout with brettanomyces.
On the same note, I can’t blame them for their approach to marketing… it doesn’t cost much and has created a hell of a buzz. If I could do something like that in the local ski & snowboard market without throwing down a lot of marketing dollars, I’d be a rich man.
“Limited,” “special,” “commemorative” etc. are always going to make the collector nerds sweat. In Surly’s case, I believe there’s a lot of local “ownership” among local craft beer fans… kind of a sense that “we made them what they are,” which can only builds loyalty. Couple that with the fact that they’re making some tasty beer, and I don’t think you can go wrong…. unless you’d rather not sell beer.
What a hater! You missed the point. It is not about you, it is about the folks who would line up at 9 AM to get the beer. If one believes the beer really is world class, and one is of the subset of people who follow beer(like some people follow star trek or Green Bay), then it seems perfectly reasonable to you to stand outside at 9 AM in the cold waiting for an event which will take place later in the day. It’s essentially tailgating. For these folks, I referred to them earlier as the thin end of the wedge, this is no different then lining up to buy a video game or some other highly sought after product. If it ain’t your bag, it ain’t your bag.
What’s wrong with building buzz and attracting attention anyway? It is a business first and foremost. Special tastings, and rare releases are ways you get your product noticed, since you cannot make media buys like larger outfits can. I wish I had a product as good as Surly to sell.
Hater?
No, just surly (small s) when I have to stand in line. And also immune to fashion. You mentioned design. And product, which seems to state that the cool factor has more do to with anything than the beer itself, which is for the most part good and not great, IMHO.
I could wait for 5 hours in the cold to get a $15 bottle of Darkness (maybe) or I could in 15 minutes drop by The Cellars and pick up some Old Rasputin or Expedition for much less cash, which are both at least as good if not better.
there’s nothing “cheap” about this “stunt.”
The insanity was built in due the the small amount of the bottles and the high demand.
Omar & co. are just managing it the best they can. So many are vying for their place in line, they were going to camp out overnight, and stand in line for hours to get that chance at a bottle.
Check out the trading forums on ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com…people around the country, if not the world (I got a beermail from a Belgian BA wanting to trade for a bottle!)…folks are offering plenty of rarities just for one bottle of Darkness.
Should they have kept the beer in kegs, and left the bottling til next year when their production capacity is higher? Maybe…But then, due to our crazy laws, they wouldn’t be able to sell them at the brewery.
Will there be a Darkness Day 2008? Will it be even crazier?
It’s all in good fun, though, and it’s all about great beer.
(except those who are picking up bottles for trading, …I’m a little iffy on that..)
I agree w/ Ryan and bthek that part of the fun for certain folks is the buzz, waiting in line, excitement, etc. For others, that stuff can be an annoyance. I think either point of view has very valid points.
One thing I wonder about, what with creating buzz, is is that buzz sustainable? I mean, the notable trend for fads is a steep rise in popularity followed by a sharp drop in interest. I’m not saying Surly’s beer is a fad product, but some of the peak-and-valley risk could be there. It’s nice to see the popularity of the product and it’s nice to hear the challenges of keeping it on the shelves or on tap, but I hope that twelve months from now they haven’t over expanded and find themselves in trouble.
My only point is that it’s not worth the wait.
Yeah, it good beer, but not to the level of insanity surrounding it.
Good for Surly for doing well.
On the other hand all you have to do is look at the whole bogus Rate Beer and Beer Advocate system to see that the highest rated beers are merely the hardest to get.
Gee, what’s #1 on one of those sites? Westvleteren 12. Not like you can easily get your hands on that.
I think to some extent Surly is a fad. HOPS!!! HOPS!!! HOPS!!! Yawn. Been there. Done that. Same with RIS, which to beer newbies is cool, but from what I’ve observed, as a beer nerd for more than a decade now, is that palate’s grow.
Many people gravitate to the extremes in hops and gravity, but after some time look for more nuance and flavor variations.
There’s more to beer life than a hop kick in the face.
I see where you’re coming from, now.
So be it, more for us.
You forget as well, Steve, how small, that is to say, teeny weeny Surly is compared to North Coast and Bell’s.
The don’t have the ability to ship out across the country, let alone package more than 480 bottles.
It’s the quality and the rarity, and the fact that they’re OURS. From the beginning, Omar has marketed the company in an inclusive way, making Surly fans feel that they are a part of something. It’s worked, and that’s why those people will be there at 4am, to be a part of that.
The lemmings comment was unseemly. You don’t want to participate, fine, don’t need to knock those who do.
Sure, you can get 72 ounces of Expedition for that $15 vs. that 25 oz of Darkness …but it’s not the same.
And if you really wanted to compare the three, you should have been at the Blue Nile on the 30th. A few chose Expedition as their favorite, but no one put Darkness last.
I got the last out of our kegs last Monday. Drank it slowly in silence, after locking up.
