Dark Lord Day (DLD) 2015

I had a 2011 and 2015 DL behind the Freedia tent at 9PM....they had some solid beers at that time, saved many good beers for those who survived to that time...also walked up and bought a goblet and coffee at 930...no wait and they had everything available still (maybe a refresh I saw the line was long early). Plus 5 bottles of DL......great day!!

 

I did not see one of the above mentioned beers...what time was this at?

 

CBS was around 2 maybe? I just missed it, as the girl in front of me got the last 2 pours.

 

Well our group got there at 6 and it was a raining mess but we got our tent set up and I did my best to cook breakfast...took awhile to get the charcoal lit in the chimney with all the rain! I was drenched to the bone because I didn't bring any rain gear, but still had an absolute blast. Met some amazing BA's and scored myself a Vanilla bean variant as well!

 

That's sucks for people that broke there bottles due to a broken carrier. However, I don't feel sorry for them. It's just plain stupid to carry the holder from the handle when it's raining. You would think people would be more careful and cautious when handling $80 worth of bottles. Common sense definitely isn't so common.

 

People just make mistakes after drinking all day. We're human, after all. Stuff happens.

 

How were the aquavit and coffee DL's?

 

Anyone have the 6 liter Mckenzie saison in line before it opened? I loved it just wondering what others thought

 

I had the aquavit on tap and it was very good. I didn't get a chance to try the Coffee, thankfully I scored one on the scratcher.

 

Was that the huge green bottle on the south side? Someone was pouring from that right in front of our tent if so.

 

2014 DL just went up on the to-go site.....set, go!

 

Wow, it is what it is. Hope I never see you at my job, I deal with patients with pancreas cancer. If you get it, I can tell you we shouldn't feel sorry for you since drinking is a risk factor for pancreas cancer and it's common sense so you shouldn't have drank alcohol? Ignorance at its best.

 

Yup that was it

 

Yeah, because those are two completely comparible situations.

 

First year at DLD was pretty awesome besides the shitty weather. Tried a lot of great beers, serendipity from NG was my #1. Snifters and goblets were ample, lined up at around 230 and easily got a goblet, snifter and coffee Stein

 

This was my first Dark Lord Day and it was incredible. I had such a good time. Got there about 8am and we set up a canopy in the South Line. Started bottle sharing almost immediately. We scoped out the scene and saw that huge tent right inside the gates. We had 3 of our group run immediately to it and grab us a table. That became our home base for the entire day.

4 of us in our group then had to trudge over to the north gate line because we needed ticket resolution. Everyone in that line seemed grumpier and not as eager to share beer but fuck it we continued to open beers amongst the 4 of us. Once we got in everyone else from our group had already attacked the 3 Floyds and guest taps and I immediately started drinking a bunch of amazing stuff. Hill Farmstead Citra, Vanilla Dark Lord, Blot out the Sun, BA Dark Lord Muerte, were all highlights. Then everyone started opening crazy beer after crazy beer. Vietnamese Coffee Speedway Stout, Pseudo Sue, and tons of BCBS variants everywhere.

Venturing outside of the tent and back in was a bit of a clusterfuck but I was having such a great time just drinking beer and meeting so many cool people from all over the world. And that to me seems to be the heart of Dark Lord Day. If you think you're entitled to a variant, a Whalezbro guest tap, glassware, or shorter lines you're Dark Lord Daying wrong. Meet people, share your beers, dress in layers, bring friends, don't be shy, have a few drinks and start yelling nonsense, drink a ton of water, and relax. While we were waiting for ticket resolution the line was not moving and one of my friends started freaking out about "everything we were missing inside already". I told her to calm down, we're at Dark Lord Day. You are here. There are tens of thousands of people who wish they were where you are about to be.

I tried to wait in the Dark Matter coffee line 3 times and each time it never moved and gave up. Around 6pm we walked right up to the tent and they still had everything. Bravo to them. I had such a good time and I can't wait for next year. General Admission if I have to because in the end being in the middle of craft beer mecca is all I really need.

 

I had it as well. Thought it was fantastic. One of the first pours I had that morning so I actually remember it.

 

This was our 3 consecutive DLD . First year got sunburned. Second year froze in the wind & cold. This year prepared for constant rain. Wore bogs which helped wading thru the concentration camp style puddles & muck obstacles. Several layers topped with a rain coat. Small umbrella (apologies to those I nailed in the cue). We were group A arriving at 8 am to stand in the rain. Karma was with us sharing the line with DLD adults i.e. folks who considerately share beers, no BS brew talk, and were attentive to proceed as the line moved. Entered the brewery to pick up our allotted DL at 10:41a. For the third year in a row got a golden ticket. Another Vanilla Bean Dark Lord headed home And no-not getting a lotto ticket on the way home.

We immediately walked back in pouring rain to our car while carefully protecting our cargo, restocked for bottle sharing, and headed back to view the DLD show. It didn’t disappoint. Especially memorable: folks who sat their DL 4 pack down in the rain to drink forgetting water is unkind to cardboard. Saw quite a few unfortunates losing 1-4 Dark Lords in one bonehead move. Also were the rock scientists oblivious to the weather forecast. Never saw so many ingenious ways to use trash bags to keep rain off one's body. And let’s not forget the endless lines. Can’t keep count how many people asked me what was at the end of the line….

Friends with D & E tix stood in line for 2 ½ hours for their Dark Lord & they were ticked. Yet the giant tent bottle share wiped their frustrations away. So many excellent brews offered openly in one place. It's what DLD is all about!

Yea it was crowded. Yea people stood in line over 2 hours for coffee.(???) The weather suxed. But it is what it is. And always will be. DLD is a huge beer release fest sharing exceptional brews regardless of the elements. Hope to be there again next year should the brew gods allows. Cheers!

 

Both were very good, the Coffee was amazing, lots of coffee in your face, like a sweeter BCBCS.

Aquavit was surprisingly pretty good, still sweet but the wormwood/spirit flavor did not overpower, it actually complemented it quite nicely.

 

This was the first DLD for my buddy and I, and overall it was a blast.

We got to Reggies early and took the 1st bus over. Met some cool people on the bus who we then stood inline with to get in and did some sharing. Once we got in we walked around a bit, got one guest tap of Plead the Fifth and then made our way into the main sharing tent. We walked around a bit trying to find a table but finally befriended some people and shared their table, started sharing all of the NE beers we brought with us and had a great time. Around noon we went to get our DLD for Group B, it was slow at first but once the line started moving it wasn't too bad. We shared and traded some more in line, and got into the brewery. My buddy scored a golden ticket and got the Cherry Cocoa Nib variant.

Afterwords we headed back to the main tent and got back in with the people first met and we setup shop. Sharing more of our NE stuff and finally made some of the big trades we wanted and got Abyss, CW17, Prop, 2011 DL. Somewhere in here my memory went shoddy as I don't remember much, but I don't think I made a fool of myself so that's good.

By late afternoon we were completely out of all the beer we brought, made some new friends, had some awesome beers, and got dark lord! So I it was a huge success.