Dark Lord Day History Thread

Ticket Sales Info (cont)

2012

This year marked the first increase in ticket price.

• Tickets were $15
• Tickets were sold Saturday March 17, at noon Central. St. Patrick's Day.
• Tickets were sold through Music Today.
• Tickets reportedly sold out in minutes.
• You could purchase two tickets per person.
• As with the previous year tickets were required for entry, one allotment per person.
• Tickets were split between 3 group times, same as the previous year.

Info from Three Floyds regarding tickets

To address frustration among locals missing out on tickets, Three Floyds sold tickets at the brewpub the following day. Sunday March 18. These were Group A tickets. Announcement:

A second round of tickets went on sale at the brewpub. on Saturday April 7, 2012. After which they announced DLD 2012 tickets were completely sold out.

 

Ticket Sales Info (cont)

2013

Tickets doubled in price this year. More group sales times were added. The major change was the printing of the purchasers name on the ticket. This was to make tickets non-transferable to address the issue of ticket re-sellers and scalpers.

• Tickets were $30
• Tickets were sold on Sunday, March 17, 2013. St. Patrick's Day, at noon Central.
• Tickets were again sold through Music Today.
• You could purchase two tickets per person.
• One allotment per person.
• Tickets non-transferrable
• Language was updated to read that only a "portion" of proceeds go towards charities. This was also true in 2012. Prior to that it appeared that all proceeds from tickets went to charity.
• Name of purchaser was printed on tickets. Matching Photo ID had to be shown to gain entry to the festival. Purchaser had to be present to allow guest entry to the fest.
• Tickets guaranteed allotment of 3 bottles of Dark Lord, along with the scratch off for a chance to purchase barrel aged variants.
• Two additional group times were added to bring the total to 5, Groups A-E.

Tickets were again sold at the Brewpub on the following dates:

• Sunday March 24, 2013. One per person.
• Sunday April 7, 2013. One per person.
• Friday April 12, 2013. One per person.

Language from DarkLordDay.com

 

Ticket Sales Info (cont)

2014

The main controversy this year as the queue system. While it reduced the need to hammer the server by constantly refreshing the page, the queue started 10-15 minutes before tickets were scheduled to go on sale. Many people who waited until noon to refresh the page and missed out blamed it on this, although many people who did not refresh until noon were still able to purchase tickets. Crowd Surge also gave you a timer once the tickets were in your cart, during which you could safely check out. This helped give peace of mind instead of frantically typing in your credit card.

The other big change was the addition of General Admission tickets. Tickets which provided entry to the fest, but no allotment of Dark Lord bottles.

• Group Sales Tickets were $30
• Tickets were sold through a new vendor, CrowdSurge
• Tickets went on sale on Monday March 17, 2014 (St. Patrick's Day). At noon Central.
• Could purchase 2 tickets per person.
• One allotment per person.
• Name printed on tickets as in 2013.
• Tickets non-transferable.
• Tickets gave you an allotment of 4 bottles of Dark Lord, with the same variant scratch off system.
• 5 Group sales times just as in 2013.

General Admission Tickets

• GA tickets were $30
• No Dark Lord allotment
• Purchased via lottery system, you signed up via e-mail and if your name was chosen, you had a window of time to purchase up to 2 GA tickets.
• Approximately 1,000 GA tickets sold.

Tickets were again sold at the brewpub on Saturday April 12, 2014. At 8am. One per person.

Info from DarkLordDay.com regarding Tickets.

 

Ticket Sales Info (cont)

2015

Another price increase and a new ticket vendor.

• Group Sales tickets were $40
• Tickets went on sale Saturday March 14, 2015 at Noon Central.
• Tickets were sold through eTix.
• Could purchase two tickets per person
• One allotment per person.
• Name printed on ticket
• This year you picked a group or "best available" and then were entered into a queue for those tickets. If you got them into your cart, you had 10 minutes to checkout.

General Admission tickets:

• GA tickets were $30
• Could purchase two per person
• No more lottery system, tickets went on sale on Tuesday March 17, 2015 (St. Patrick's Day) at 8pm Central. But did not sell out until the following day.

No word yet on brewpub sales, but they are expected.

DarkLordDay.com Ticket information:

 

Dark Lord Day Variants

Here is all the information I have on the variants released each year. Many years had Oak Aged Dark Lord on draft, which I believe was actually bourbon barrel aged, but I could be wrong. I know 2013 and 2014 had lots of vintage barrel aged Dark Lord variants on draft throughout the day. I don't know if the same was true in 2012 or 2011 as BA variants were only inside the brewpubs and I didn't want to wait in that line. I don't recall vintage barrel aged Dark Lord in 2010 or 2007.