It’s worth it.
Me, and Im guessing many, many people believe its worth the wait. A lot of the people that will be there will be the same people that have been supporting and drinking Surly products since the first kegs rolled out in early ‘06. Al said it best when he said that surly “is ours”. We pay their salaries. Should be a fun day regardless of the temp!
From Al’s comment, “Omar has marketed the company in an inclusive way.”
That’s a great way to describe the effort.
I think the marketing is better than the beer. Much much better than the beer.
“It’s the quality and the rarity, and the fact that they’re OURS.”
Rare does not mean good.
Yours? How? You are what you buy? You’re the sum total of the products you purchase?
Steve, we will have to remain in complete disagreement, especially about the quality…but you misunderstand my meaning, re: “OURS.”
Omar has said in many interviews that beer is one of the few things left in America that people care about where it came from. Beer drinkers are loyal to their local, and it means so much more that they are brewing the type of beer that’s being made around the country, yes, the extreme styles, the hoppy styles, the unique inventions (find me a beer quite like Bender anywhere!)…and they’re from here, and they’re brewing beer for Minnesota in Minnesota.
For years, MN beer fans have been wishing that our breweries would make bolder IPAs and Russian Imperial Stouts…and cranberry flavored not-doppelbocks…well, maybe we hadn’t thought about that one…cask beers, dry-hopped, limited releases, festival only brews.
For so long, we hope and wish that this or that brewery would enter our market and sell their products here, be it Stone, or Alesmith, or Three Floyds, or what have you. Now, finally, there’s a Minnesota brewery that people in other states wish were distributed there.
That’s what “Ours” means.
P.S. Rarity does not mean good, but quality does. That’s why it’s in that sentence.
That’s cool.
I’m just a skeptic, but I guess that’s obvious.
To me, all the special releases and limited edition things come across as exclusive and not inclusive.
Um. Actually I referred to the “ownership” before Al did.
24 comments? You can do better than that. DB’s challenging us to get to 50.
Someone should donate fire pits to Surly for the weekend…
MNBeer is as guilty as anyone (probably more, really) for banging the drum hyping new local beer. We’d been around for a while before Surly arrived on the scene and gave them plenty of free press. Of course it doesn’t hurt that we enjoy the beer…
Fifty?
What’s the record?
Hey, I shouldn’t have made that lemming remark. I didn’t mean to insult lemmings.
(Hee hee. That should be good for more posts.)
Steve,
I’ve got no problem with you not being a fan of Darkness or Surly beers. The plan from the get-go was to brew beers that not everybody would be into. I do have to disagree with your contention that we make people wait around for all our beers.
Lets take this weekend for instance. How would you sell 480 bottles of Darkness to the people that want it? Whatever you think of the beer, others will be waiting in line, flying in from out of town and driving in from out of state. Lets say we start selling the beer at 9:00 in the morning, when do you think people will start lining up? Probably Friday evening. If that happens, that means some people will be camping out overnight, in the winter. That does not seem like such a great idea. Should we sell it later in the day? Then what, people get there at 7:00 AM and wait for 12 hours? Everyone at the brewery has been working on ways to make everyhthing go as well as possible. This is the best we can come up with.
Folks also say why don’t you brew more Darkness? and Why are the top rated beers so rare? The answer is not as insidious as our attempt to create a limited amount of this beer to create demand. This beer takes around 6 months to make. We bought one 30 BBL brite tank to make this beer. OK, lets make more, we will dedicate 3-4 tanks to making more Darkness, Smoke, and other beers that are special release beers at ABR. Guess what, we then can make nowehere near enough Bender and Furious. The bottom line is we can not make enough beer to meet the market demand.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great problem to have.
Todd and I spoke about building a brewery that brewed great beers and didn’t comprimise, that’s why I think the people are standing in line, the beer.
Omar
Omar-
Don’t get me wrong. I like some of your beers, but just don’t get the whole lining up thing. Even if it wasn’t one cold December.
OK. For a keg I might.
Steve, how would you suggest they distribute it?
How? Heck if I know.
All I know is I wouldn’t stand in line for 5 hours for any beer.
Now if you had Hannah Montana tix I’d totally be there. :O
Can’t say I’m much of a Hannah Montana fan. It just isn’t good beer drinking music.
Omar, thanks for the insight. Can we count on the release of Surly Hot Chocolate on Saturday?
This gets me thinking about the mulled scotch ale that Town Hall cooked up last winter. Kind of weird but definitely warming!
all I will say is that if the whole lining up thing ain’t for you, then stay in bed, get some sleep and enjoy your day. The rest of us will be in line for a great minnesota beer brewed by minnesotans FOR minnesotans. There are many things that i feel are completely ludicrous ( black friday shopping). Therefore i stay home and sleep. Like was mentioned above already, beer to SOME people is something they can take pride in ya know, support your local economy and whatnot. I don’t know everything, just that i’ll be there with bells on! And I am completely confident that the surly crew will make the day well worth the wait whether i get a bottle or not. See you there!
