Dark Lord Day (DLD) 2015

I don't know the answer to this but I just wanted so say that im super impressed that it seems FFF dialed back the sweetness this year I can only presume based on overwhelming feedback that the last few years have been almost undrinkably sweet. I'm hoping they don't get sweeter as they age and I hope the dialed diwn sweetness was intentional for this year and going forward!

 

They should be forced to smash all of them, and be shamed relentlessly on social media for producing too much surplus. After all, this is beer... NOT COFFEE!!! Sanctity is ABSOLUTELY key to beer now. Beer is not a beverage, but an exclusive social club now...I just can't believe these ticketless heathens don't realize this... How dare EVERYONE think they are entitled to DLD branded stuff if they weren't lucky enough to get a ticket? May the Dark Lord sever the grubby hands of those who purchased Dark Lord Day merchandise for their friends back home who DID NOT ATTEND!!!!

 

No they get less sweet as they age. I've had dark lord fresh every year since 2011, and this beer tastes nothing like any previous version. So the recipe was definitely changed.

 

My only issue with killing the sweetness is that it's going to screw up the barrel aged stouts. An undrinkably sweet base beer makes for an amazing barrel aged beer.

 

That's something I hadn't thought of. Will be interesting to see what the consensus is.

 

I'm really happy with this years DL. I thought it tasted great and is ready to drink now.
I liked '14 but '15 is way better.

 

Yep '15 tastes great agreed. I'm glad they're most likely tweaking their recipe.

 

Had the '15 on tap at DLD, but at that point in the day I had already done too much drinking to do any kind of analysis of the beer I remember being like "YUP! This is Dark Lord!" haha

But all of this talk about it being significantly different than prior years got me to just crack open a bottle. Yes, the sweetness has definitely been dialed back significantly. Still sweet, but much more balanced out of the gates than any other year's that I have had ('11, '12, '13, '14)! Easily the best batch IMO!

But as @DrunkAl said above, this does have me slightly concerned about the BA Variants going forward. Granted the only variant I have had the privilege of trying is the Bourbon Barrel Aged DL, but the insane sweetness of the base DL is what made that beer so incredible! I am worried that this has the potential to negatively impact the Variants for next year...

 

Well, if the ratings on untapped have any value at all, then you don't have anything to worry about for the DL variants... So many 5s! BVDL has a 4.8 rating out of 240 total check ins. First year to ever score a variant out of the 3 years I've gone and I snatched a coffee. Can't wait to crack it!

 

I had this year's BBA DL, and it was fantastic, but we won't see the impact of this change on the variants until next year. This year's 2015 batch probably hasn't been in barrels for any more than a month now.

Knowing my luck, this will totally ruin the variants and next year will be the first time I win haha

 

Doooh! Face palm time... Very true...

Hope I'm lucky enough to find out next year!

 

You and me both! No doubt it will still be good, but a side by side comparison would be interesting for sure!

 

Yes it would! Just another reason for this to be very highly sought after...

 

Changing a recipe after 12 years of success. Yeah, that makes sense. It's called brewing, there are always batch variations. Besides the coffee change last year, they aren't messing with the recipe.

 

I'm not sure exactly what this formula number on the side really is, but I would guess the last two years have been the same recipe. Maybe just batch variations like mbockstruck30 stated.

 

You guys are probably right. By know means am I a brewing expert. The drop in sweetness made me imediately think recipe change. There is just so much difference between this batch and the others I have had.

 

I did an '09-'14 vertical in the group B line with my peeps. I was amazed how different 09 and 10 were from the rest of the years. 10 was way more coffee forward and 09 was juicy and fruity. They vary. But those were the most drastic that we noticed. I had a glass of 15 there two but don't really remember noticing it being much different than recent years. But I had palate fatigue by that point.

 

09 is my favorite to date. 10 is the smoothest. I thought 11-13 were somewhat mediocre and 14-15 back to the same awesome beer.

 

08 & 09 were always my favorite as well. I didn't care for 10 fresh but it agreed magnificently.

 

Sun King Tequila Barrel Fistful of Hops is on at the brewpub right now which I think answers the question "what do they do with the leftover guest taps?".