New Surly Darkness liquor from Tattersall turns the famous beer into a boozy spirit

Proving once again that they can make liquor out of just about anything, the folks at Tattersall Distilling are out today with a new, limited-edition spirit.

Darkness Bierschnapps — a collaboration with Surly Brewing Co. — turns the brewer's Darkness Russian Imperial Stout into an after-dinner sipping spirit with notes of chocolate and coffee.

To make it, Tattersall got ahold of 600 gallons of Surly's 2018 batch of the stout, distilled it, and aged it in two kinds of barrels.

Tattersall recommends drinking it neat, over ice, or mixed with brown spirits.

The relationship between the two Minneapolis drink-makers began earlier, when Surly used Tattersall's spirit barrels to finish their beers — including some of the Darkness offerings.

"It was great to take our collaboration to the next level with this project," said Surly head brewer Ben Smith in a statement. "Darkness is such an intense and unique beer, and it's quite amazing how the flavors from the beer concentrate in the Bierschnapps for a remarkably smooth and flavorful variant, different from anything we've ever done before — yet still distinctly Darkness at the core."

There are only 1,200 bottles available, at $30 each (available at liquor stores where Tattersall products are sold).

"It's incredible working with the crew at Surly and we think people are really going to love how this turned out," said Jon Kreidler, Tattersall founder and chief officer. "We only wish there was more of it to go around."

Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853

@SharynJackson