Amager Bryghus / Stillwater Darkest of Suns

Darkest of Suns is a dark brown, spicy saison with peppercorn and juniper. It was brewed at Amager Bryghus in collaboration with Stillwater Artisanal. Stillwater and brewer Brian Strumke are best known for brewing saison, and so it was natural for Amager to invite him in to brew a variation of saison.

The beer is a dark chestnut brown, with a fluffy, and long lasting tan head. The aroma is intense. It has a unique spicy character. The peppercorn are obvious, and the juniper comes off in a spicy wooden way, much like cedar wood. There is some herbal hop character along with the spice, and malty notes of biscuit and toffee. All in all, I think it works very well, in its own unique way.

Darkest of Suns is a rather sweet beer. The spice dominates the flavour, along with the malt. You get toffee from the malt, along with a light roasted note. The finish is rather bitter. How you like the beer will depend entirely on how you feel that the elements match each other. I like the spicy character and how it plays along with the darker flavours in the beer.

I couldn’t drink a lot of these, but it should be good with food. I tried combining it with cheese, and that also worked really well. A soft, fat and quite aromatic cheese, something that stood up to the spice in the beer. What about a good, flavourful stew. Perhaps a beef stew made with juniper? Darkest of Suns would also work with game and dark sauces. A surprise choice for a Peking Duck, perhaps? Having it with food would also take the top off the spice which can get quite intense as you work your way through the glass.

The set of Amager’s 2016 American collaboration beers was sent to Beertalk by Amager Bryghus and Boxbeers.