dark arts surreal stout 6.0% ABV – happy Christmas!

Hello Saturday, its a massive pleasure to see you once again, I mean in my eyes this whole week to me has just flown by ever so quickly!

I hope you’ve all had a lovely week, it’s not been too bad for myself, I’ve been doing a lot of walking, but I am missing not being able to work under the current conditions!

I am still unable to work, and in my eyes, I am feeling the pain for all of those small pubs and micropubs which are sadly unable to open during this time!

Some of these pubs may never open up again and that is heartbreaking to hear!

At this time of the year, it is one of the busiest times for the hospitality sector, many businesses would have planned Christmas Party Nights, many restaurants would have taken bookings for Christmas Day, sadly though this year it’s not meant to be!

This past year has been a year that I will never want to think about, I haven’t been able to do all the lovely things with Isobel, my holiday was cancelled and that I’ve currently been off work for seven months!

However, I do agree with the government, there is light at the end of the tunnel, the sooner we defeat this virus the better!

I am looking forward to Christmas even though it will be a strange one, but I am looking forward to spending it with my Mum and Brother, I am hoping for a better 2021, I have so many ambitious goals to complete with Isobel, it’s going to be an amazing year!

Today’s post is on a tremendous beer called Dark Arts Surreal Stout!

History

Now, if you cast your mind back to July, I actually did a review post on a beer called Salty Kiss brewed by Magic Rock Brewing, well Dark Arts is another iconic beer that is brewed by Magic Rock Brewing!

Magic Rock Brewing is located in the beautiful district of West Yorkshire in the large market town of Huddersfield.

The brewery launched in May 2011, it was founded by Richard Burhouse, the breweries aim is to produce and brew exceptional beer with care and attention to detail.

This brewery has proven to be so popular by all its local customers and landlords, furthermore, after the first six months in operation, this amazing brewery was voted 2nd Best Brewery in the whole world, don’t you just think that is incredible!

Due to huge public interest and the current demand, Magic Rock Brewing had to install more fermenting vessels, the first set being October 2011 and the next set being January 2012.

The capacity that this brewery brews at is approximately 2.7million pints a year!

Which is totally astonishing, all that beer!

Inside this shiny state of the art brewery, there is a beautiful 50hl Brewing Facility, a modernised Taproom and finally a spectacular automated canning facility.

I would certainly love to venture to this brewery in the future, I am really interested in the taproom, especially that its right next to the brewery itself.

One goal to achieve in 2021!

Tasting Notes

This moreish surreal stout blends four traditional malts together to deliver a decadently deep and indulging experience.

A delicious mouthfeel is followed by spicy notes and full flavours of chocolate, liquorice, blackberries and figs.

The aftertaste is rich along with a satisfying and lingering roasted bitterness.

Magic Rock Brewing have stated that there stout will convert you to the dark side!

Review

I think it’s fair to say it’s only right to have a reflection beer, I mean I have personally made some amazing memories with Isobel this year which I will never forget, but I think we can all truthfully say is roll on 2021!

This beer is my penultimate sampler to taste from my Honestbrew mixed beer case and to be honest I couldn’t wait to try it!

Luckily, I saw some fantastic reviews on Instagram about this beautiful beer, so in fairness, I was really happy that Honestbrew supplied this can of this beer.

This beer certainly delivered the wow factor, it was absolutely unreal, I couldn’t believe how intensive the flavours were inside this can.

This stout was completely luxurious and very sweet, it almost made me feel like I was eating a chocolate brownie,  it was so rich and sweet, the hint of chocolate just lingered on my nose for minutes.

What you are witnessing here is a glass full of flavour with a marvellous creamy head, I am also going to admit to you all that the lingering taste on the palate is long-lasting!

I mean this beer isn’t considered as a hoppy/malty beer if you indulge deep down into the flavours, it’s more of a sweet retreat to sample into after a delicious Sunday Lunch!

This beer was perfect, and I truly can’t wait to get my hands on some more, furthermore, when I have the chance to visit Huddersfield, I would certainly be trying this beer on tap to see if there is any difference in flavour.

Ending

Well, there you go, does Dark Arts Surreal Stout sound like a beer that you like to try, I can simply answer that question for you and that’s yes!

Of course, if you don’t like stouts then this beer probably isn’t for you, but to all my stout followers, I highly recommend this beer to you.

This has to go in as my top 10 favourite beers of 2020, and what could be better getting into the spirit of Christmas and drinking a winter warming beer, I have said this probably like three times now but this beer was absolutely amazing!

This now concludes my post and I shall not be returning to blogging now until Monday 28th December, this means there is only one more thing to say!

I would like to wish all of you, my supporters, my beer fans and my followers a very Happy Christmas, I really hope you enjoy the festive period and that you get lots of wonderful presents of Santa!

I am certainly looking forward to my Turkey dinner and a beer/whisky, please be festive everyone and drink merrily and safely!

If you’re following me on Instagram, I will be posting loads of content on the run up to Christmas, so please stay tuned!

Take Care and Stay Safe

The Cask Connoisseur