"Everyone has a dark side. Even a good family has shadows. Some keep theirs buried deep in the caverns of the mind. Others keep them locked in the basement, with all their naughty secrets and toys. Sometimes they forget to lock the door. Sometimes the bad family gets out…"
Sage words from Dr Scratch there ahead of the return of their [insert organ music] Weekend of Darkness.
The annual winter event at Scratch Bar, this year taking place between July 24 and 26, will showcase some of the biggest and blackest beers to be found in this fair land and further afield. They've lined up around 30 different beers with styles, in their words, "ranging from hop heavy Black IPAs to menacingly malty Russian Imperial Stouts, with many limited release beers, rarities, barrel aged beasts, cask conditioned ales and a myriad of other beer-isms to excite the uninitiated through to the nerdiest of ale aficionados."
This year has a difference in that they're adding a Friday evening "warm-up" session ahead of the festival proper on Saturday and Sunday, but all weekend long you'll be able to get BBQ and a smorgasbord of smoked meats from The Shank Bros.
The beer lineup looks rather a lot like...
- 4 Hearts – QLD - Coal Miners Stout
- 8 Wired – NZ - iStout 2014 – Imperial Stout
- Bacchus – QLD - Session RIS on nitro
- Beans Brew – QLD - Bad Beans Black – Imperial Coffee Stout
- Bentspoke – ACT - Black Tyre India Black Ale
- Bentspoke – ACT - Foreign Stout on nitro
- Black Hops QLD - Kill Patrick Oyster Stout
- Boatrocker – VIC – Ramjet 2014 - Barrel Aged Imp. Stout
- Brewtal Brewers – QLD – Bourbon Oaked Bloody Good Stout
- Bridge Road – VIC – 1000 Imperial Stout
- Bridge Road –VIC - B2 Bomber Mach 5 – Belgio India Black Ale
- Bright –VIC - Porter
- Bright – VIC - Stubborn Russian – Coffee Chocolate RIS
- Brisbane Brewing – QLD - Russian Imperial Stout
- Epic –NZ - Epicurean Coffee & Fig Stout 2014
- Garage Project –NZ - Umami Monster – Smoked Dark Ale
- Green Beacon – QLD - Shiraz Barrel Aged Penny Porter
- Hargreaves Hill – VIC – 2013 Russian Imperial Stout
- Hop Dog – NSW - Bourbon Oaked American Porter
- Modus Operandi – NSW – Lark Whiskey Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout
- Moon Dog – VIC - Black lung V – Smokey Barrel Aged Stout
- Moon Dog – VIC - Ogden Nash’s Pash Rash – Redskins Imperial Stout
- Mornington – VIC - Russian Imperial Stout
- New England – NSW - Big Winter – Dark Belgian Strong Ale
- Newstead/Brewtal – QLD - Mulled Warrior – Spiced Imperial Stout
- Noisy Minor – QLD - Yastrebov 2014 - Ukranian Imperial Stout
- Pirate Life – SA - Barbe Noir – Double Black IPA
- Rocks – NSW - Chocolate Rye Stout on handpump
- Thirsty Crow – NSW - Vanilla Milk Stout
- Victory – USA - Storm King - Imperial Stout
- White Lies/Croft – QLD - Smoked Vanilla Porter
- Wig & Pen – ACT – Russian Imperial Stout
- Wig & Pen - ACT - King Of The North – Imperial Brown Ale on handpump
- Wolf of the Willows –VIC - JSP – Smoked Porter
- Young Henrys –NSW - Dark Coffee Rye Ale
