Darkness Day 2018

That's a bummer. I was looking forward to trying some of those Darkness varieties, but I'm not going up there on Friday. I'm hopeful that the guest breweries will bring some good stuff. I wonder if they're going to post a list of those beers anytime soon?

 

No coolers or umbrellas, dafuq?

 

why would they put a kettle sour in a gin barrel? seems like a waste of a good barrel

 

BA Darkness is due out in April 2019. This will hit distribution. We're releasing it a little later this next year to allow more time in the barrels.

 

Naw, this beer is legit.
It's light and tart, and dry-hopped to the hilt. It's also in Tattersall Barrel Gin Barrels which is the most citrus-forward gin I have ever had (and a great barreling option.)
The beer is fruity and citrusy, with a pop of tartness that gets rounded-out with just a hint of the oaky barrel flavor.

 

Not able to have a weekend to make the variants package worth it.

I imagine the trade market may be pretty healthy though, hopefully. Im making a trip to Boston mid October with a checked bag just for tree house and trillium. If anyone is interested in some stuff from out there for variants....pm me

 

The map in the brochure has me kinda sad. We did the electrical upgrade and that makes it look like the camping will be split in 2 sections. On the other hand I am positive we will find a way to make it work out and an epic time will be had by all! The countdown is on!

 

These sounds awesome! Does anyone else know what breweries are bringing?

 

I...just did that yesterday. Came back with 13 different beers, and 31 in total.

‘Twas a solid trip.

 

Yeah, I’m wondering if that’s excluding the campground. I hope so, at least.

 

GENERAL RULES

• CAMPGROUNDS
  • You can bring bottles to Friday’s bottle share. Arrangements have been made to lift the glass ban. Obviously, be mindful of people that will use the site once you leave.
  • You can have grills, smokers, camp stoves, etc. Just take them with you when you pack up and head home.
  • You can have your own food and drinks in the campgrounds.

• EVENT GROUNDS
  • No outside food or beverage, coolers, umbrellas, fireworks, firearms
  • No dogs, cats or lizards or any other pet
  • All bags are subject to search
  • Must be 21+ to drink at event. Kids under 14 are free. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

 

Big stack of Maine Lunch, Peeper and Mo at Casanova's, no limit

 

Anyone passing by 35E and 36-ish who's trying to make opening at 5:00 today? I could use a ride if you have room for 1.

 

Anyone want to provide an update of how the new setup went? Wildly successful, don't count on it next year, or somewhere in between?

 

Festival, food, beer, lines: All were awesome and better.

Camping: So good.

Bottle Share: Mixed. While we did find some good shares, they were more spread out and harder to browse. Especially the tent/RV divide.

 

Overall, I liked it quite a lot, but I wish the guest breweries were handled a little differently. Even when kegs blew they wouldn't put a new one on until the next session. I would have loved to get a pour of Mornin Delight, Centeral Waters XX, Miami Madness, etc, but I wasn't going to stick around another 5 hours to do so in that weather. I get that it's enticing people to stay later but Surly should have enough of their own releases and events to do so and not depend solely on the guest breweries to keep people from leaving.

 

I lack perspective since this was my first time going. I've been to many other festivals, most notable being Firestone Walker Invitational.

It would have been good to get 8 tickets instead of 4 and have the option to ask for a 5-8oz pour instead of always committing to 10-16. There's some beers, especially the 10+% ones where 5oz is just great and I don't need 10oz every time.

The bands got progressively better as the event went on. The first few were largely one note growlers. Made the event space damn near unbearable friday night.

I liked the "session" approach to the guest beers and set tappings. I got Mornin' Delight, so I am a happy boy.

It would have been cool for things like the anniversary beers to have a X number of tickets to get a full flight or a set amount in smaller pours so you can try several and compare them.

The split combined with the distance, combined with it being cold made it hard to find good shares. This is something that'd be difficult to address, but it'd be nice if there was a better way to organize. I had a great time sharing and meeting people all weekend.

 

How much was a beer/ticket? I think I read that all beers were 1 ticket which didn't make much sense to me if Darkness and Furious cost the same price for example.