Dark Lord Day (2023)

@ramseye4 @kodt is certainly correct that this is the way that most people think of it. If I was able and planning to go, I'd probably think about it as the beers being cheaper and the fest being more expensive, because the beers alone aren't the main draw for people and wouldn't bring me to go. It would be the first. The, like, 4 hours of bottle share and getting some awesome taps are what is the main draw. On top of that, people often bottle share in hotels the night before, if my memory is to be trusted. So, there is that 'added bonus'.

You can easily sell your bottles at face value (or value + a small premium) immediately to recover the cost of your ticket if you care far more about the actual fest than the bottles. I'm not talking about secondary or any other dirty words. I'm just saying you can literally recoup your cost at face value if you don't care.

 

The beers are absolutely the main draw for most...3Fs has been selling the beers alone for nearly $200 without an event the past few years...

YMMV.

 

The fest is literally named after the beer...

 

I hear you, but it seems like everyone is far more interested in everything involved with the fest than buying the bottles of beer. At least, that's my take away from perusing these threads since I joined BA in 2017, and from talking to all the members that attend.

 

I would pay $30 to go get into the fest solely as a beer fest. No way in hell I would pay $200 if it didn't include the take home bottles.

 

I would pay $200 to go to Dark Lord Day even if I didn't leave with beer.

 

I'm sure somewhere there is DLD beer thief getting a warm and fuzzy over that comment.

 

ISO Sundae Thunderstorm

 

Variants list on the site. No wine barrels is a 16 seed over a 1 level upset.

Edit- I'm dumb, Rrrari is.

 

DLD is coming back with a vengeance!

 

They also updated the FAQ as well and you can bring in 72 oz. Of beer again

 

The last ‘rrari was cognac barrel aged I believe, and was still supposedly pretty good. So still a no-skips dark lord year I’d say…

 

The variants strike me as lackluster- feels like only 6 months ago we got our last go around of DLD. 3 favorites and 3 new ones? With everyone getting 3 variants this was the time to have like 10 crazy kinds so people could trade with each other.

 

Nah, pretty sure most of us are fine not getting Turtledogg'ed or getting whatever their new cardamom variant is.

 

you sound Naturally Upset

 

Port and Madeira are definitely my top preference of type of wine barrels for dark beer. Anything else and I'm not a big fan, unless the beer is lighter, in the saison or lambic realm.

That wine has only touched one variant, with fruit no less (on top of the fact it's one I've had in the past), makes me very happy.

 

All of these updates are making me very excited. I already have at least half of what I have planned to bring picked out.

 

Does anyone with previous DLD experience know how the groups for pick up are assigned? Randomly? Or can you pick when purchasing a ticket? Asking for those of us who probably can't stay the whole day...

From DLD website:

You can enter the festival anytime. Your wristband is printed + chipped with a group assignment that indicates your Dark Lord pickup time:

Group A 9-11am / Group B 11am-1pm / Group C 1-3pm / Group D 3-5pm / Group E 5-7pm

If you miss your group time, you can pick up your bottles in a later group. Deluxe ticket holders may pick up their bottles in any group.

 

Yes, you will be able to select the Group when attempting to purchase tickets (i.e., groups are not assigned randomly to ticket purchasers). This has always been the case for as long as I recall. There is no guarantee you will get the Group you want, however. All else fails, get on that Deluxe All Access.