Dark Lord Day (2019)

Update: I think I see they had gold Dark Matter snifters as well last year, so you remembered correctly. But I also have photos of black ones.. so maybe they had both.

 

Does anyone know what the barrel aged dark matter coffees were selling for?

Thanks

 

I got a Split 12oz 4pk for $25 "after tax" - malort and bourbon geisha

 

Thanks!

 

Well folks, another year and another fun DLD is in the books.

I’m happy to report that 10 of the 11 people in my group that came down with the party bus at 8:00A.M. made it back alive at 9:00P.M. I don't know how we did it, but we done did it. Everyone that was there as a first timer really enjoyed it and said they've never been to anything like it. Most of them took it all in and went for it. I was so proud.

Was awesome hanging with many of you as well fine folks as well. I looked like a Chechen separatist with my scraggly beard and my camouflaged jacket, if anyone remembers running into a guy like that.

Overall the group scored: FVM X4, Brosure X2 (my contribution!), Chemstrailmix, Handjee, Loadstar, Rrari Crochet, and Lounge Against. All in all a descent spread.

I do have to say, I was probably most excited about that Duck Hunt themed DLD lunch box which a buddy bought me as a surprise. As another buddy in the group put well: 'that lunch box is tits!'

Everyone in the group was excited and looking to make this an annual thing. I'd love for that to be the case.

 

Can you post a pic of the lunchbox? Sounds cool!

 

''

I think I speak for everyone here when I ask "What happened to the 11th man?"

 

RIP 11th dude.

 

No problem. It's metallic. Front, back and the thermos inside.

 

Last we saw and heard from him was around 2P.M. He disappeared for about 20-30 minutes before he texted us that he couldn't make it and was already in an Uber back to hotel room. Didn't hear from him again until following day. Probably didn't want to tell anyone in person when he was leaving because of the ridicule he would've been subjected to.

 

LOL. You absolutely did.

 

Well, he was right haha.

This was a weird DLD for me because it wasn't getting absolutely trashed that did me in... I was just straight up physically exhausted. Told my buddy at 330 I was crashing hard, he looked at me with a 1000 yard stare and said lets get out of here.

 

The 22 oz bottles were selling for $12 each or a $40 four-pack. The 12 oz bottles were as noted above.

 

Brain is a little more operational today, so I'll give this a shot. Here goes me being long-winded. Again. What a blast. As someone who has been to a lot of concerts, festivals, general raucous events, there's nothing quite like DLD. The bottle share adds a dimension that in this day in age, you just don't really see. Really appreciate all the advice in this thread. It helped us come up with a game plan that went pretty flawlessly, and I'm not sure we'd change much next time.

We went in a group of 7 - @Jinx989 was out veteran guide, a friend of mine went for the second time this year, and the rest of us were all on the first go at it. Stayed at the Springhill Suites just down the road. Super easy to walk back and forth. We were really happy with the accommodations. Staff were all friendly, breakfast was surprisingly solid, nice share on Friday night in one of the conference/party rooms. Would definitely stay there again.

We got there at 7:30 AM, which seems like overkill, and probably was, but we ended up with a really nice table with shade b/w Yum Yum and Bruce. I'd do it this way again to acquire that base camp. As noted, drinking down to enter was rough. No one was really able to "help" because everyone was in the same boat. Lesson learned for next time. They did let us all in a little over and there was no big deal made about it at all.

We all had different groups pick-ups - A, B, C, and E. Four of us had A, so we all got in that corral with the whisperings of being let in a little early last year, etc. They let us in at 8:36 AM, but you had to go get in line for bottles. No meandering off to get a table or go to Dark Matter, getting in Handjee line, etc. Staff and volunteers were everywhere to make sure you didn't too. We saw several people who went back to the general holding pen once they realized this. We just went and got bottles and passed the table seeking mission off to our other group. We were out with our bottles in less than 10 minutes. Everyone in our group pulled something different, except for doubling up on Chemtrail, which they later traded for Loadstar. I had a pretty drunk dude trying to get me to trade my 'Rrari in the rain for Chemtrail and $100. I passed.

Food was really fantastic. I tried a little bit of everything. Favorites were the Chimichanga, Harlem Chopped Cheese, and the Chemtrail Ice cream. My chimichanga did not fornicate with the ice cream for the record.

Music wise I really only watched most of HoF since Power Trip was the other band I really wanted to see. They were pretty great though. No surprises there.

Rain was a bummer. I get why they shut it down for a bit. Giant aluminum tents, people walking around in standing water with lightening about, etc. We were fortunate to just dry out in the hotel for a bit then headed right back when we saw it was open for business on here.

Bottle sharing and seeing tons of BAs was A LOT of fun. We got some pours of BBDL and Loadstar right out of the gate with short lines, but avoided the lines the rest of the day. We started getting into the share as the lines got out of control, which worked out great. Post rain, the lines were non-existent. Got pours of Rare Scooop, Brotilla, Ronaldo, and Varnov 2019 no problem. Lots of regular DL vintage options everywhere. @Quilentro baby-birded me some BA Macaroon. Life was good. I would have liked to try a few more variants, but whatever. Someone gave me a bit of Chemtrail. Thanks to whoever that was. I was offered SO many other great beers from generous and friendly strangers all day it didn't matter one bit.

