Dark Lord (2018)

You’ll get diebeetus if you drink them all yourself. Looks like you’ll need to recruit some friendly BAers to save yourself.

 

I prefer teriyaki so I can't even use them for Asian entrees...

 

My crew will have a shitload of homemade beef jerky like we have for the last 3 years.

 

Haha, last year we had so many good snacks. The best part was when my big bearded friend and fellow father bellowed out - PEDIALYTE HYDRATION BREAK! - and made everyone bottle sharing with us chug pedialyte.

 

There is absolutely some bottle variation with FVM this year. I opened one a week after DLD and I thought it was terrible. Like seriously terrible. This may have something to do with drinking it after BADL 16, Handjee 17, and Chemtrailmix though, which are three of the best beers I've ever had in my life.

This combined with the hype surrounding FVM probably led to an elevated level of disappointment. I opened a second bottle in July and it was much better. Not saying either was necessarily good, but that second bottle was leagues better and I highly doubt the 2 months of age had anything to do with it.

 

I can't help but say, this is really, really weird. I mean, it's not like any of these beers are different beers. They're all the same beer.

 

Dessert wine barrel vs bourbon barrel....

 

With...the same beer.

Yes, I get it, these barrels impart a different character into said beer, but it's really not all that intensely drastic.

But I also get irked when people say they hate regular Dark Lord but absolutely love the variants. Even there, the differences are subtle, and to me it just comes off more like the cool thing to do, #bcuzsoysauce, rather than being honest about actually liking Dark Lord, which is an otherworldly beer.

 

To me they are quite a bit different (all the variants). Maybe it's sensitivity to certain ingredients that are imparted on the beer and maybe it's a combination of that along with the barrel. I don't drink wine and I don't drink liquor (99.999999% of alcohol I consume is via beer), but I love barrel aged beers. And so basically, anytime a stout beer is aged in a barrel I'll be able to pick up with good bit of intensity what I like about that stout and what I don't, especially when it comes to the kind of barrel used.

As for regular DL's, I've had 4 different years now and I thought they were all different. I liked '14 a good bit, and '15 was still descent but not as good. I really did NOT like 16 (grossly sweet to me), and I thought 17 was the best one by a good margin.

I do think some of the regular DL bashing is, to your point, because it's the 'trendy' thing to do. But I do think some people, like myself, genuinely like some and dislike others.

 

Is the 0.000001% from Kombucha? No judgment, just curious.

 

No, just an occasional Buttery Niple shot.

 

2016 FVM was actually aged in Armagnac barrels and based off the amount of different BA beers I've had, I can say for certain that barrel treatment has a massive impact on the final product. If it didn't why would breweries barrel aged at all let alone experiment with different barrels? The jump from a cognac to a wine is huge difference. Im sure this impact is intensified when you combine these barrels with an incredible barrel program like FFF has. I don't know how they got so much bourbon into BADL, but the guys are masters at extracting barrel flavors.

Also, Ive never had Muscat and this was my first Muscat barrel aged beer. I can guarantee you though, that I will never buy a beer aged in Muscat barrels again.

 

Honestly I was referring to the differences between the beers you had listed as having just had and being some of the best you'd ever had, vs. FVM '17. I mean, my reviews of these beers do point out the varying characteristics, but, for me, I just think it's splitting hairs between stellar experiences (Temeculan notwithstanding).

lol, oh...I hear you @That_Bearded_Guy ! And before FVM '17, I would have mostly agreed with you, mainly because Dwarven Power Bottom tasted a little too much like prune juice to me.

Annnnnnnnnnnd we're back on track!

 

Side note: I love regular Dark Lord, especially 2017. Anyone who doesn't like it can ship me their bottles and ill dispose of them properly.

 

This was exactly my thought process during that share! I chalked it up to shitty barrels and told myself never again haha

Glad you liked FVM so much though, proves how subjective taste is and that it really doesn't matter what anyone thinks. The next guy down the road to drink it will have completely their own experience.

 

So in this year's thread we discuss how barrels do nothing for a beer

 

Why do people hate muscat so much? Do a muscat tasting and get used to the flavor profile! Such an affordable dessert wine! Get after those honeysuckle notes, you heathens!

 

Nothing wrong with Muscat, but it doesn't belong in beer anymore than Dark Lord belongs in Muscat....

 

All I know is Dwarven Power Bottom was disgustingly sweet. I almost licked the mud to get the taste out of my mouth like Homer in the Brazil episode.

 

I heard FFF procured some very special barrels for 2018 DL variants, so called Hipe barrels.

Wonder what Hipe barrel aged DL tastes like...