What a difference a year makes! Last year, I arrived to buy one of 30 growlers of Darkness 20 minutes before sale time, and I was the third person in line.
I can agree with Steve to a point. If I get there at 9 a.m. and have to wait 5 hours for some darkness, that I can hack. Back before D-Day details were divulged, the plan was to arrive with a couple of pals around 10:30 and tailgate with homebrew, the growler of Surly Bender we’d inevitably purchase later, some meats, a portable grill/self-contained fire pit - especially useful for heating up some gluhkriek. Then came the mention of a 9AM gate opening, which increased the wait time. Still, after a few weekends of putting up xmas lights, the idea of tailgating for beer for 5 hours instead of 3 still was an appealing one. If I can do essentially the same thing at Bockfest, what could possibly dissuade me from doing so for some marvelous Darkness?
Well, darkness! Seeing the kinds of times mentioned that could be used interchangeably with the wake-up time of a dairy farmer (4AM is a better bedtime than a rousing time) give me pause. The price - the time price - for the opportunity to cellar some Darkness just became too steep. Suddenly, oppotrunity cost rears its ugly head, and Plan B, the day where I get my christmas shopping done, stop at Cafe 28 (the Minneapolis one, not the Chicago one) for some nosh and some Surly Smoke, the pursuit of a substitiute imperial at one of our fine liquor establishments, and finish with a Flat Earth brewery tour, becomes more attractive. I’d be so cognizant of looking like those idiots I love to deride who were up at 3am for a Wii on black friday.
My plan, since ryan was interested in arrival times, is to queue up at around 8AM, right or wrong. Right, and I get to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow brew bon vivants, tailgaiting food and fun, and, ultimately, the reward of a couple of bottles of excellent bottles of beer and the chance to later drink the spoils and judge journey versus destination. Wrong, and I have a free day in the cities, $33 more at my disposal (hello, Smoke), and brewery tour to attend.
(But I really hope I’m right
)
Dear Steve: Shut the fuck up!!!
you are against waiting in line for beer…people will wait in line for Surly beer, therefore your opinion is invalid…therefore SHUT UP!!!
what does hannah montana have to do with any of this?
is that any more valuable than our beer supply.
P.S.
forgive me,. am a litte how you say…..
Brazz, Im slightly confused by your post. So are you waiting in line, or not? Plan A or Plan B?
Al-
My opinion is my opinion. Just like yours. Deal with it. I’d bet you there are more people who wouldn’t stand it line that would.
And if you think Surly is slicker than snot good for you, but it’s simply not all it’s cracked up to be, fanboy.
The Hannah Montana thing was something called a joke.
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
YES!!!
Holy smackerels you are one cranky s.o.b., Steve.
Also, whoever first brought up Black Friday was on to something. I look with some disdain [sorry] upon people waiting in line for hours to save a few $ on an mp3 player.
But on the other side, I am considering waiting in line for hours [albeit hopefully with a grill and some drinks] to buy beer, an act that would dumbfound them as much as their waiting in line at Wal-Mart dumbfounds me. I suppose a little understanding on both sides would be nice.
To come into this thread and piss all over people getting excited about this day is a sign of a small man hopelessly attempting to make a loud, important noise.
Wow.
I get called a hater, small, and told to STFU becuase I’m trying to understand the mass psychosis that is Surly Fanboydom and beuuase I have a differing opiion?
Is this the Surly Fan page where you have to worship all that is Surly?
Or can a beer geek ask a question or express an opinion without get beat down?
Don, I’m glad you brought up Black Friday. That’s the same sorry thing you’re doing.
Steve, you keep repeating the same thing over and over, we get it. You do not think Surly Darkness is worth waiting for five hours in December temperatures. Got it. Thanks now drive on through. We’ve dealt with your opinion and disagree. You started this thread by calling people fanboy because they like a certain product more than you, that is a bit rude, of course people will react aggressively to that.
Oh and design, is more than graphic design it’s recipe design, branding and the whole kit and caboodle of product design. The product is the beer, and if it tasted like dishwater, the ‘cool factor’ would not exist for very long.
bthek-
I’m responding to some questions.
And trying to get to 50, as challanged.
If fanboy is the wrong word for blind loyalty please suggest another. Maybe cult member?
Sounds like Steve will be in line on Friday night!
Trav-
I’ll be there with Kool-Aid to share….wait…most of you already drank it.
The nice thing about Saturday is that if you’re bringing beer, you won’t need a cooler…
I should say I did have some Darkness at the Gnome a few weeks back and found it very good, if perhaps a tad too hoppy up front, but with wonderful complexity.
blind loyalty? Surly hasn’t exactly asked me or anyone I know to take a blood oath. I buy the beer and I get pleasure from it. It’s a good relationship, I’ll maintain it.
