Your DLD stories

This isn't my story, but my buddy forgot his vanilla DL and two bottles of regular DL when he left. I don't know how it happened, but it happened.

So, uh, if there's a kind soul out there who found it, I know who it belongs to. (worth a shot, right?)

 

My friends and I showed up at about 4:30am with a cooler full of goodies. We were maybe 20 people back in line, right along the fence behind porto potties. It started raining shortly after and didn't stop for several hours. That was the worst part of the morning for sure. Our neighbors in line ended up busting out a huge canopy and moved our table under it. We just started opening beers and sharing lots of bottles with anyone walking by. We had BA Behemoth, Westy 12, Hanssen's Oude Kriek, Filmishmish, Jackie O's Bourbon Dark Apparition, Beat and so much more. We all dried up, the rain stopped, and we drank the morning away until the gates opened. At that point the front of the line really bulked up and we ended up maybe 50 people back in line. Went straight to the brewpub and ate and drank for a little over an hour I think. Got to have Vanilla DL and BA Alpha Klaus on tap. Those were some strong beers, and I really don't even remember what guest drafts I had. We ended up getting in line for A tickets, and myself and my girlfriend both lost the scratch off. I was super excited and probably a little too set in the belief I would win a scratch off, so when we lost it really bummed me out. My friends who came, however, both won! Congrats to them for both getting vanilla bourbon DL's that they are now selling on ebay I believe. It wasn't so much that I did not win, as I didn't win last year at XV either, but that both my friends won and don't care about the beer at all, and I care probably too much about it, and they wouldn't let me buy at least 1 of theirs. Then again I shouldn't feel entitled to something that isn't mine, its just that I would do the same for them if the tables were turned. Ruined my day. So I ended up rather drunk and emotional and kinda ditched everyone and went back to my car, were I sulked for about an hour with my girlfriend.

Sobered up just a little, felt better and said fuck it lets go back to the party. My friends had left and I just wanted to get back inside, get a guest draft and chill out. On the way in a guy stops me right outside the gates and asks if I want to buy a ticket off him. He gave me 2 unused tickets for $30. I couldn't refuse my second chance, so we immediately got back in line and we both magically won the scratch off. It was in the last like 10 minutes of the B group so unfortunately they ran out of vanilla bourbon which is what I really wanted, but we did get a regular bourbon and a cognac bottle. It really cheered me up. I got through 2 or 3 trades I had set up for some more great beers, and then we had to take off around 5 as my girlfriend started to feel a little sick. Even with my rather embarrassing self pity party, I had a great day and met some great people!

 

Got there a little after 6:30am-ish, left around 8:15pm. First DLD I have attended. It was a good time I think would do things different next year though. Lots of waiting around and as the day went on lots of obnoxious drunks trying to cut in line, being disorderly, etc. I know it is a beer festival/party but please try and keep your shit together. Was able to meet some very cool people, drink some great beers, and got a BA Dark Lord. We had a group of 8 people, we got inside the grounds by 10:30, one part of the group secured a table, and 4 of us went directly in line for the pub. We didn't make it into the pub until almost 3. We did have people wandering around getting guest taps throughout the day. I got pretty lucky with the guest taps early on when Hunaphu's was tapped right when I was 3 people away from ordering. Had group C tickets, headed over to wait to get in line, there was a huge funnel/cutting near the entrance. Finally made it through that, got my bottles and a BA dark lord. Chilled for a while as the crowds died down and got some more guest taps. That said, some complaints/things I wish they did differently:

1) Our group waited over 4 hours to get into the pub only to find out that Black Sun was the only barrel aged offering at the time. This was very disappointing. We made the most of it and got food and normal Dark Lord but the only reason we spent most of our day in that line was for the bourbon and vanilla Dark Lord. I was able to get a sip of each one throughout the day and they were phenomenal, wished I had a chance to get a whole glass. They bottled way more BA this year so maybe they decided to go for the cash and not use as many barrels for the on tap variations?

2) Some of the guest taps did not turn over fast enough. It was 8pm and barely anyone in line and they still had not tapped KBS or CBS. Why not tap those earlier to give people a chance to try them out instead of at 9-10pm. Did anyone notice if they eventually got tapped (I left 8:15)?

3) I thought last year they rationed off the BA varieties and limited them to a certain amount each group. I was near the front of the line to get in C but they were all gone with the vanilla variety. Which is fine by me, I was able to get vanilla last year so I got bourbon this year, but seems next year it is smarter to go with A or B.

