Darkness Day 2015

Thanks!

 

For those that bottle share - does any particular beer style dominate the Darkness Day eve shares? Planning to bring a number of things up from Funky Buddha and Cigar City but most are stout/porter.

 

Anything out of distro of the Twin Cities is more than good enough in my book. Looking at the spreadsheet for this year, looks to be either a lot of darker beers or sours.

 

I believe they mostly fall into the category of "awesome". That's been my experience.

 

From my experience there are a disproportionate amount of barrel aged beers being opened but this is ok because it is freaking freezing and they are delicious. That being said, I am bring a ton of IPAs in growlers and cans this year to balance out the universe. Also, we should hang out. Seriously - I want to drink your beers.

 

All styles of awesome beers are welcome. Especially beers from amazing breweries.

 

Do bottles usually hit the stores on the following Monday?

 

Is D-Day a ticketed event?

 

Yes

To buy bottles at the brewery, yes. To attend the festival, no.

 

You do not need to buy a ticket. To get bottles of Darkness, you must get a wristband that they begin handing out on Saturday morning.

 

I can see more people getting shut out this year and each passing year with the popularity of this beer rising each year. I think tickets are something that should be considered for this reason but I'm probably in the minority on this.

 

I would like to see some ticket system just so I know if I am getting bottles or not. I would still do Darkness Day Eve, but it would be nice to not have to worry about the line.

 

I think some sort of ticket system is probably inevitable if DD continues to grow. Hope it doesn't put an end/damper on camping and festivities the night before...

 

This is my first year attending and I'm curious about parking. The 2014 info said Surly business neighbors allow for parking but is it easy to distinguish which businesses or will they provide a list of them when you get there?

2014 Darkness Day Parking info:
Surly’s neighbors have been gracious enough to let us use their parking lots. Don’t make a mess. Overflow parking is available at Caribou across Hwy. 100. Limited bike parking is available for those of you who are hardcore enough to go green. Look for it on the North side of 48th and Drew. If you need to leave your car here, no problem. Please have it moved by Sunday morning or it will be towed

 

There are volunteers that are in charge of directing traffic to the various parking lots.

 

You shall be told by some jerk like me in a surly shirt and a flashlight where to go.
And don't park like an a-hole.

 

I don't think any more people will get shut out this year. Surly has raised the amount of bottles released every year, which has about accounted for more people showing up each D-Day.

Tickets would be nice in that everyone would know they are getting bottles, but I hate that my puny brain has to remember to be at my computer, fingers poised, at 3:52 PM on a Tuesday. I've missed more than one bottle release because I've been (all appearances to the contrary) working at the time of an online ticket release & it slipped my mind. If I missed out on D-Day bottles because of that, my online whining would deafen all of you.

 

If you attend the DD Eve festivities why worry about getting an allotment? I guess you could be passed out in a ditch during the line condensing, but otherwise it'll work out.

I certainly see your point if you are opposed/(not able too bc of kids and all) to camping out. Btw, I'm ok with the ticket method, but do think it would greatly affect and maybe end most of the bottle share.

 

Thanks, this is kind of what I was looking for about the trickling in.
We don't would like to do a few things Friday evening then perhaps get a nap and head to the line after that since we do not have any tents and don't plan on sleeping or anything in line. last year we worked our 9-5 jobs then left Chicagoland around 10pm and by noon the next day we were dragging with being awake for roughly 30 hours. So want to get in line earlier, but also want to be a little more rested.

 

To me, the Darkness Day (DD) is more about the day/morning before than the bottles you can get. If they do tickets, do they then not allow anyone to line up before a certain time, ie the next morning? Will they allow muling for those that buy tickets from all over the US? If they start selling tickets at 2:27 on a Tuesday, there will be people mad because they cannot get away from work at that time to get them. Ticketing sets up a whole different set of issues. And before you bring up Dark Lord Day and how they ticket. These two events are not even close.

The beauty of Darkness Day is what it has become, a celebration of beer and the over used term "the beer community". The other businesses in the area have been great over they years and Omar/Todd have treated them well, and I think that most of the people that attend treat the property with respect a well...except for a couple of FIBs. But at least they brewed a new beer because of it.

If you live in MN, WI, IL or IA, this beer will most likely make it to your market. If you are in the Twin Cities, you will have ample opportunity to buy bottles after DD, and it is on tap somewhere half of the year. I'm sure there will be some cool versions of it on tap at the brewery as well. They know this is their biggest weekend and they keep making improvements every year.

If you are only looking at getting bottles so you can sell or trade them to make someone else happy or get something you want, I really doubt that anyone employed by Surly cares. If you want to drink and enjoy it with some friends, that is what they want to see.