I think logical explanations were made quite early in this thread as to why a person will wait in line for Darkness. I will restate them for you: 1)Some people like object x more than other other people like object x. Doesn’t matter what the object is, someone will take this affection to an extreme level. 2) People will stand outside for hours in the cold waiting for a football game because of the festive atmosphere and the eventual payoff of the game itself. 3)Minnesotans and to an increasing degree more Americans are major “homers.” Tell someone something is local and they will praise and support it. Whether the praise is deserved or not is subjective.
bthek-
Yeah. Got that the first time you said it. I don’t buy the hype.
There’s a world of beer out there and Surly would not be in my top 100.
Or my top 10 if I had to limit it to Minnesota.
Steve,
Are you my long lost blood brother?
Hateboy-
The MN beer scene needs more fanboys.Try supporting your favorite local brewery.
Todd speaks the truth. Sounds like Steve and skypilot should get together….
Is some of this frustration?
I feel it. I hate and love it that we have such a good beer scene here. We have a lot lot more options now then we had two years ago. But we also have to wait in line for hours to get Surly Darkness, Cellars sells cases of Flat Earth in days and the Winterfest sells out in hours. And it sucks when you don’t get a chance to try any of them. But its hard to have one without the other.
Also it seems like getting, having and trying these rare beers are little trophies and bragging rights and that the beer sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.
And all of these things can get stuck in your craw a little bit. But I try and take the good with the bad and hopefully I can get some next time (or I find some different friends that will wait in line and let me try some).
skypilot-
I dunno…maybe… were you raised by wolves too?
surlybrewer-
I do support MN beer. Did you miss what I said about darkness?
I just like a lot of other MN beers more than your beer, finding them more balanced with a higher quaffability factor.
“Fanboy (sometimes spelt fanboi) is a pejorative term used to describe an individual (usually male; the feminine version fangirl may be used for females) who is utterly devoted to a single fannish subject, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession. Fanboys remain loyal to their particular obsession, disregarding any factors (often including logic) that differ from their point of view.”
Yeah, baby. We need more disregard for logic with regard to Minnesota beer.
Minnesota beers I go out of my way to support:
Summit oatmeal stout
Summit cask porter
Summit cask brett stout
Summit Maibock
Suimmit Ofest
Town Hall Maharaja
Barley Johns Old 8 Porter
Anything hoppy from Fitgers
Flat Earth Cygnus
Key word in the definition: pejorative
You are suffering from a major case of internet a**hole syndrome. I doubt you would be so rude a person as to insult people to their face. Good Day sir.
troll-
An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages in an on-line community such as an on-line discussion forum or group with the singular intention of baiting users into an argumentative response.
Hateboy-
I don’t care what you like.
Support what you like,it might lead to fanboyish behavior so be careful!
bthek & surlybrewer-
I’m sorry you feel challenged by a differing opinion. I wasn’t trolling. I’m serious.
Also, bthek, keyword in the definition “often used” NOT always used.
Keyword for me: obsession and ignoring logic.
surlybrewer-
Sounds like you just want the praise, but not any genuine feedback.
I didn’t say your beer sucks. I said it was good but not great, and not very balanced.
Sorry for not falling into line.
I can’t believe this is still going on.
That is all. Carry on.
I said good day, sir.
Trying to put a name with a face here. Steve, have we met?
hateboy-
Nope you missed the point.I challenge you and anyone else to support and “hype” the MN breweries you think deserve it.Your disrespect for Surly fans does nothing for your “Top Ten” breweries.
I’m not even gonna get into this one.
Ryan: “The nice thing about Saturday is that if you’re bringing beer, you won’t need a cooler… ”
I don’t think Surly wants people bringing their own beer to drink on the brewery property and drinking in the street could get you fines from the city. I may be wrong though.
Ben is right here guys.
surlybrewer-
Yeah, I do support beer I like. I even buy Surly from time to time. I liked the Cynic this year, a big improvement over the first version, which I found very harsh and unpleasant.
It’s not hate to express an opinion and yank your chain a bit.
Hype? Why do I have to hype something? Not everything every brewery makes is worth hyping. Some Fitgers beer is great, some I’d rather use to water my lawn. The last saison I had up there was crap.
Jeff-
Uh…why…you wanna put a hit on me?
Probably. I meant soda, of course.