2006

• 2005 Woodford Reserve Barrel Aged Dark Lord (draft)

12 750ml swingtop bottles produced and given to employees/friends. Also heard that a few were raffled off at the event?

2007 (draft only)

• Barrel Aged Dark Lord

2008 (draft only)

• Oak Aged Dark Lord
• Vanilla Bean Dark Lord

2009 (draft only)

• Oak Aged Dark Lord
• Vanilla Bean Dark Lord

2010 (draft only)

• Oak Aged Dark Lord
• Vanilla Bean Dark Lord

2011

Bottles:

• Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord - 392
  
• Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord With Vanilla Beans - 433
  
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord (Pappy Van Winkle 23) - 484
• Barrel Aged Dark Lord De Muerte (Bourbon barrel aged w/ ancho and guajillo peppers) - 165

Draft versions of these variants were only available inside the brewpub.

2012

Bottles:

• Cognac Barrel Aged Dark Lord - 543
  
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord - 688 & 420
  
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord - 934
  
• Cognac Barrel Aged Dark Lord De Muerte - 817

Draft versions of these variants were only available inside the brewpub.

2013

Bottles:

• Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord De Muerte - 417
  
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord - 711
  
• Port Barrel Aged Dark Lord Imperial Stout - 726
  
• Moscatel Barrel Aged Dark Lord - 1021

Draft versions of these variants were available as well as various vintage variants.

2014

Bottles:

• Portuguese Brandy Barrel Aged Dark Lord - 608
  
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord - 876
  
• The Earl Of Biggleswade (Dark Lord aged in a brandy barrel with cardamom, orange peel, and cacao nibs.) - 383

Draft versions of these variants were available as well as various vintage variants.

 

Got some updated info. 2005 was a two case limit, so 24 bottles. So there was a limit that year, but I doubt many people bought the limit.

Also this interesting quote from Nick Floyd from 2003 (emphasis mine):

 

Yeah I was wondering, because otherwise it would mean fewer winners in 2014, but there seemed to be plenty of Brandy DL last year.

 

Posting some images of the festival layout year by year:

In 2007 I recall the bottle line went north up Indiana towards Superior. Prior to 2007 I am guessing the line was not significant enough to really worry about. 2008 was the first year people really lined up before the festival started. In 2007 and before people just sort of hung out bottle sharing in the parking lot and didn't form a line until a few minutes before sales started.

2008:

This shows how people lined up in 2008, there were no fences back then so other than a few tents and porta johns in the FFF parking lot this gives you an idea.



2009

Looks like people decided to line up the same way as 2008. Also looks like FFF directed the line a bit better.



2010

With an additional 4-6 thousand people this year, the line was messed up. I lined up from the north because that's what I did in 2007. Many people lined up from the South since that is how it was in 2008 and 2009. No one was really sure which line was correct, the lines just seemed to merge into one giant mess once you reached the parking lot. Also mix in the lines for draft and the bewpub and you had a mess of lines.



2011

I don't have a map from this year. But basically they put a fence around the FFF parking lot and the entire fest was contained within the fence. I recall the main line forming north up Indiana towards Superior, going west on Superior and curving around the cul de sac to go back east down Superior. I did not wait for the brewpub, but it is possible that line stretched south.

A big improvement was having the Dark Lord bottle sales line wrap around the back of the building, and also the use of barricades to direct and condense the line. This was necessary with 6,000 people trying to fit in their parking lot.

Here is a BA User map of what it pretty much looked like:


This is a map of the parking restrictions they put in place that year. Before this there were no parking restrictions on the street, so people would park on both sides of the street and cars would attempt to drive down the middle along with festival goers walking in the street. This created a potential safety issue so parking restrictions were put in place.



2012

Yay a real festival map from Three Floyds. Same basic idea as 2011 with the entire fest contained in the FFF parking lot. I recall the main line going north just as in 2011. The brewpub line may have gone south.



2013

This year was a huge improvement, expanding the festival to include space across the street, north of the brewery and most of Indiana Pkwy. Moving the band stage outside to the field across the street was also a major improvement. Before you had to crowd into the brewery warehouse. The brewpub was also closed which was one less line to worry about clogging the fest.

The parking lot just north of the brewery housed a large number of porta-johns meaning there was never a line for the bathroom. A big improvement.

Lines to get in formed from both the north and south. They instructed Group A to line up from the North to expedite entry.

Here is a good map of the layout:



2014

Another expansion. This time not just the parking lot, but the entire building north of the brewery was utilized. This building was used for non Dark Lord to-go sales. This helped speed up the Dark Lord sales line. The parking lot of the business across from FFF was also used for food trucks and another draft tent.

Another notable improvement was the addition of porta-johns outside the festival grounds so line bottle sharers did not need to pee on the side of a building. Also breakfast tacos were served in the morning outside of the fence.

