Come and Find Out | Heart Of Darkness

By: Naomi Kerchinsky

This is not the set-up of a perfect tale. You know, the one where everyone finds love and lives happily ever after. Instead, Heart of Darkness Dark Lager is our toast to the antiheroic journey. A delightful mystery that beckons you to come and find out. A gift for those this Valentine’s Day who wants to let the darkness of our newest beer reflect their own darkness. It is a little heavy and a little moody, but you can’t keep away from the truth of things forever.

Heart of Darkness
ABV4.9%
IBU25
SRM16.8

Rich, Dark, Malty, Easy & Complex

This beer pours dark with a ruby undertone. The Mt. Hood hops shine through with earthy, herbal, and spicy notes with a hint of lemongrass. The malts, which are a mix of Dark Munich, Munich, Melanoidin Malt, Red Shed Black Bear, and Pilsner Malt, add a little bit of toast and nuts. The flavour brings the malt-forward with hits of cold brew coffee and dark bread toast while the hop notes come back and remind you they are there. The bitterness is pleasant and balanced making this a beer you can easily drink a pint of without thinking. Yet it is complex enough that you can sit with it and work through the flavour nuances that change as the beer warms.

Fun Fact: This beer is named after a novella, Heart of Darkness. This is also the name of a documentary based on the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now, which the basis of the movie is also inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novella.

Journey to the Center of Yourself

In Joeseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness, the main character, Marlow, may at first appear to be the epic hero that sets out on a harrowing journey into the heart of the Belgian Congo. The journey into “the heart of darkness” follows a prototypical hero’s journey: departure, initiation, return. However; Marlow is forever transformed, but not in the warm fuzzy-feeling sort of way. He returns haunted instead of victorious, thus making Heart of Darkness decidedly an antiheroic tale. The ambivalent ending will leave you with a mixed bag of feelings, but one thing is for sure, the journey makes Marlow truly understand his own inner darkness.

So if your Valentine’s Day forecast isn’t all about finding your so-called perfect star-crossed lover and spending the day adored with gifts and candies and dinners, why not write a new ending? Instead, how about taking a journey to the center of yourself? Nurturing the most important relationship you have: the one with you. Self-love is a pretty badass superpower and we would like to think it’s better than heart-shaped chocolate boxes and roses, yet we are not convinced it is better than craft beer. So, if this all sounds a bit too much, at least we have given you some jolly lager beer to enjoy along the way.

Find Yourself

Love is in the air, but so is pollen and a bunch of other stuff you’re allergic to. Sometimes it’s better to just stay inside with a 4-pack and get to know yourself a bit better. Really stare into the Heart of Darkness and find yourself.