Dark Lord Day (2019)

I wonder if they regret the tap times last year, with people being lined up hours early, preventing a lot of others that were less inquisitive from going to front of line to get what was currently available.

 

just spit balling here and piggybacking a little on @SaisonRichBiere...there is a potential they sourced bourbon, especially considering MGP in Indiana is one of the largest private label distilleries. And, they are producing world class spirits, enter Smooth Ambler. There is speculation they provided a lot of juice to High West when they were winning awards.

 

Two stouts and an old ale from a tiny brewery in Florida, called Side Door.

 

it was a combination of ZFG, try to find was is being tapped by waiting in line, and twitter posts

 

Yeah it's all about the oak. Charred oak preferably (I'm not aware of what the Rogue barrels are like). I've foudn a lot of the beers I've had aged in wetter barrels or 'highly exalted' bourbon barrels either weren't necessarily better than less rare bourbon barrels, or were often too overpoweringly boozy.

 

The year before last they did the whole Twitter announcement thing. Years before it was just pure luck: right place and right time. A lot of people would frolic around certain tap stations and then pounce on the line as a desired variant went on draft.

 

I sure hope not, cell reception sucked pretty bad that day, for me at least. Twitter would suck even more.

 

Yeah, this was my other concern as well. I know not everyone's going to be happy regardless of what they do, though, so...

 

I would think pre-advertised tap times would be a mega-shit show. They do that at the Great Taste and the lines are insanely long way before the tap time. That would suck as I would not be interested in spending the day in line for a couple big taps.

The only other year I went was 16 and it was just luck of the draw. With the rain, I didn't spend a lot of time chasing taps. I got one vintage DL pour and that was it. Every other time I checked them out, they were pouring gumballhead or zombie dust. Good beers, but I can only drink so much on DLD and I'm not wasting my capacity on those.

My buddy spent the bulk of the day circling tap to tap trying to get the best pours he could. He did pretty well, but he worked *hard* at it. I like good beer, but honestly, the shares were just as good and far less effort.

 

I hope they go back to the random, unpublished tappings of yesteryear. I'd prefer the adventure of seeking them out over the insane lines of last year, waiting for the timed tappings of the variants.

 

DLD = Dark Line Day for a reason

 

Personally it's a celebration of beer so all guest taps should be handled like the variants. You pay and they hand you a random cup- could be Bottle Logic whale or could be local crap, you just don't know, but the more you drink the better your odds.

 

Yeah that's how it was last year, but I actually preferred it, and it wasn't quite the shitshow you'd have expected, with the exception of a few early lines people accumulated into all at once. If there was a line you were willing to wait in, it facilitated some sharing unlike most of the other lines that have become so much more efficient. I didn't find most of the lines that bad last year, and when they were, I just avoided them. You could get any variant you wanted if you timed it right.

I actually disliked this way the most. It might be more exhilarating to come across a variant randomly, but you spend a lot more time walking around seeing what you can find than not.

I just wonder if they made enough to put them all on tap like most were last year, or if most it was bottled this year.

 

I don’t see the difference between bourbon and whiskey as moving the goalposts, it’s a mash bill difference in general and I just lazily said bourbon instead of whiskey.

If you think the 3 years is moving the goal posts, well, math. I’m taking the 4 year end of the 4-5 year range obviously. Lets say they put whiskey in barrels immediately after opening (possible but impressive), they need to have emptied them after 3 years to give them 1 year to age DL, bottle DL, etc. 4-1 = 3, and 3 year whiskey is typically not awesome. Even most decent budget whiskeys (I’m taking Buffalo Trace level, not Fleishman’s) are aged 7+ years. It’s not like even 4 year whiskey is typically great.

Maybe you're arguing that they only age barrel age DL for 3 months or something? Nobody seems to know for sure how long they age it but I think the consensus is way longer than that given how much barrel character they get.

So the question remains, what is a good 3-4 year aged whiskey, craft or otherwise? Honestly curious since I haven't had one.

 

Why not age DL in barrels created for DR? Why does it have to be second use?

 

Do people really care about the taps that much? This will be my 8th DLD and I've probably had 4 beers on tap ever there. Go for the share.

 

You mean that they age DL in the wooden barrels first, then put whiskey in it? Saying the DL is aged in DR barrels seems crazy misleading then since they're functionally just wooden barrels at that point. Some DL is also aged in Copper Kings barrels then (because some Copper & Kings Brandy is aged in third use barrels where the second use was aging DL).

 

I certainly do. It is a great opportunity to sample the variants that I'm not likely to have a chance to sample again.

 

I'm with you on this one - the pre-listed tap times caused a couple huge lines for the first couple hours, but even by midday they were moving pretty quickly. I avoided the long lines right off the bat and just stuck to bottle sharing - first one I waited for was I think Cavaleiro (maybe Chemtrail?) around noon and I only was in line 20 minutes. It was just enough time to trade pours with the guys next to me in line and chat briefly.

Thereafter, basically the only lines that were super long were for Handjee, and even that died down completely by early evening. I didn't mind waiting 20-30 minutes a couple times because I could either share with folks around me or take the opportunity for a short break. Having the tap schedule made it much easier to find the ones we were looking for, so I'm all in favor of doing that again.

Anyway, since I'm having trouble concentrating at work, here's today's weather roundup:
Accuweather: Hi 72, Low 58, mostly sunny, 20% chance of precipitation
Weather Channel: Hi 65, Low 58, mix of sun/clouds, 10% chance of precipitation
NOAA: Hi 77, low 58, mostly sunny, small chance of thunderstorms late

Fingers crossed that this holds, I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

It has always seemed like way too much work to get them. I'd rather just enjoy myself than be trying to figure out which line to wait in.