Just want to know if you are the Steve I know that is a beer nerd.
wow well we passed fifty. other than that, i find it absolutely hilarious that grown men (i use that loosely) are having a pissing contest over the internet. ahahah. i for one have better things to do like uh er…..oh yeah work on my car and drink a sixer of two hearted. see ya all saturday. Just a side not for those of you who HAVE NOT checked the weather recently. Low will be near 0 at sun up saturday am with a scorching high of 12! wooooo hoooooo just what i was hoping for. Once i crack a 750 it’ll be that much sweeter!
wow well we passed fifty. other than that, i find it absolutely hilarious that grown men (i use that loosely) are having a pissing contest over the internet. ahahah. i for one have better things to do like uh er…..oh yeah work on my car and drink a sixer of two hearted. see ya all saturday. Just a side not for those of you who HAVE NOT checked the weather recently. Low will be near 0 at sun up saturday am with a scorching high of 12! wooooo hoooooo just what i was hoping for. Once i crack a 750 it’ll be that much sweeter!
I’ve never had a Town Hall Maharaja…is it good?
So, not to belabor the point of this thread, but when are folks thinking of showing up again?
A free beer to anyone who can quote Reginald Denny… (seems to fit this post).
mag -
What the fuck man - why do you think that Reginald Denny getting beaten is frivolous?
Trav - sorry, I’ll clarify.
I will show up 8-ish with the full intention of waiting and then purchasing Darkness, with the knowledge that doing so may result in the negative result of being number 300-or-so in line. I could (seemingly) assure myself a bottle and make the 4AM time posited by some, but that option (10 hours in sub 15°F temps) is just not appealing at all to me. I’d rather show up later and take my chances than wait that long and cut my losses if I guessed wrong with the aforementioned alternative activities. Bereft of other possibilities and responsibilities or presented with more forgiving weather (95°F would be nice), I may have been more inclined to make a go of it, but, no dice. So, I guess it’s Plan A at 8AM while reserving the right to call an audible if this choice meets futility.
Also, I feel an urgent need to rescind and repeal any semblance of agreement with Steve. I have only good things to say about Surly and balk only at the potentional waiting time; I’ve neither no ax to grind nor need to incite, as is Steve’s wont, but rather an aversion to lines. And I didn’t mean to tacitly equate those who do choose longer wait periods with the Black Friday idiots or idiocy in general; it’s not my bag, but I can respect this goal, the goal of good beer. But it is somewhat analagous.
I think you want us to quote Rodney King, right?
and can’t we, though?
Mag-
So I sincerely and honeslly wanted to understand the Surly obsession and I gave Surly fans a little crap for your devotion and it seems to be that you’re implying that perhaps I should be beaten by a mob?
If not, please enlighten me further and provide said quote.
Sheesh people it’s just beer.
Al-
The Town Hall maharaja IPA is a very good beer.
Al, I thought Reginald Denny said, “Can’t we just all get along?” Maybe it was Rodney King. Doesn’t matter. I owe you a beer (close enough). Thought I might try to calm things down.
Hateboy or Steve, I didn’t say you should be beaten by a mob and I certainly didn’t imply it. I asked if someone could quote Denny. Simple as that.
Fantome, I’m not sure where you’re coming from. Never said a man getting beaten was frivolous (your words, not mine), so please don’t go putting words in my mouth. If you’re looking to get worked up in a lather over something, find something else…like a misquote maybe. You coulda gotten a free beer out of the deal.
I may be the idiot on this one, however, i believe the town hall IPA steve was referring to is the masala mama. Hence Al’s confusion. Avery brewing of colorado actually brews this beer (Avery The Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale) which is delicious i might add. although if town hall ever brewed a beer called maharaja, I apologize in advance!
see ya in line fellas!
Oh, I love this. Wish I had seen this earlier to join in with Steve far above.
I was amused by the ABR line for all of Surly’s ’special release’ stuff. Actually, I was happy for it. It meant that I had better access to all of the other tremendous beers that the Midwest had to offer while two hundred people decided that being in a line together was more fun than trying another brewery’s kickass ale. Hopefully, they’ll do it again so I get better access to the special releases of South Shore, Tyranena, Barley John’s, Summit, and Flat Earth. I’d particularly appreciate it if they had one of their special offerings opposite the Bret Oatmeal Stout release.
See, I’ve got a Surly workshirt, a Surly glass, love me my Bender and my Darkness…and I still wouldn’t touch this sort of thing with a ten-foot pole. Good on Omar and co for being able to create so much buzz and local brand loyalty. And I love being in a town that has access to so much good beer.
But instead, I’ll enjoy the seasonals as they come to my local taps and let people with more time and money than I do hype their favorite beer.
And finally, I believe one point that Steve may have been trying to make here is that it’s the breathless quality that many of the people who make this blog speak about Surly that rankles folks. Surly is great. Surly is good. But the dopes that think ‘Surly’ is the only decent local beer are as stupid as the buy who goes to the Muddy Pig and buys Grain Belt because that’s their beer.
(oh, and the ‘SHUT UP’ responses? They’re so cute!)
Seriously…”You shut up!” “No you shut up!” Makes me want to pinch your cheeks.
