Dark Lord Day (2020)

Where's all the butt-hurt from people shut out of the sale. I know the vintage went fast, in like 1-2 mins, but it seems like everyone who was trying got some. Who got shut out and is mad???

 

That's mostly for Twitter/Facebook/Instagram crowd. Most people commenting on this thread are seasoned vets. Been down this road before, shutout or not.

 

I saw packages were available for like 5-7 minutes after 3 yesterday and there was no issues with their website, so I'm guessing everyone who wanted one and was diligent, got one.

 

I honestly think that couldn't have gone much smoother. Nothing crashed, no queue, just an easy e-commerce transaction. The only thing I think people could even potentially complain about would be no cart protection, but if you've bought any beer online during the last 3 months you should know better by now. I personally opted to not buy, the 8 hour round trip is too much of a gamble for me to not know what variants I would get. At least when the fest happens I have a weekend of fun to look forward to if I end up with a Turtledogg (which I did that year).

 

Yeah, I know it was smooth for me. Just curious of other's experience with the Vintage sale. I did like the post noting how this was way smoother than brownpaper or eventbright. Funny how that worked out.

 

I know one of my friends missed out but that's partly because he couldn't find the link and once he did and got the 5pack in his cart for a specific date, during the check out it sold out. By the time he looked for other dates, all the 5packs were gone. He understood it was on him entirely. Nothing to do with the website or way it was sold.

 

I had a 5 pack in my cart and was about to pull the trigger when I reconsidered. I’ve tried a couple of the variants and have had mixed feelings. Didn’t want to take the risk of having 2 bottles I might not like. Plus, I haven’t left my house in over a week except for yard work or gardening, and the idea of driving anywhere is seriously unappealing.

 

I think the demand is a lot lower for just bottles. It isn't a fest, you can't stop at the pub, you can't really add it on as a stop along a summer trip as everything is Covid impacted, it isn't publicized like DLD for the casual fan. I think a lot of the smoothness of the site was it just wasn't a lot of demand- everyone who wanted some got some, it's the 2nd and 3rd time loopers who were the only ones impacted by sell-out.

 

2 of my buddies didn't score, and tried immediately.

 

As a DLD virgin still, the 5-pack was appealing to me. Have had regular DL many times, but never a BA DL. Had no issues securing, and already have a friend in Boston wanting one of the regulars.

 

I think if you picked the wrong date you just had bad luck. I got sold out notification twice and had to change dates to get through finally. I think breweries would benefit from setting pickup dates after the fact. That’s how maplewood does it and it makes it a lot easier for people to purchase

 

Yeah, I think you are right, because I chose Sunday, they both chose Saturday. I got a 5pack, they got nothing.

 

So, random question, is there any consensus as to what the best year is for a regular dark lord? How do we think some of these super vintage bottles will taste? The oldest I've had is a 2016

 

Good for us since 3F announced all Sunday pickups will have Handjee and FVM

 

Lol, looking at the list, I'll happily take anything but Reptilefund, GTM, Brozerker, or Brotilla. I'm cool with anything else. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the hate for the Aquavit aged...are the reviews just full of shit? People seem to have liked it?

 

I don't think there is consensus on a best year, some years are often considered worse, 2012 for example often is ranked low when people do vertical tastings.

Any year 2008 and earlier was considered very good, but at this point they are very old and most weren't stored well. Part of the fact could just be back in 2008 and before Dark Lord had far less competition as well.

I always thought 2014 was a good year. They are all pretty close honestly. In general it gets better with a couple years on it.

 

Hopefully these old ones from 3 Floyds were stored right, I mean, you would think they'd have to have been...right? Much like the old Vanilla Ryes that Goose Island distributed a few months back, these should be about as good a vintage bottle you can find I would think.

 

I hope for everything you said, but realistically, I just see these bottles as having been shoved out of the way in some corner of their facility until they remembered this is a perfect time to sell them.
... ok, maybe not realistically, but the other end of the spectrum outlook.

 

Nick Floyd keeps them in his chicago closet cellar. i'm sure they taste fabulous.

 

I have only had a few vintages but my personal opinion is fresh DL > any aged DL.