Dark Lord Day 2024

This sums up my experience as well. It didn’t leave me excited to do it again. The guest taps seemed weak this year and not enough. Maybe it was it that it all seemed like store shelf level stuff each time I saw the menu. The FFF was pretty weak too. Hopefully when the pub reopens they can get some good one offs
Of various styles made for the next dark lord day. The egregious philbin variant was a sugar bomb even for DL standards and was disappointing. We need to start reading more into DL variant names and what FFF is trying to tell us Greatest Teachable Moment, Naturally Upset, etc. as Egregious Philbin was truly Egregioua. Thr fest was very well run so no complaints there. Without crowds and lines it seems less like a fest and more like a normal day at a FFF beer garden.

 

It’s good to know that I am not the only one who questions whether I want to keep shelling out $230 for this every year. In itself, the fest is well run. They really had it on autopilot this year in terms of the product. I look forward to trying new variants, which there was only one on tap. I missed on the anniversary, as did everybody I know. What is left to make the fest flashy or interesting? … Ritual sacrifices?

Meanwhile, four more Dark Lords are heading to my cellar.

 

The “Dark Lord Tickets for Life” at the Plinko game in reality are Dark Lord tickets until they stop doing the fest. The craft beer landscape is so different now, and the hype that used to surround it just isn’t there. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if they’re still doing it 5 years from now.

 

Dark Lord Day tickets "for life".

 

To who? 50/fifty?

 

If there has ever been a clear sign this year of Dark Lord is the grand finale, the free fest tickets "for life" has got to be it. If people on this thread of all places aren't hyped and keep saying the fest is sparsely populated, then I'm calling it now: Dark Lord Day is dead! Now go do your thing rumor mill.

 

Is the free ticket for life all it’s cracked up to be? I would imagine it’s just general admission and not bottles and probably not transferable to your guest so if you want bottles you’d still need to buy a full ticket?

 

Although I can't find it now, they commented on the IG video of a guy winning that it included an allotment too. They responded to someone asking that exact question.

 

Yea, I got the same and when the worker grabbed them for me, I mentioned what it was out loud and he proceeded to tell me something about how that variant was drinking super well compared to some others and how everything he heard about it was good. So hey, maybe it is some kind of sleeper hint. But man was I side-eyeing everything he was saying like, "Oh? Is that right?"

 

Interesting. I checked my Untappd check-ins and amazingly I've never checked in a Muerte so I'm intrigued to see what the peppers are going to bring to this party. Generally speaking, it seems like Muerte has been a bit of a letdown to most folks, so here's to hoping these guys can be a decent reprieve for the infected ones I was trying to replace.

 

I believe there was mention of people getting 4 variants. I actually talked to one for a few outside of pickup. Guessing these were mistakes. The flip side of this coin was that there were bags with 2 regular. We checked our bags right after exiting. One friend had 2 regular, Handjee and Chemtrail. I told him to go back in because you were supposed to get 3 variants. He went in, talked to an employee, they checked his bag, took a regular out, gave him a FVM because it was one he didn't have. Glad he went back in and that they were cool about it.

The 3 of us got that exact bag despite going to completely different tables - FVM, Chemtrail, and Handjee. So, there seemed to be a lot of those. Friend who picked up late into B got Loadstar, Jovan, and I think FVM.

 

My memories will be how great Philbin was and my mislabeled FVM bottle.

 

My 4:00pm ish group all got Chem, FVM and Loadstar. We keep saying we should have 1 person pick up each hour so we don’t all get the same thing, but then no one wants to lug bottles around.

 

Yes, it's there on their IG reels. They also said ~10 people won it.

 

Told myself last year that I had no reason to go back this year. But yet here I am. Totally random planning with a weekend over to Chicago to re-load on GI stuff. Once I realized it was the same weekend as DLD, I'm driving right past the place, and tickets were still available...I caved. Bought my ticket on Friday night. Group D of course. Had a busy morning so didn't end up getting there until 4. Went straight to the bottle line since it closed at 5. Everyone anywhere near me all got Loadstar, Hanjee, Chemtrail. I always seem to end up in the vintage line also and ended with Hanjee and FVM. Had a few tasters of the new stuff and bolted. I think Chemtrail is my preference.

I never saw anywhere...was the XX bottle a true win, or did you "win" the opportunity to buy it?

 

It was actually a free bonus. Although there were a bunch of people in front of me at the table that seemed to be purchasing several bags worth of stuff, not sure what was going on there.