I’m as big a surly fan as anyone, and I sure dont think Surly is the end all, beat all of MN beer. They happen to make beers that I like, but so does FE, Summit and Schell’s, they just dont get talked about quite as much.
Poor Steve,
A guy puts his comments down and get trashed. I’ve known Todd for as long as Ive been in the Twin Cities. He was great at Rock Bottom and is even better with the shackles off at Surley. However for the most part, I’d have to agree with Steve-O. I very much love to see local stuffy bought by local people but things in MN seem to have a tidal wave effect being that its such a closed market. We simply can not get a lot of things here. So when a brewer like Surly opens we finally have something that stands out. People go nuts. When I look at Surly’s overall lineup of beers I have to say that some arent that great. I simply DO NOT like Bender nor SurlyFest. I think Todd’s best beer that he’s made at Surly so far was his English bitter. Simply a wonderful pint. However, b/c its not tearing your eyes out bitter or high in alcohol it doesn’t get mentioned = doesn’t sell. As a businessman, I would say, ‘Ok, well we’ll make sure not to make that again’. Its sad b/c the yahoo’s that have to have ’special/limited’ everything don’t speak about a great beer like this. B/c they don’t talk about it, it doesn’t sell as well. It doesn’t sell, it doesn’t get made. Very very simple.
So with all the ‘fanboy’ crazy thats going on in the TC’s about Surly, its b/c of the nutters that wonderful beers like the bitter won’t be made as much. When you keep begging and pleading for special editions and everything is ’special’, then nothing becomes special. I just wish that people would give as much feedback for the ‘non-special’ beers as for the limited editions. If not, then there is no way we will be able to share in what the brewer/y is actually capable of doing.
As for people crapping on Steve, why can’t a guy have his opinion? Its just. He makes very good points. He likes tons of other MN beers.
And before the nutters jump in and say anything about me not liking Surly, I just added Surly Furious to the classic examples of the BJCP guidelines for the Imperial IPA category. Not b/c its Surly but b/c its a very good example thats is not a clone of the west coast IIPA’s.
Kristen England
BJCP Continuing Education Director
education_director@bjcp.org
I had a bottle of Avery’s Maharaja once. 45 minutes later, it knocked me right the eff out. It was 8pm on a Friday night.
True story.
“I think Todd’s best beer that he’s made at Surly so far was his English bitter. Simply a wonderful pint. However, b/c its not tearing your eyes out bitter or high in alcohol it doesn’t get mentioned = doesn’t sell.”
I didn’t get to try that one.
I’d have to agree that session beers are hugely under-appreciated and ignored.
Usually, when I have a beer, I like to have 2 or 3. Maybe 4. Sometimes 5 or perhaps even 6.
After one Furious, I’m done and want something different.
“But the dopes that think ‘Surly’ is the only decent local beer are as stupid as the buy who goes to the Muddy Pig and buys Grain Belt because that’s their beer.”
Bingo!!!!!!!
“Hateboy or Steve, I didn’t say you should be beaten by a mob and I certainly didn’t imply it. I asked if someone could quote Denny. Simple as that.”
Whew!
I was googling for a Reginald Denny quote and all I came up with was a guy who was dragged out of his truck and beaten nearly to death just for driving into the wrong neighborhood.
Ooops….Town Hall’s IPA is Masala Mama, not Maharaja.
My bad
Who said the Bitter didnt sell and how do you know they wont make it again this spring? It was gone in bars fairly quickly, as they only brewed a few barrells of it. Sounds like you are assuming an awful lot of things.
Kris-
I don’t know where you get your intel, but it is bad!
We will make twice(or more if the 6 new tanks are here in time) as much Bitter Brewer as last year.We’ve done that with every seasonal/specialty beer this year.We are making as much beer as we can - everything is limited-
and….
As much time and energy that Trollboy wasted on this thread he could have posted something positve about Town Hall maharajah
See ya soon Kris-
surlybrewer-
I thought I was Hateboy?
I was curious about the zealous Surly fans.
Some people had great responses which I appreciated.
Others just branded me.
Did you send more than one beer to GABF? Get any hate…uh…feedback you didn’t like?
Steve did more then state his views. He degraded people and their opinions by calling them all fanboys and writing their views off as blind loyalty. Fanboy is a negative term in the minds of most. I’ve been using Apple computers since ‘84. I work for a Mac software company. I can’t stand when people call me a fanboy because I use Apple products. Do we call Vikings fans fanboys? Why shouldn’t we? People have loved them for years yet they can’t seem to produce a Super Bowl championship. They’re all blind sheep that continue to support an organization no matter how crappy they are (well maybe Minnesota isn’t a great example of that as our sports fans are as fair weather as they come). Steve persecuted people because of their views. You know who else did that? Hitler. That’s right, Steve is in fact Hitler.
