Dark Lord Day 2016

I'm just glad that wasn't me! That may have been the same guy I saw at the beginning of walking through the gates to get our bottles and he was with a girl, and they were both so hammered they were holding up the whole line behind them. Eventually one of them fell into the fences and everyone just went by them, speeding the line up. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy and girl were there for awhile. Entertaining for sure.

 

...another great one was the dude who was literally assed out hanging over one of the green recycle bins near the south entrance restrooms around 3:30. By the time we walked by him, used the restroom and then walked back he was still there.

Poor guy then took a tumble and brought the can down with him shortly after. #bigbeers

 

Yeah, when people were egging him on to run/catch up he ended up taking a pretty good tumble too...

 

We were group C and got in the South Gate line around 8 AM. Got a good spot in line and enjoyed a little bottle sharing with everyone around us. Thanks to the couple from Cleveland that brought donuts for the line. Definitely hit the spot. Got right in easily around 10:15, grabbed hot sauce really quick and enjoyed no lines for pretty much anything for the first few hours of the fest. Had a few guest taps, ate some donerman and grabbed merch. I ended up bypassing the Dark Matter line after seeing the snifters 3 floyd's had for sale. I liked how they looked better and they were $10 cheaper for the pair, Win Win. We queued up for group C around 2:00 and when the line started moving around 2:25 we were through and out the door in about 5 minutes. Absolutely blew my mind compared to my experience of the line the last five years. Between the 4 in my group we got 2 BBA DL, a Muerte, and a Quit Hitting Yourself. Was hoping for a Ronaldo, but can't be too upset with 4 Variants. After the line we dropped our allotments back off at the car and went back in. We stayed for maybe an hour longer and decided to call it a day. The weather had gotten the best of us, and the lines were long enough that we couldn't really justify waiting in them, especially compared to the morning. Probably the earliest we've departed from the fest, but still a pretty successful time for us. I look forward to next year.

 

bro, fool me once with earl of biggleswade having cardamom and "hey this might be good", shame on me, fool me twice...

 

To be fair, group a, b, c, d, and e tickets all cost the same. Its not like group a tickets did anything special to be warranted a Vanilla variant. They got lucky when tickets went for sale. Only way to guarantee getting in closer is showing up early. I showed up 3 hour prior to my group was allowed in. People showing up at 9:30 for their 10:30 time slot is not that prepared. Especially with not knowing what the numbers of variants and knowing that they brought back '15 variants because didn't have enough for everyone. I watched group A people allowed around group B until 12:30 when group B was allowed to go in. There would be no way of knowing if all group A people are waiting to go to other groups or simply not there for the people running the group sales line. We all waited in long lines all day.

 

Ronaldo was on tap shortly and I highly enjoyed it.

 

This was my first Dark Lord Day. Stayed near O'Hare and took the Blue Line to Jak's Tap which worked out really well. The Blue Line stop is within 2 blocks of the bar. Ended up in the North line at like 8:30. Asked if I could pick up my laminate at the Ticket Resolution tent without waiting in line (I had Will Call) and was told no. I waited in line and eventually got my Group A laminate and then was told I had to go BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE which was twice as long at this point! So at this point I am separated from my friend who had Group B but whatever I met some cool people from Indiana in line who shared some Heady Topper with me. Then when I finally get to the front and think I'm in I have to wait in the longest cattle line I've ever experienced. I couldn't even enjoy any bottles shares at this point because I had to pee SO BAD. People were peeing out of the fence. I finally got in to get my bottles at like 12:15 and ended up with BVDL so I can't complain there. The lines were just ridiculous up until this point though. Once I the festival was much more enjoyable despite the rain. I wish there was a list of guest taps or that they were at least organized in some way but I got to try some good stuff. Was surprised by Apple Brandy Dragon's Milk. Fucking delicious. Food lines were long so I passed on that. In general people were very friendly and generous. Didn't see any theivery. Eventually met up with my friend again who ended up a mess. Had to leave earlier than planned because of that but I was fine with it. In the end while I had fun I can't help but feel like there has to be a better way to organize this festival. I went to Bell's Funvitational last year which was their first event of its kind and it seemed way more organized and better run. Will I go back next year? Maybe.

 

This was my 9th DLD. The weather was painful, but not much you can do there...For me personally, I REALLY hate crowds, so the tent situation was more or less not doable for me. Further to that, the thieving problem at DLD leaves me overly suspicious and the crushing crowds in the tent lends to those problems. Not surprising based on others' stories, in years past I've had people literally just stand behind me and try to open and go through my backpack...During much of the afternoon I stood outside in the pouring rain by the guest taps rather than be smashed like a sardine in the tent with the rest of my group. Fortunately my rain preparedness was strong, though by day's end I was still pretty wet (my feet stayed dry though). Warm clothes felt great at the hotel...

