Dark Lord Day 2016

my buddy made a trade and received two bottles of no rules. when we got home, he realized someone had swiped them along with a bottle of dl and his vanilla militia. shady shit

 

Another sharing their north line experience. We were in front of the first driveway across from the cattle fences when the line started moving. Took an hour plus to get in. Should of had pissers in the maze at some point and it would've stopped people from having to piss on the fence. North tent was nuts to butts by the time I made it in. Grabbed some FOB space in the big south tent and posted up there for the day. Kept dry and beer fueled all day. I was group D and was concerned as o saw a long line snaking from the brewery to the south so I headed to get my allotment around 4. Walked in and through in 10 minutes tops. Grabbed a meurte. Food lines were insane early, but we snacked and then crushed food later with no wait. Didn't see anything crazy on tap, but didn't mind and went for smaller brewery beers. Saw very little stupidity and no thieves. Somehow had it in me to keep popping beers back at the hotel while waiting for a pizza. Called Eduardo's based on earlier recs but passed with a 2.5-3 hour wait. All in all a good day with very few issues and some great beers being shared...with Last Snow being an unexpected standout.


I feel better than I should.

 

We were probably right next to each other, or close to it. I had pretty much the exact same experience in Group C. Got in line ridiculously early around 1-1:30 (foggy memory!). I thought my buddy was crazy for having us get in line at that point, but I wouldn't have gotten a BBA DL if I hadn't. I looked at my phone as we came out of the sales area and it was 2:20.

I saw regular DL on tap plenty of times and just missed out on Muerte - did other folks get a chance to try and of the barrel aged beers on tap?

Also, it sucks that some people had their bottles taken...but why weren't you watching your stuff??? My buddy and/or I were never more than a foot away from our backpacks/bags. I did freak out for about 30 minutes when I realized I didn't have my bag of regular DL (BA version was in my backpack with me), but my buddy had it with him.

 

Yeah the north line was messed up this year. Took at least 2 hours to get through it.

The Dark Lord bottle lines were insanely smooth though, I don't think I heard of anyone taking more than 10 minutes in any group. I was group E, but they sent out a tweet around 4:40pm that Group E sales had started already b/c things were moving so fast. That was nice, since we were there early and didn't feel like staying super late.

They certainly gated off more areas this year, which made it feel more sectioned off instead of open, but I understand why considering those areas would likely turn into mud pits. Some of the big open areas last year were basically just a big pool of water. But I did sort of miss that really open feel, the fest didn't seem more crowded really though, so I guess it was fine.

Guest taps had some good stuff, but yeah I didn't see any "super rare" stuff pop like in years past. Some of that is just timing. As for FFF drafts they seemed way too static all day, only saw 2 variants, and 2015 and 2016 regular dark lord. I did see BBA Blot Out the Sun, but the line was sort of long. Last year I saw at least 7-8 different variants from different years. It was funny to see groups of people camped outside of the FFF draft lines just waiting for something rare to pop so they could swoop in.

Having the band under the big tent was probably a good change for watching the acts, but you couldn't really talk to each-other while a set was gong on if you just wanted the tent to cover you. Thankfully I didn't see any huge pools of water inside the big tent this year, last year some good portions of it were unusable b/c of pools of water.

Never had to wait for the bathroom, I saw people waiting but if you just walked all the way down the line there was always open ones that people were too drunk to notice or whatever.

Food line was too long, whenever someone in our group went into that line, they didn't come back for quite a while and we started wondering if they were ok. Thankfully two people in our group had the foresight to just use all $40 of their vouchers in one trip and get as much food as possible to share. The food was good though. I ended up not using any vouchers and gave all $40 worth away to someone near the guest taps... and I had to ask at least 6 people before I found someone who would take them for free.

I think people need to remember how in 2013 and 2014 the later groups ended up having super long lines late in the day. Especially 2013 I think the bottle sales line was 3 hours long. I also recall extreme food lines in 2014 only to be served an ice cold burger by the time you got to the end. So there were certainly things they improved this year that was a real problem in the past.

 

Legio Gemina is 854 I think. My number is a little worn off but it looks like 854

 

My 5 or 6th DLD. Was group E and had my bottles by 5:30, home by 6:30. Had a great time hanging with some friends and sharing some great beers. Wished we had a dry day but you can just make the best of it. Food lines were long later in the day but I was able to grab food earlier. I actually used my $40 vouchers and friends vouchers. You could use the voucher to buy hot sauce when it was available earlier in the day. I don't recall what my other BA choices were but went with Quit Hitting Yourself.

 

Anyone try the French militia? How was it? No homerism please.

 

We were group B and did south gate. Got there at 9 and was in the gate at 1045. Heard a Group A guy said he got in North line at 930 and didn't get in till 1245. Crazy. We got food right away. Short line. Bottle line was the best part of the day. Amazing stuff being cracked and really good people around us. Guest taps weren't as good as what I've heard in the past but I did get HF Susan, power bottom, DL 13 and 16, Cognac BA Blot out the sun, and a few others. Parabajava blew right before I got to the front.

Made it pretty fine till leaving at 8. Drank a lot of water and took a break after getting bottles around 1 or so. The bottle process was super fast and smooth. We were about 100 back in B and got BBA DL and militia. Pretty stoked for those. Saw one fight break out in the band tent around 530. Other than that nothing major. A lot of people were wasted by 11 and people watching all day was entertaining. Great day overall and my rain suit and multiple layers kept me dry. I spent my vouchers and didn't need more bc a lot of people leaving have theirs away bc they hadn't spent em.