Kris: I think you’re wrong about the Surly Bitter Brewer. People loved that beer. It was polished off in a week or so. At the release party we killed the entire keg in an hour or two. It sold great. I just don’t think Surly currently has the capacity to produce it full time along with their current offerings and be able to make special release brews like SurlyFest, CynicAle, etc.
i forgot your name? …ok….Twuntboy
YOU branded people that were(GOD FORBID) excited about something.It’s my opinion that you are a troll.Get over it.It ’s NOT about the beer,it was,but YOU made it about the “fanboys”.Your “hate” was directed at them not me or Surly,I understand that.
WTF does the GABF have to do with anything,it’s just their opinion right?The hype made it through the blind panel?I’ve been sending my beers to GABF for 12 years.One medal.What is your point?
Opinions are like Steve,everyones got one.
Ben: Yes, Hitler persecuted people for their views… along with every human that has ever existed (and those that still exist today).
Steve had his opinions and … god forbid… they went against the norm.
I love the band Rush. Go ahead, call me a Rush fanboy…. tell me your opinions of Rush and watch me not care. Watch me realize that you are different than me and you have a different opinion. Watch me not get all pissed off because you do not have the same opinions, likes and dislikes as me and my millions of other Rush fanboy friends.
If you get all worked up over a stupid name, or term, or someones differing opinion… the rest of your life will be lots of fun.
Don’t put those bats down… the horse is bleedin’, but aint dead yet!
“I’ve been sending my beers to GABF for 12 years.One medal.What is your point?”
Are they haters because you got one? That’s what you called me for calling your beer good and not great. What kind of feedback did you get on Darkness?
“Hitler.”
We’ve gotten to Hitler? You lose. The horse dead.
This bears repeating:
“I love the band Rush. Go ahead, call me a Rush fanboy…. tell me your opinions of Rush and watch me not care. Watch me realize that you are different than me and you have a different opinion. Watch me not get all pissed off because you do not have the same opinions, likes and dislikes as me and my millions of other Rush fanboy friends.”
“If you get all worked up over a stupid name, or term, or someones differing opinion… the rest of your life will be lots of fun.”
Also, 2112 rawks, dude!
Let me change the subject for a minute.
Does anyone know if the people in line will somehow be given a number? That is, I see they are going to “check ids” - are they going to write the person’s name down on a list?
The point of my question is will people be allowed to move about freely, congregate where they want, maybe set up a grill, etc etc after they somehow are awarded the chance to buy a couple bottles?
thanks
Along the same lines, (and in the interest of swerving well away from Ben’s Hitler comment), it would be worth knowing whether people will be able to bring beer for the line as per someone’s suggestion far upthread.
Might as well make this 100 comments!!!!
There done.
1)Rush does Rule- great show at the Excel!Horrible beers for 11$
2)Steve-You are known as HateBoy because you hate fanboys,not Surly.
3)Don the answer is yes.
It took far too long to Godwin this discussion.
Oh, we will be bringing beer. Are we “able”? I say go for it and ask permission later.
Have you seen footage from Three Floyd’s Darklord day? (check You Tube) Beer flows like… beer in a craft brewery parking lot. In that case, it comes from all over the country too, so you get a chance to sample all kinds of different things. At least that is how it looks; I have not been there for that.
I would sure think they will hand out tickets or somthing as they say you will be able to purchase growlers if you want and not lose your place in line. Also, Omar commented that he has no control over people bringin beer to drink outside the gates. You can do it, but run a small risk of getting in trouble…but keep it discreet, probably be ok?
It has been posted elsewhere that you cannot bring beer to drink on Surly property. You can take your chances drinking in the streets but it the police happen to show up you risk a fine and maybe worse.
Dark lord day is a huge boon for the munster, in community. Have you ever been there? I’m guessing the local law enforcement turns their eyes a little more than they might here. There is no subtlety at dl day–people set up tables to facilitate trades and tasting.
Best thread ever.
Here’s a funny thought: what if only 150 or 200 people show up?
I’ll be so bitter knowing I could have slept in!
Where is it “posted elsewhere that you cannot bring beer to drink on Surly property.”? Not on BA or RB that I can see.?
Eric: I think Three Floyds is a bit stupid to allow what they do. People show up and get absolutely tanked (there were tons of drunks). Then they get in their cars and drive out of there. Three Floyds would be liable if any of them were to get into an accident and kill someone and may be liable if someone was to get a DWI. Yeah it’s a great time to go there and have some beer but there needs to be some kind of control put in place there.
Funny thought though it is, Eric, I think it’s safe to say that the bottles will be sold. Whether or not you consider Darkness to be an overhyped product, at least 240 won’t.
Like I said a few weeks ago on this forum, I’d love to have a bottle or two for cellaring - because it is mighty good, y’know.
I’ll just wait for the far-off day when I can get a Darkness at the liquor store.
Ben, it is northwest Indiana we’re talking about here….not exactly the hot bed of intellect (no offense to my sis and her fam who live there).