Was in group D, we went over to get in line at ~4:15 and they were letting D and E in already and we were through in no more than 10 minutes. My wife got a Quit Hitting Yourself and I grabbed a Temecula 3000; based on all the comments here I'm starting to feel really good/hopeful about my choice. Shared a lot of great beers with great people in line on the south end. The $40 in vouchers was definitely too much for us, but really, that's my only complaint aside from the weather. One lady offered us 5 tickets for one of our DLs, upon which I informed her some other person just gave us more tickets than that for nothing when they left.

The food line looked much more overwhelming than it actually was. I got the tacos and they were on point; those in my group that got burgers were disappointed, some saying they were "meh" and others saying they were cold. We watched one guy take one bite of his burger and throw the whole thing in the trash. Really good people watching as usual. I thought the bathroom situation was much improved over last year as well. Ended up getting 3 vintages of regular DL on tap as well as 3 variants, though no vanilla. I thought the 2016 was the best fresh DL I could recall; may try one at home soon when my palate isn't already wrecked. Wasn't overwhelmed by the guest taps compared to other years but I was never hurting for something good to try and the bottle sharing did not disappoint. I think 2014 Stone IRS was on all day. A random DB tried to start some shit with me at the guest taps around 5pm while I was ordering my beer and minding my own business (there wasn't a line, I was standing alone, he was looking for a fight), I gave him a piece of my mind and walked away. Not without its hiccups and sorry to hear about the north end line issues, but if not for the weather, this probably would've been a fantastic day. The generosity of so many BAs just blows my mind. I try to pay it forward as well but just cannot believe or appreciate enough how every time your glass is empty, a stranger will walk by and just drop something epic in your glass. Huna, Cantillon, some vanilla imp stout that BLEW MY MIND and I have no clue what it was, etc. For every thief or a**hole at DLD each year, there are 100 great Beer Advocates there to make everyone's experience great; that's what keeps me coming back.

 

Yeah but Earl has friggin' cilantro in it. That'll ruin any beer.

 

Amen.

 

For BBADL, do we know what barrels were used?

 

typically they use several different barrels and combine the various batches before bottling

 

Okay this is an absolute outrage and I would suggest group Aers contact FFF, or pound their social media. I went to the South gate at 9:30, expecting to take a while but figuring that was actually really early compared to my arrival times in previous years. The line started moving before 10, like whoa. We got in shortly after opening even with at least 200-300 people that got processed in front of us.

Now most of us that have done this numerous times know that you could always line up on either side no matter what group, but group A is recommended to use the North. Because of 2016, there's a seriously painful irony in that the recommendation of "being able to more quickly get into the bottle line" couldn't have been more wrong. People will remember this and unless things change it's going to have a ripple effect that may make things worse for all future attendees.

I think going forward it has to be up to FFF to straighten this out. You can't keep doing this with word getting out that you can be group E and get into the fest before group A without even the slightest struggle. So I agree with you @SeanBond this creates some uncertainty about where the crowds will gather next year, but I think FFF needs to look at the following options:

1. Downright restrict the North gate to group A only for the early part of the day
2. Allow the non-group Aers to line up separately near the North gate until group A fully enters
3. Let group A into the grounds early, so they can stand in the barriers on the way to the brewery

Ultimately, guaranteeing the Group A tickets delivers what it and FFF says it should--first, quick access.

So, in order to re-enter, do you have to get back in the lines? I'm curious because if I ever do this again, your route might be a primary option.

And this was your favorite DLD?! I really think the last two years have been absolute nightmares. I thought this year would be better, but actually turned out to be all out worse on the weather front, with it getting progressively worse after starting out kind of bad, whereas last year it was bad at first then just got better all day. I wore the same hiking shoes I did last year, but for whatever reason they turned into walking puddles as the day passed. The tap list situation is a whole other part of my post...

Of course there were plenty of cool people with great bottles, but that's every year. The bottle line zoomed by, which is a plus in some regards, a minus in others. If you were looking forwarding to sharing there, forget it, because we were all basically sprinting cattle. As others have mentioned that may have created larger lines for food than we've seen in the past.

