Dark Lord vs. Darkness

I've traded virtually all of my Dark Lord vintages from '08 to now. wish i would have tried to land a Darkness at some point. i still have an '11 i may offer up.

 

I recently did a 05, 07, 10 and 12 Dark Lord vertical. I have to say 2012 was my least favorite. But each was very very different. IMO Dark Lord needs to sit and mellow out. The 05 had no sweetness and was very oaky and complex. Each got slightly more sweet but the 07 and 10 where everyone's favorites. While I didn't have 05, 07 or 10 fresh I did have 2012 at DLD and drank a few bottles since. And each time I drank the 2012 it seems to her better and better. I have 2 more bottles of 2012 and going to build 2 verticals. And can't wait to see what the 2012 does with age esp after have those vintage versions. I do have a 2011 and 2012 Darkness but waiting to crack those until I can get 2013.

 

2012 Dark Lord was awful. Cola syrup. Darkness is significantly more consistent and significantly more drinkable. Hoping the 2008 Dark Lord in the cellar can make this race a little closer.

 

Sounds like you are a Grateful Dead fan...so you must be cool. My best friend of 25 yrs is in INDIANA. My ARMY roommate is from IN. My sister-in-law's best friend was from IN.

I may be a USC Trojan, but always have big love for Midwest/Great Lakes, so many special memories.

 

I find it ironic that DL takes so flak but the variants seem to get nothing but praise

 

Barrel must fix something - maybe the wood absorbs all the saccharin.

 

I wouldn't call it an unsophisticated palate so much as I would call you a FFF fanboy who is obviously butthurt.

 

For all the DL bashing I witnessed I still have yet to try it. Somebody send me some.

 

Having had them both I could care less if I ever drink them again. DL is trash and Darkness is decent at best. Especially when I can pay less money for a 750ml of speedway stout which is superior to both

 

So, to someone who has never tried either and doesn't have access to either, which one should be the one that I attempt to trade for?

 

Darkness. Much higher chance of liking it.

 

Hmmm, lets see.....Darkness = Great. Dark Lord = Not great. Any questions?

 

In your opinion would Founders Imperial Stout fall into that category of "many off the shelf Imperial Stouts" ?

'Cause I've never had these two but I've recently enjoyed the shit out of FIS, Bell's Expo, Ten Fidy, GD Oak Yeti, and Narwhal (which appears to be a rather polarizing beer, but personally I really dug it). But FIS was the best of that bunch.

 

I think Dark Lord is one of those beers you either like or you don't. Really not much of an in between. Curious how many of you guys have drank DL with some age on it? And I am not speaking just a year. Fresh DL is very sweet but letting it cellar this beer's sweetness mellows out and is very complex. Even drinking a 2012 now the beer has definitely changed and for the good.

 

Haven't had the Surly (I hope to) but the Dark Lord is freaking awesome, at least IMO.

 

Darkness was damn near perfection in a stout, pretty much flawless. The Dark Lord was excellent, but I thought it was cloyingly sweet to a fault.

I'd love to do a side-by-side comparison one day.

 

FIS is certainly in that group. Expedition definitely there as well.

 

d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-darkness

 

I really enjoyed all of the Dark Lords I had up to 2010, including the vintages that several beer friends said "sucked."
2011 was a bit too sweet for me, and I had hoped it would cool off more... It didn't. It's not horrible, but honestly, and this sucks to say... There are half a dozen year round stouts that are better, and far cheaper.

2012 Dark Lord is crazy. It doesn't even make sense to me. It tastes like a dessert topping. So we're clear, that's not a good thing. And the Red wax barrel aged stuff I've had has been more of the same. It's a huge bummer. I don't taste anything resembling green apple or young beer... It's boozy as hell... Could be that the yeast did all it could, and there are still a ton of fermentables... But in all likelihood this product is what they aimed for. A total mess. It's especially awkward considering I don't want to buy any if this year's tastes like 2012... But I dug 2010 enough... Bah.

 

About as well said as you can get in a situation such as this.

Thanks for the solid post,
Matt