My group definitely saw a dude lean up against one of the hand sanitizer stations and go promptly down into the mud. Good times.

Hoping to be back next year for sure! Oh, and everyone should have a friend that brings a souvee machine to your hotel room and cooks various meats in it in the bathroom all weekend. Don't judge.

 

You turned down a Chemtrail AND 100$ for a rrari? Wow. Glad you had a great time!

 

I did. Not saying it was a bad offer. To be more clear, the storm was picking up, they had shut food and drink down, we were probably leaving soon, 3 guys in my group hadn't picked up yet and I figured they may get it (2 of them did), and my bottle wasn't even on me. 8 hours into the day at that moment and trading was a low priority.

 

Well based on the going rates you missed out on probably like 50 bucks and you get the variant that everybody wants.

 

I went to dark matter (the physical location) on Saturday and bought all 4 coffees. 2 4 packs and 2 bombers ran 74 dollars so I am assuming the bombers were 12 each.

 

I was told $50 for a random variant.

 

Are you saying rrahri is the hot variant this year? After trying it on tap at the brewpub on Sunday I would rank it maybe 10th or 11th out of the 13 variants this year personally. I liked it, but was glad I didn't end up with a bottle.

 

And how would you rank the rest?

 

I don't think all the people that want to got to try Rrari. Couple that with a DOOM label and Neapolitan ingredients + coconut, yep, it's the hot one. I actually enjoyed Loadstar more, but not enuf adjunx derd!

And the name...the name alone inspires hype and intrigue.

 

I would put them in the following tiers, where I view the variants in each tier to be equally delicious and I would be equally happy with any of them.

Tier 1
- Chemtrail
- Handjee

Tier 2
- Any of the 4 straight bourbon/rye barrels. I've really enjoyed those kinds in the past
- lounge, had it last year, really enjoyed it
- loadstar, liked this quite a lot more than rrahri personally, tasted like an almond joy

Tier 3
- brosure
- cavaleiro
- rrari
- fvm

Tier 4
- reptilefund

 

I grabbed one as well and love it! But why does it have the wrong date on it?

 

I noticed that too and was wondering the same thing. Ultimately it wasn't a deterrence to purchase.

 

Does lounge taste pretty similar to last year? I wasn't sure how the bourbon barrel would affect it.

 

Didn't get to try it this year, I am going off of last year, but I would assume the addition of the bourbon barrel can only help.

 

I'd have to put FVM a little higher, I thought it was quite good this year!

 

Which of those did you actually get to taste this year? Just curious to know what's based off this year's taste vs. prior years vs. description.

 

Certainly somewhat based on prior years and descriptions. Not a fan at all of mezcal for example.

This year I tasted handjee, Chemtrail, loadstar, rrari, cavaleiro, and brosure. I tried fvm the prior 2 years and just not a fan, but it's possible this year improved. To each his own!

 

I scored a pair off the Dark Matter site a day or two after 2018 DLD. They ones I got had the anniversary logo not the bat wing logo.

 

You definitely beat me out. I only had Cavaleiro, Chemtrail and FVM. I liked Cavaleiro quite a bit more than others seem to (i.e. I may think of it more as a Tier 2), but FVM wasn't for me again this year. I didn't have 2018 FVM, but did have the dreaded 2017 FVM (and still have a bottle). I thought this year's was better than 2017, but still not something I'd be looking to acquire.

 

Based on facebook trading I've seen, rarri is consistently posted and traded at the same rate as handjee and chemtrail is probably just barely below that if not equal.

 

my friend and his family pulled 3 rrari, I offered chem for one, they turned me down...I had chem last year just wanted to diversify. oh well.

 

Rarri is new and unique, whether good or bad. I've had Chemtrail before, it's solid, but would happily have traded the one I got as a variant for something I hadn't had before.

 

I'll jump in, only in regards to the 2019 drafts I had:

1. BADL I liked the most this year. It was solid and balanced.
2. FVM - I was pleasantly surprised by FVM this year
3. Loadstar - I've said elsewhere - Mounds and pink champagne (weird, and delish)
4. ChemTrailMix was a bit potent of cinnamon this year, moreso than past years
5. Rrari - I got chocolate covered strawberry, but it was quite intensely sweet
   
6. Brosure - have never been a fan of accentuating any underlying DL dark fruit or grape

I didn't try too hard to get the others outside of Loadstar and Rrari, but was really hoping to try a Reptilefund as I'm a mezcal fan, which is odd since I absolutely hate peated scotch, but I find them totally different. Can't wait to hear some real tasting notes on it.

 

I only tried 3 of this year's variants but the ranks were:

1. Chemtrailmix
2. Handjee
3. Loadstar

I was in a group of 4 and we all ranked them this way. My thing with Handjee is it is a superb beer, but it just isn't as complex as Chemtrailmix. It seems like everyone is cranking out vanilla bombs now though so it's a flavor I feel like I've had a lot. Fundamental Observation is very comparable to Handjee in my opinion. But everyone saying this year's Chemtrailmix has a lot more cinnamon is also correct.

 

Where would infected Maman fit in these rankings?