 

Watched a guy holding his tote of reg DL in one hand and Vanilla Malitia in the other. VM slipped out of his hand because of the rain and shattered everywhere. He then picked up the neck of the bottle and was swiping the beer off inside of the bottle and licking his fingers. He proceeded to cut his hand pretty bad. It was a bad 2 minutes for this guy.

 

My first DLD has been completed and many noobie mistakes were made. One that was not was over preparing with the rain gear. I was comfortable as the day got progressively shittier. Wish I would have paced myself better, though I lasted until the end, I was pretty damn trashed. Hung out all day with 3 frigging awesome guys and I just stuck to enjoying the day with them until we parted ways. Jimmy Johns crew, hit me up if you see this !

 

Got a dwarven power bottom and trump n pump variants at about 530. Wasn't even sure what else was there at that time. Hope they're good!

 

Things I liked:
-People were pretty friendly and generous with their offers
-The DL bottle line (group B) flew by and getting the variant was painless. I grabbed Ronaldo and my buddy took the BBA as the two vanillas were gone
-Enjoyed DL 16, DL Aquavit, and White Oak Jai Alai on tap
-The North gate line game of moving from the sidewalk to the street and back was definitely amusing haha

Things I didn't like:
-The weather (wind, rain, cold) was bad enough that I don't know how much I'd say I was enjoying myself at any one moment
-The line to get in the North gate was ridiculous. Got there at 9. Got in at 12:30. The workers they hired were giving conflicting or incorrect info as well
-I wish I had seen more guest taps that were not local. I also was bummed to just miss out on the Hill Farmstead IPA but that's just how it goes sometimes
-The long lines for food and getting in made it harder to coordinate food properly with drinking. More food stations is absolutely necessary
-I did see somebody walk out 3F with their DL bag ripping. So it may not be fair to say a broken bottle is necessarily a person's fault

I'm happy to see my bottles on the counter today. I just don't know if I would go again with the disorganization combined with the way the weather can crush you in April in the Midwest. Happy I went once at least

 

First time getting to witness someone faceplant and break a bottle of Dark Lord. Happened on those pallets that made a long path to the port-a-potties. I felt bad for the guy but it happened right as I was about to start walking on the pallet trail so it made me be extra careful walking on them.

 

I have no idea what some of you are talking about. The only thing is I thought the taps would be better but they had some really good stuff on tap. Bonyard notorious, cinnamon abduction, the answer megablast, caramel apple tripel from sun King was a big surprise how good it was. I had a great time. I never stood in line for taps or bathrooms. Extremely well run event. I also got to try ridiculous stuff because of the generosity of others. Some standouts from the weekend:

Cognac Bitches Bank 18th street
2012, 2014 Black Note
Sunburst Peacock pipeworks
15 Huna
09 bcbs
Maple bacon coffee porter
Swish
2013 Parabola FW

I got to try a lot more than that but these were for sure my favorites. One I don't get is HF Juicy. Had the opportunity to try that and I didn't enjoy it. Awesome time and met some awesome people. I'll be back next year more prepared with better beer to share. Also, got legio gemina in group C. Vanillas were gone and I think Ronaldo was gone too by the time I got in. Also, I didn't wait a single second in that line. We noticed it was 2:15 or so and headed over and got our bottles immediately.

 

Fix one problem, create another. In previous years the lines for Group B through E just got longer throughout the day. I had a buddy in group E 2 years ago in line for 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours. Thats abhorrent. No complaints about the bottle lines this year for sure. But in doing this, the lines for other things supposedly got longer.

I'm not so sure on that though. It seems that every year the food lines are long regardless of the situation. More food tents would definitely help. I dont get the bathroom lines. Maybe everyone tried to go to the same set of portapotties and just stood in line at the closest one, because if you did a tiny bit more walking you would find some with no lines at all.

The weather sucked, but I would be that nicer weather would change the complaint from weather and bad taps to long lines. Nicer weather, more people would be killing those taps and we likely would have seen a lot more "rare" stuff pop up, but the lines for beer and food would have been even longer.

Legit complaint is the total lack of DL and BA offerings from Floyds. I saw Dwarven but that is it as far as BADL. Every year prior I had seen at least 10 variants tapped during the day. Spent several hours walking between tap tents and hardly saw anything notable.

 

Quit hitting yourself - 1384
Trump and Pump - 1286
Legio Gemina - 854 or 859 (last number smudged)

 

Looks like '16 muerte is out of 618 or thereabouts. Writing is faded a bit.

 

Marshmallow-672
French Vanilla-1104

 

This is accurate. ^^^

 

The canvas totes should've been partitioned - it was awkward to carry the four-pack and the loose variant bottle. Or the sides should've been taller, which might've prevented a friend's Marshmallow Handjee from slipping out and shattering after he set it on a bench. That was like watching a kitten die.

I saw Vanilla Dark Lord (don't know whether it was bourbon or brandy or something else), but it was at the station by the brewery exit and I knew the odds of it lasting until I got to the front of the unbelievably long line were nil. Also saw Jackie O's BA Coffee Vanilla Dark Apparition, Huna, Surly Todd, others I'm forgetting.

I left my four bottles of DL on a table in the DJ tent for eight hours and not one was stolen. Weak showing from DLD's legendary roving bands of thieves.

Plague Bringer was cool.

The comic book is a hoot. Azzarello and Bisley and Nick Floyd completely ignored my thanks and compliments, which couldn't have been more hilariously Three Floydian if they'd tried.