I'm pretty new to beer festivals in general, and I just came back from my first Dark Lord Day. Awesome atmosphere--Everyone was in a great mood, and the beer shares were ridiculous. I came in knowing that there'd be plenty of sharing going on, but was blown away by the sheer scope of it (and by the generosity of the people sharing). My question is this: Are there other events that do something similar to this? I've heard Darkness Day (and possibly Hunahpu's Day?) are similar, but those events are obviously over (and in Hunahpu's case, possibly forever). Is beer sharing like this common, or is it something that only comes with these huge, once-a-year events?
Probably will be sharing at Avery's sour fest coming around soon. Depends on the festival, I didn't see a lot of sharing at the Palm Beach Craft Beer Fest last year. The bottle shares I enjoy most are the ones with my good friends I've made over the years.
I would not look forward to beer sharing at Dark Lord next year. State excise came in and flipped out over the beer being brought in.
Yeah, I heard about that; right after I left. Does that sound like something that they'll ban going forward?
No, I got that part, I just wasn't sure if they were simply shutting it down for the rest of the night because it was getting out of hand. If they're stopping that period, that really sucks.
Always a bad thing when the government is involved. Their track record related to alcohol is not very good.
The thing about Darkness Day is you have to get there the night before and camp out. So it's get there, get drinking, pass out in your tent, get up, keep drinking, get your Darkness (in like 10 minutes or less), keep drinking. I like that format a little better because if you get there early enough on Friday you have everything you need within easy walking distance.
The local police did not seem to mind it. However things changed when the State showed up. I think the thought process is; you can't take a bottle of whiskey into bar with you, why is carrying beer into a private establishment any different?
I heard state police stepped in because they did not file proper paperwork. I don't see any changes for next year. Or at least hope not because the bottle share this year was epic and definitely the best part!
That was my thought too. The lines for EVERYTHING were so long this year that it would definitely be a buzz kill (literally) if we weren't able to share the stuff we brought.
Yeah, that sounds pretty cool. I probably won't be able to make it to Darkness Day, which is a shame, because I actually like the beer more than Dark Lord.
At every release I have been to there has been some sort of a share attempted. Doesn't always work out because of local ordinance, etc. but folks bring beer to share in this community pretty much always. One thing about us, there is only one thing we enjoy as much as sharing our beer, and that is having it shared with us. Still remember the guy at Capt. Lawrence a few years back pouring all four Armand seasons for anyone with a glass. You will not find a group of folks as generous as we are, that is just a fact.