But I did have a great time and some great beers. They did tap a BCBS with Cherries near the end before I left that was unreal. That may have been my favorite throughout the day, but I got to try BCBCS, Hunaphus, Apple Brandy Zhukov, Conquistador de Muerte, FW XV & Scuaba, Curmudgeons, Dark Lord, and way more. I just think next year I'll need a different plan since being there over 12 hours was exhausting to say the least.

 

Got there at 10:15, was in the gates by noonish, got a burger, walked around, got a burger (which was awesome) walked up to the mob of confusion that was the bottle line, when B opened, we walked right in, we both won the scratch off, got our bottles (cognac and vanilla), and then left.

perfect DLD

 

Thanks. They do that here every Tuesday.

 

I think next year I will focus much more on guest taps. I intended to do that this year but everything kind of got out of control. While we did get to try Vanilla DL in the brewpub, and I am sorry you did not, I was really looking forward to BA Behemoth on tap and BA variations of Robert the Bruce. I missed out on almost every good guest tapping and ever great FFF tap outside as well. Turns out for awhile they were actually selling BA Alpha Klaus w/cherry or plums and I totally missed out on that while in line for the pub.

 

Title of this thread should be "How Not to Act at a Beer Release"

 

Here is my story...... I AM BLESSED!!! I've had many hobbies in my life, but none as rewarding as Craft beer. Most people I meet are incredible and generous. I have made many lifelong friends and continue to do so. Thank you to all my many friends that make craft beer the World's greatest hobby!!!!

 

Showed up at 7am. Got my bottles in the car by 10:45, enjoyed the rest of my day. I was the guy in the bright yellow/green hat standing on the table most of the day, yelling at khazadum. Thanks to everyone who brought out huge whales and let me tick them.

 

To everyone who got a bottle stolen from them on this day, a word of advice. There are SHADY people in this event who just want to profit, and will do anything to get more. Always put your beer in your car RIGHT AFTER you buy your beer. Its pretty simple. Don't go walking around with it all day getting drunk and then having it stolen right under your nose.

 

I drank all day and wasn't the slightest bit tipsy. I must've drank half a case of water. Please conduct yourself like an adult next time. Awesome move by Three Floyds to sell cases of water.

Crazy day of crazy pours. We got there at 630 and met up with MordorMongo (Scott) and others. Massive thanks for the Loons! My favorites of the morning were LP Framboise, Framboise for a Cure, HF Society and Solitude #3, Cascade Blueberry, and BCBCS (as always). At one point we couldn't take it anymore and went to the car to warm up and snag some dry clothes. We got back in line after it stopped raining. Once we.got in we went straight to the line for bottles then dropped them off at the car. After that we got in line for the BA beers. I didn't even know that line existed. Then we grabbed bottles from the car and proceeded to the tasting tables. I opened a Fou'Foune, Bruery Wanderer, and an '07 Blushing Monk. The Blushing Monk was phenomenal, far better than the new version. Mark (Rempo) shared an Izzy, which was both delicious and extremely generous! Samantha shared two vintages of Churchill's Finest. Cam shared Iced Dark Apparition. Chocolate Rain was phenomenal again. All in all, a great event with great people. It wasn't nearly as crowded as last year. Eliminating coolers inside.was a great idea!

 

dude you are quite drunk. There were some line cutters but most of the people you were shouting at were people that were in line already all morning and just went to the car to drop off coolers and such

 

The best part of the weekend was Flossmoors on Friday night and the bottle share at the Hampton. Once I got in line at 5am on two hours of sleep and stood in the rain I realized I may have made a mistake....too much drinking the night before! With the bottle sharing Friday night and Saturday in line, then getting into the pub first thing to drink some great barrel aged beers and great food with great friends in a laid back atmosphere....those were the highlights! Then, I walked back outside........HOLY SHIT!
I stood in line that had no beginning and no end (Hey FFF, use some of that cash flow to buy some rope!!!) Then one person...male or female, not sure what it was....started causing mass confusion by directing group B and group C people in different areas. Then the group C people were stuck in a soccer style mob for and hour and a half!
So, with my buddies moving ahead of me with their B tickets, I was stuck in this crowd standing nuts-to-butt with some real winners!
People who would hover by the front of the line then cut when they finally let us in!
Guys who bring their drunk tough talking girlfriends to get double the allotment
A group of non english speaking asians playing pattycake or some shit! (See Ebay...I'm sure)
Some ass who dumped beer and kicked (yeah...KICKED! haha) another guy for "pushing and cutting"
A complete clusterfuck!!!