@core42 you are so damn lucky, how in the world did you get a Vanilla in B? I'm guessing the North gate fiasco may have aided some Bs. I was early B and was totally floored that both Vanillas were already gone, but glad to have scored a Ronaldo, and a T3000. I'm a little scared of the Temeculan since it sounds similar to Biggleswade, but also excited to try something like it, as really I've never had anything with these ingredients.

Anyway I couldn't read my Ronaldo number at all--it rubbed off on the trip back or something, as it is completely blank in that spot. Thanks to all who posted the bottle totals. I was hearing rumors yesterday that Trump & Pump was only 200 and thus the rarest, but it's now sounding like maybe the 1 in ~1200 rubbed off.

Obviously, Tampa weather is better, even if it had rained down there (which it didn't). And, this year's tap lists were also eons better than DLD, which I don't think I previously would have said until now. This is a sad state for me to admit at this stage, as I was so looking forward to DLD taps. However, the line issue was still a problem at Huna, with an age-gate stamp to get into the fest stretching for miles--everything we really wanted had blown before we entered the gate. Still some nice surprises, and it was especially awesome that there was a Cigar City trailer pumping out their goods ALL. DAY. LONG! But, at the end of the fest, security pushed everyone out 10 minutes early, and there was one single line to get your bottles. One.

I don't know why these breweries can't hire some event managers (or better ones if they actually did spend the money). It's not that much more of an expense, which reminds me. FFF should have put up more damn tents this year, after last year's weather.

But speaking of taps.

So, it seems the consensus, with which I agree, is the taps sucked major ass. Most were permanently occupied by regular FFF taproom brews that we can actually get in Ohio on the regular, not to mention fucking Founders Curmudgeon was taking up a spot all...day...long! Who the hell let that dude in? And that wasn't the only 365/24/7 available brew occupying space. Something went terribly wrong in acquiring stuff or breweries aren't interested in sending their rare stuff anymore.

Regardless, is anyone attempting to construct a list like they did previous years?

Trying to take away some positives, I think Boneyard Notorious was the best guest tap I was able to enjoy, better than the RPM I was able to get at Huna Day. I also made the lucky choice of leaving the gf in one line while I searched others, during which time Marshmallow got tapped and she was able to snag one. And wow, first time for me, and now I understand the name. We also got Dwarven Power Bottom, which was like, should I admit this, thick prune juice...?

I didn't see half of what you saw, but yes, Big Tiddy Assassin was on, and surprisingly sour. A first for me.

There were some people that seriously needed food, including someone in my group. At least we had some water and were able to get more for free, but because the lines were so long, and what food we had packed had just gotten so horribly ruined by the weather, we had to leave early. The food situation was terrible. I guess we have to triple-bag our food, wtf.

Regular BA seemed to be passed over, but it's a safe bet, low risk, low relative hype for the fest, but huge payoff.

But seriously man, what is your friend going to do with $150? Pay a cable or phone bill? Why get a variant at all? At the very least, trade it up, otherwise the suffering through that whole ordeal and all the insanity of the day isn't worth a soggy $150 in place of a guaranteed variant. He should have just not come and saved the potential ticket for someone who cares.

I've got pictures of three separate Dark Lord bottle or tote deaths, two of which had variant casualties. All of which sounded like mini-grenades. Pretty fun and depressing all at once! Maybe I'll post later.

Still wondering about this, or if anyone opened theirs.

 

Yeah youre right, I had a bad time

 

Apparently very late in the day it was tapped. I heard very good things about it.

 

It could be that they knew they had already sold the draught beer in advance by including vouchers in the ticket price, so they said the hell with getting rare taps.

 

Yeah, I meant to reach out to FFF, and I think you're right, it's something they need to take responsibility for/clean up, at least for next year. There's absolutely no point to picking Group A if you can't even guarantee getting in the door/line before Group B'ers (despite being in line at gate open). I'd have no issue if I had showed up when Group B was supposed to start, but there's no reason to allow non-Group A people to go through the North Gate. Just put a sign up, for God's sake ("If you're in any group but A, go to the south gate).

 

Undisclosed... So Old Crow and Early Times Bourbon. Great! Thx dude!

 

Maybe he just valued $150 more than a bottle of beer??? I think it was a bad decision as if he was really after some $$$ for it, I'm pretty sure he could have gotten more.

Your bolded comment is strange to me...we had no suffering, absolutely the opposite. We had a great time drinking with people we just met all day, and the bottle line was smooth as can be. The only insanity I would say we had was the insanely great time drinking beer.

But, I'll make sure to not have a friend come with me next year because you think he isn't worthy.