Dark Lord Day 2024

They posted the etix link as well.

 

Well, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by the band announcement at first. HoF is always great, but I've seen them many times. Definitely excited for Fugitive. If they were going to bring in 2 black metal bands from Norway I certainly have some others I'd prefer, but that's just personal preference and no knock on Abbath or 1349. Spirit World was the only band I wasn't familiar with. They are pretty badass- have a Power Trip and early 90s thrash a la Slayer, Sepultura, etc. There's not a weak link in this lineup.

 

Please tell me they’ll have some new variants (and XX doesn’t count as it isn’t guaranteed). I get where people didn’t want crap when they were only getting one variant, but now that we’re getting three, let’s go back to 9-10 variants with a couple of weird ones thrown in.

Plus I image they’ll have plenty of 2023 variants for sale this year that didn’t get sold last year…unless they are all infected….

 

Right now in Munster, Indiana, buckets of cardamom were just thrown into Dark Lord barrels. Your voice was heard!

 

I think everyone was so happy with so many guarantees of traditionally loved variants last year that this is probably going to be less and less likely. We've done this exercise before but what new stuff would you like to see, (and not revisits, I know I'd love to try cognac coffee)? I was thinking banana but the draft only Munster Punch had it and pineapple, but they weren't prominent in the way that some trendy banana stouts have been.

Raspberry Diamonds was a pretty awesome new entry last year that grew on me.

 

Give me a regular Bourbon/rye, a Handjee/Chemtrailmix and another random one that's not in a wine/scotch/tequila barrel and doesn't have weird shit like cardamom and I'm fine.

 

Asking what I’d like to see from FFF is like asking what I’d like to see from Picasso. I have no business getting in the middle of genius to tell them what to do. They have come up with winners on their own. I’d don’t want banana in beer, however I enjoyed Munster Punch on draft, loved Casino Beach, and would love to see them make a DL variant of the OG Dismembers Only which was a complete floral, fernet like Jaeger bomb and did not use dumbed down ingredients like the distro’d version did. FFF came up with weird combos that no one else was doing. They aren’t afraid to try different barrels or go long on spices. Maybe rather than make just a BA DL variant have 3 versions from different bourbon barrels- maybe an in house FFF distillery one, and the some from whoever they can source barrels. It works for Revolution? How about aging some Behemoth in former DL barrels? A Dark Lord Barleywine would be pretty appreciated. I liked trying Biggleswade, Temeculon, etc. DL is about trying new and interesting things and the variants should reflect that unless I’m misreading this and people are just bringing the exact same bottles to the bottle share each year because they only want to sample safe stuff they have had.

By the same token, maybe they make more weird shit for draft only at the fest like they did with Munster Punch. I could get behind that model.

 

I propose to Nick Floyd: Behind That Model, a Malort barrel aged Dark Lord barleywine with banana, anise, dill pickle & more banana. Draft only, and only poured if @HouseofWortship reveals himself & gives you a token.

 

This would get some blood flowing. I'd love to see them take a big swing like this.

 

@HouseofWortship has his first sip:

 

Did the last 12 years, so I see no reason to not try lucky number 13. I'll also echo the sentiment others have said and simplifying the variant list would be nice. A regular bourbon one, a vanilla/coffee one, a rye and maybe a wild card would be a decent rotation to have for a while. The days of variant trading while kinda fun, was kinda silly and confusing after a while since many of them contained overlapping adjuncts thrown in the mix.

That being said, I noticed my two 'Rarris from last year were sadly infected and I have yet to reach out to them about it. Has anyone else noticed the same thing and if so, is there a particular person to reach out to? I would like at least some kind of good faith effort from them to comp me a bit since those beers do get kinda pricey.

Also, whoever made the point about the Donerman truck last year was spot on. I saw the line at like half strength and told the wife, "nah, let's get a pour and wait," since we had another function afterwards. Of course I thought it into existence because like 15 minutes later the line had doubled in size and we held off on food, opting to GrubHub when we got back home before heading back out. This time I'll know better.

Oh and least I forget: No one I know is getting married on DLD this year! About time!

 

I've heard from multiple people who called that we should be able to swap 2023 Rrari bottles empty or full at the kiosk, either now as you're able, or DLD weekend for those not nearby.

 

Never too early to book a shuttle to DLD. The Open Bottle has theirs for sale already.

https://shop.theopenbottle.com/collections/all-products/products/dark-lord-day-shuttle-bus-tickets

 

Personally I’d rather have a refund or replacement beers. Were the customer service people at least firm, but gentle?

 

"Guest Breweries" list is up.
Of course with "And More to Come!"
No specific beers listed.

 

It's because 80% of them never get tapped.