It’s not just a normal beer, Dark Charge. You can’t have a beer, that in turn creates a yearly event, that becomes a local holiday… that then spreads to four Braxton taprooms, without that beer being something spectacular.

Dark Charge is definitely spectacular. It’s a beer that stands as a beacon to what Braxton Brewing Company is all about, the liquid, the community and this city. If you’ve never been to Dark Charge Day, you really, really need to remedy that.

Let’s talk.

What’s Dark Charge Day?

Dark Charge Day is a yearly event thrown by Braxton Brewing Company. It’s a bottle release, a block party, a music festival, a food festival… all rolled into one. Every first Saturday in December the city shows up and celebrates together, buying bottles of Braxton’s big Imperial Stout and hanging out over a bunch of beer (and sometimes some lousy weather).

It’s a blast.

This year’s celebration is going to look a little different than it has in years past. The brewery is spreading the event out to all of their taprooms, and moving the bottle sales to their website. 2020 is strange, and the choice to undo all that has been built for the last 5 years couldn’t have been easy, but they’re doing what has to be done to not just keep the event alive in 2020, but to do it safely.

To keep it as simply stated as possible, Dark Charge Day is a celebration of the things that make craft beer fun. You can’t take that away from people. You can’t stop us from saluting that. No pandemic, shutdowns, or changes can stop us from taking a day to celebrate this community… even if we have to do it differently.

This Year’s Beers

You can always read my post about Dark Charge here if you’re curious about past variants of Dark Charge… but if you’re reading this – I know what you really want. You want to know about this year’s release.

  • Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Charge
    • You know this one. It’s the base beer, however, this year it gets a big upgrade. No longer is base Dark Charge just from one year aged Imperial Stout – this year it starts its life as a blend of one, two, and three-year-old beers.
  • Double Molé
    • Again… slightly familiar but with a new twist. This year’s Molé gets doubled up. Think the same familiar beer, but with twice the Anchos, twice the vanilla, twice the cinnamon, and twice the chocolate.
  • Affogato
    • This year’s Labs variant is inspired by an Italian dessert. Classic Dark Charge with vanilla, cold brew coffee, and lactose. This is a dessert beer to the core!
  • Double Barrel Peach Brandy
    • This year’s Barrel House variant sees classic Dark Charge aged for an average of 10 months, then head into an additional Peach Brandy barrel for 4 weeks. Coffee, Caramel, and Oak, with a nose that sings with the Peach Brandy barrels
  • Opera Cream
    • Before you start ranting and raving – it’s not designed after the dessert at BonBonerie. This Opera Cream beer is a collaboration with Papas Candies and consists of the base Dark Charge loaded up with Cocoa, Vanilla, and Lactose.
  • The Breakfast Box
    • The last release is really three releases all packaged together in a cereal box (you’ll get it in a second). The beers are the favorite from last year, Maple Breakfast alongside Blueberry Muffin and Cinnamon Roll. See? All breakfast themed.

Braxton has knocked this one out of the park. I am continually amazed by the brewery’s ability to keep things fresh, exciting, and satisfy the urges of craft beer fans. There is such a wide gamut of things you can do with an Imperial stout, and fans of the style want it all. To find that balance as a brewery with a release like this is incredibly difficult.

Stay Tuned, I’ll have a lot more to say about this year’s release, and I’ll update this post when I can!

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