“Steve-You are known as HateBoy because you hate fanboys,not Surly.”
WTF?
If I hated Surly afficianados, I would have gotten a bogus gmail address, called myself Gunter and really flamed the fanboys.
I was trying to get a handle on something I didn’t understand. Maybe I shouldn’t have chided the fanboys or used that word, but seriously, I don’t hate Surly fans. I do however have a much better understanding based on some of the things people said, particularly about inclusiveness and such.
I think someone should make a couple hundred copies of this thread and hand them out on Saturday. May as well add to the hysteria.
Do it.
Then they can carry pitchforks and burn me in effigy to keep warm.
I was thinking more like Waterboarding with Surly Beer. Ha Ha. Just kidding.
Steve-
Chillout!
I yanking your chain….another cheap stunt if you will….step away from the keyboard and have a beer…see ya saturday!
15. Steve | December 10th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
I think to some extent Surly is a fad. HOPS!!! HOPS!!! HOPS!!! Yawn. Been there. Done that. Same with RIS, which to beer newbies is cool, but from what I’ve observed, as a beer nerd for more than a decade now, is that palate’s grow.
Many people gravitate to the extremes in hops and gravity, but after some time look for more nuance and flavor variations.
There’s more to beer life than a hop kick in the face.
and then:
56. Steve | December 11th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Town Hall Maharaja
Barley Johns Old 8 Porter
Anything hoppy from Fitgers
…………..
notice “anything hoppy from Fitger’s”…no, discriminaton there, as long as it’s hops, hops, hops, it’s okay by you.
Some people spend there whole lives loving hops, and never outgrow that love. I’m closing in on 2 decades of hop loving. Thanks to Surly for helping me feed the beast!
23. Steve | December 10th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
To me, all the special releases and limited edition things come across as exclusive and not inclusive.
56. Steve | December 11th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Minnesota beers I go out of my way to support:
Summit cask porter
Summit cask brett stout
…….
hmmm, two beers that have been special editions or llimited releases at festivals…hmmm, no hypocrisy here…
Steve> hi
why so angry? we got your point. it’s okay to let it go now.
MF
“notice “anything hoppy from Fitger’s”…no, discriminaton there, as long as it’s hops, hops, hops, it’s okay by you.”
I just think Fitgers hoppy beers have more balance. And I didn’t have to stand in line for the Summit cask stuff. I had it at the brewery with the brewer.
“why so angry?”
I’m not.
“Waterboarding”
Nice one!
But ….I read somewhere that it ISN’T torture and the US doesn’t torture.
I believe everything I read. Especially shit on that interweb dealy. You know the place? It’s where sometimes things can get mis-read as angry and mean when they’re not intended to be?
Mr. furley, I totally agree.
Steve> Have a nice season.
Aaaaaaw, groups hug everyone!
Ben-
No hugs for you.
Now we know you’re Hitler…
122. HateBoy | December 13th, 2007 at 8:11 am
“notice “anything hoppy from Fitger’s”…no, discriminaton there, as long as it’s hops, hops, hops, it’s okay by you.”
I just think Fitgers hoppy beers have more balance.
I find Furious to be quite balanced, Bender too..
“And I didn’t have to stand in line for the Summit cask stuff. I had it at the brewery with the brewer.”
well, isn’t that even more exclusive?
if more than one person wants it at once, there will always be some wait…turns out Darkness is just much more popular than those favorites of yours…I think you’re jealous.
what’s even weirder about the interweb dealy is people who switch off identities for different posts, Steve/Hitler/Hateboy…pick one and stick with it!
“what’s even weirder about the interweb dealy is people who switch off identities for different posts, Steve/Hitler/Hateboy…pick one and stick with it!”
I didn’t know there were so many rules here, Al.
What’s to be jealous of? Think what you like.I’ve had darkness. One $9 glass was enough for me.
I agree with Ben. Group hug and everyone is happy.
I need a beer.
A beer sounds like a great idea. Mulling over the idea of buying this chest freezer a homebrewer just posted that holds 17 cornie kegs. Just got my holiday bonus today. :-X Seems a bit excessive though.
$9?!?!?
how does everyone let Happy Gnome get away with this?
No one went higher than $7.50…and I thought my $6.66 was too low, but…jeezus!
No more excessive than standing in line for 5 hours in single degree temps for a bottle of friggin beer. We’re all a little excessive here. Do it!
See ya tomorrow, bright and early!
official weather service forcast is as follows (per 7 pm friday ight)
low at sunrise will be -5
high will be 18
dress warm see ya at sun up!
Hope the Drakness is worth it!
Hey, it’s 2 degrees right now! WOO!
the Drakness is so worth it!
and no one stood in line for 5 hours. Those of us who dared to do so, were rewarded by not having to do so.
Sorry, haters!