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The Veil's annual Dark Daze event showcasing dark beers returns this Friday. (Photo courtesy of The Veil Brewing Co.)
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The Veil Brewing's Whangdoodle Cru Reserve, dubbed by Owner and Head Brewer Matt Tarpey a can't-miss, will be released during Dark Daze and is a bottle. (Photo courtesy of The Veil Brewing Co.)
Stouts aged in cognac, whiskey and brandy barrels. Coffee- and chocolate-milk-spiked suds. Beer that's been cold-conditioned in the pitch black. Celebrating the dark and mysterious side of beers, with their traditionally high ABV, all locations of The Veil Brewing Co., including its Norfolk taproom, will host the annual Dark Daze event on Nov. 25. Planning for the daylong (noon to 10 p.m.) ode to bold and silky pints began 18 months ago, and beer drinkers can expect to relish in flavors of everything from sticky dates and spice cake to boozy holiday cocktails and bananas Foster. Bonus: The Veil promises the reveal of super-rare treats, a magnum pouring tent featuring vintage favorites, and a cellar sale. We caught up with owner and head brewer Matt Tarpey ahead of the event to talk can’t-miss bottles, cookies and more.
Richmond magazine: What sparked the creation of Dark Daze?
Matt Tarpey: Dark Daze has been an annual event that we’ve been hosting here at The Veil since 2017. The event was created to be a celebration of dark beers. Each year, we release 13-plus different barrel-aged imperial stouts and barleywines, with the primary release being different variants of Whangdoodle (our barrel-aged imperial chocolate-milk stout). Limited bottles to-go as well as drafts of these special offerings are available for Dark Daze each year on Black Friday.
RM: What is it about dark beers that makes them so boldly unique, and why is now the perfect time to bust out those stouts and barleywines?
Tarpey: Imperial stouts and barleywines are typically fuller-bodied and higher in alcohol. Folks love these beers this time of year because of the warming quality they can provide, being higher in alcohol. They are lovely to sip slowly next to a fire on a chilly evening or to share after a nice meal.
RM: With the Whangdoodle series, is there a selection in particular that you're extra excited to release? If imbibers only chose one option to drink (perhaps for a gift), where would you direct them?
Tarpey: I’m super stoked on how they all came out, but one variant I am particularly excited about would be Whangdoodle Grand Cru Reserve, a blend of 1-, 2- and 3-year-bourbon-barrel-aged Whangdoodle (our barrel-aged imperial chocolate-milk stout). We pulled samples from over 50 different bourbon barrels full of Whangdoodle and selected less than 10% of those samples to make an even blend of 1-, 2- and 3-year-aged Whangdoodle. It’s super complex, with a ton of barrel/spirit character — refined, but also very palatable considering the ABV coming in at 13.5%.
RM: Where are the cookies for Cookie Creature sourced from?
Tarpey: All over! We wanted to use some specific cookies, so we had to source them from a bunch of different locations. Local grocery stores and online retailers were the biggest sources. We buy a lot of adjuncts for imperial stouts from Nuts.com. We have worked with some local producers, but sometimes the quantities we need are too large for smaller operations to handle. Some of our beers can have thousands of pounds of ingredients in them.
RM: There’s always a lot of excitement around Dark Daze, and last year there was the slightly spooky video teasing the event. How do you keep that momentum building, and why do you feel the event has established itself as an annual tradition?
Tarpey: Dark Daze is near and dear to our hearts, so we always love getting extra creative with the marketing behind it. It’s hard to top some of our previous years’ videos, but we do our best to keep things fun and mysterious. We went a little more straightforward with it this year but have plans to work on making some cool promo videos again in the future. Dark Daze was also kind of designed to give folks a different, more fun Black Friday experience than traditional shopping outings. The limited nature of some of the offerings definitely has made Dark Daze a coveted event for lovers of dark beers.
RM: How long ago were these beers conceptualized before they actually got tasted and bottled?
Tarpey: Typically around six months before Dark Daze, we’ll pull samples from approximately 100 oak barrels full of imperial stouts and barleywines. We’ll dedicate a day or two towards sampling and brainstorming for all of the different variants that will eventually become the releases for each year’s Dark Daze.
Zorch, SmashedRVA and First Stop Donuts will be at the Scott’s Addition location, while Funnel Cake Recess will join in-house concept Y Tu Mama at the Forest Hill outpost. In Norfolk, Prosperity Kitchen will be at the event from noon to 5 p.m. or until sellout, with in-house concept Lil' Za Pizzeria available all day.