I think if I go next year, which I doubt, I will get a group A ticket, I will get there early again, bottle share with great people who care about beer and sharing, get inside, get my beer, then leave...just to avoid the late comers and the "soccer style crowd"

 

I approve of your post. And line cutters don't mean shit on a day like DLD. You have your tickets, you are guaranteed bottles. Belligerent drunk people need to stay home.

 

Went to the Bulls game since the ticket was infinitely easier to get and saw D-Rose crumble a few feet away. Worst game ever... but it sounds like I still had a better time than going to Rush Week.

 

Arrived at 7:40 AM, about 400ish in line, and set up shop. Perfect timing as the rain appeared to have tapered off and it didn't return the rest of the day. Opened some nice stuff, had some great bottle sharing experiences, met some great people, and peeled off from the group with the g/f to set up a screened shelter across the street from the entrance (after consulting with the Muster Police to make sure this was OK). This was the best idea of the day by far. Had A tickets, went through the line relatively quickly while my friends went off to to the guest taps and came out with all the Cigar City barrel aged variants (all were awesome), managed to get two winning scratch off tickets (it seemed that the odds of winning was over 50% based on observation and every group I talked with winning at a rate over 50%).

Quick note - to all those at FFF who organized this year - you guys did an absolutely amazing job. Well done. I can't see how it could have gone any smoother than it did considering the 6000+ attendees, and everything was run extremely well with a great group of happy people doing their best to take care of (as the day wore on) increasingly drunk people. Great, great job.

At the beginning of the day while we were in the A group line getting the allocation, FFF released the rest of the BA variants, which was a great thing to do, and my friends snagged a few bottles before they ran out. Another very cool footnote on a very well organized day.

Returned inside the gates to wait with my friends before they went through the B allocation around 1 PM, and already many in the crowd seemed to be acting as if this was one big frat party. Having a shelter set up outside the gates was a great respite from an increasingly drunk crowd inside as the day wore on. While a few bad apples certainly didn't ruin the fun for all of us, we saw more than our fair share of people who thought less about the great beer being released and more about drinking up and partying. While I can't fault them for doing what they want to do, this year marked the first (over the last three years at DLD) time that I noticed a larger contingent of people there just to drink, which was a bit disappointing. The crowd outside with tents and tasting tables set up had quite a number of extremely impressive bottles being shared, which was just awesome to see, and those outside the gates (the exception being one person near our tent who literally couldn't stand up as we got up to leave and who undoubtedly had alcohol poisoning which hopefully prompted medical attention) seemed to be more in control and more wanting to relax, chill, share a few bottles, and enjoy the day than those inside the gates.

Overall, we left too early (4:30) and missed out on some awesome guest taps later in the day - lesson learned if we go again next year. Big thanks to FFF for a great event overall. Very very well done.

 

I couldn't believe how many DL 4 packs I saw unattended sitting on the picnic tables right where the line was starting.

 

We had a great day, even with the cold and rain. IMO, the most organized DLD yet. My brother and his friends got there at 5am, and he said there were 50-75 people in line already. They set up camp at the very edge of the portapotty fence. This was surprising, since every year they get there around 5am, and there has only ever been a handful of people there that early too.

We got there at 6am and joined them, and proceeded to sit around and drink our beers in plastic ponchos, in the rain, for two hours. After the rain stopped, we broke out the snacks, and more beer. Around 9, we packed up the chairs, coolers, and ponchos, and part of our group walked the stuff back to the car while we held our place in line. A bit after ten, the line started moving smoothly through the gate. We had A tickets, and proceeded directly to the DL purchase line. That line also moved quickly, we were through and outta there by 11. We had a few 3F beers on tap outside (Samurai Gazebo, Hells Black Intelligenser), but was disappointed they weren't giving out free samples of Vanilla DL as they did in years past They were giving out free Gumballhead and Robert the Bruce, yawn. We were stuffed from our own food, and didn't buy any that 3Fs was offering. All in all, a great day!

A few other things:
1) I wish they would've put a few portapotties in the DL purchase line outside, there were men pissing through the fence under the watertower in front of everyone. As a woman, I can't do that, and I was a bit jealous because at that point in the morning I would've appreciated somewhere private to go without completely getting out of the purchase line.

2) My ghetto side came out and I was about ready to fight some motherf@ckers "from California" who tried several times to cut in front of us. I am willing (and did) let people cut as long as they share SOMETHING--beer, food, cold hard cash, whatever. Just don't get there at 9:30, and just think you cut in front of me when I got there at 6 and suffered through the rain. Damn!