Map provided by FFF


Map overlay on Google Maps satellite view:

 

Yeah, comprehensive tap lists is going to be a tough one. I think the best we could do is list the notable taps and try to compile a list based on what people said they tried. A few years they announced the taplist ahead of time (2009 & 2011) but then there were others tapped that weren't announced like CBS in 2011. Here is some quick info on 2008-2012. I'll work on compiling more.

2008
Guest breweries from:
Pizza Port
Firestone Walker
Piece
Rock Bottom Chicago
Flossmoor
Goose Island
Russian River
and Others...

Here is the taplist from 2009:

Three Floyds
Proudly Presents
The Fancy Beer Tapping Schedule!

11:00 – Pizza Port Carlsbad’s Poorman’s Double IPA
– Stone Levitation
– Rock Bottom Chicago, Bourbon Imperial Stout
– Three Floyds/DogfishHead Popskull!
– Firestone Walke Union Jack IPA
– Flossmoor Station White Lady Imperial Witt

12:00 – 2006 Brandy Barrel Aged Double Bastard
– Pizza Port Carlsbad Trigger Happy
– Synebynkoff Porter
– DogfishHead Palo Santo
– Three Floyds Oak Aged Behemoth
– Flossmoor Station X-IPA

1:00 – R.I.S. 2007
– Pizza Port Solana Booya Steez
– J.W. Lee’s Harvest Ale
– DogfishHead Fort
– Three Floyds Oak Aged Behemoth with cherries
– Victory golden Monkey

2:00 – Old guardian barlewine aged in red wine barrels
– Pizza Port Faceplant
– Gordon Biersch Bollingbrook
– Three Floyds Oak Aged Dark Lord
– Three Floyds Oak Aged Alpha Klaus
– Bell’s Hopslam

3:00 – Stone Smoked Porter
– Pizza Port Solana Parable Pale
– Firestone Walker Abacus
– Struise Black Albert

4:00 – Stone IPA
– Pizza Port San Clemente Infamous Chocolate Imperial Stout
– Stone Bourbon Barrel Arrogant Bastard
– Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

5:00 – Stone Vertical Epic
– Surly Teabagged Furious cask
– Founders Dry-hopped IPA Cask

6:00 – Stone 10th Anniversary

7:00 – Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine

2010

Stone Brewing Old Guardian aged in Red Wine Barrels
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree
Surly Tea Bagged Furious Firkin
----
This was the rumored taplist before the event, seems to be accurate.

Stone Vertical Epic 08-08-08
Stone Old Guardian 2006
Stone Old Guardian aged in Red Wine Barrels
Southern Tier Choklat
Southern Tier Javah
Southern Tier Oak Aged Unearthly
Bell's Hopslam
Bell's Oarsman
Bell's Poolside
Bell's Barrel Aged Hell Hath No Fury
Gouden Carolus Cuvee' The Emperor Blau 2007
Upland Infinite Wisdom Triple
Upland Light Wave
Upland Scoth Ale
Upland Firkin
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Founders Double Dry Hopped Centennial IPA firkin
New Belgium Eric's Ale
New Albanian Old Ale
Dogfish Head Fort
Dogfish Head Burton Baton
Dogfish Head Red and White
Dogfish Head Old School
Van Steenberge Klokke Roland
Victory St Victorious
Victory St Boisterous
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree
Petrus Oud Bruin
Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale
Schlafly Quadruple
Schlafly Barrel Aged Smoked Porter
Brooklyn Brewmaster's Reserve Cookie Jar Porter
Brooklyn Brewmaster's Reserve Sorachi Ace
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary
and something from Port Brewing

2011

Founders Breakfast Stout, Nemesis, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Backwoods Bastard, Newaygo County Cherry, Devil Dancer, Double Trouble. • Victory Smoked & Oats, Headwaters Pale, Braumeister Pils. • Schlafly Kölsch, Imperial Stout • Van Steenberge Monk's Ale • Brewdog Paradox Smokehead • Bell's Batch 10,000, Oatmeal Stout • Left Hand TNT weizen doppelbock • Dogfish Head My Antonia, Worldwide Stout, Old School Barleywine, Burton Baton • Ommegang Gnomegang • The Bruery Saison De Lente, Loakal Red, Old Richland • Goose Island Bourbon County Stout Rare, Schlenkerla Fasten Beer, Oat Smoke, Maerzen • Futhermore Knot Stock, Oscura • La Rulles Estivale, Aventinus Eisbock • Sierra Nevada Oliva Dubbel • Oakshire Heart Shaped Box, Imperial Overcast Espresso Stout. Plus a couple more on the way...

Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale
Sun King Buffalo Tipping Point (Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel-aged Belgian dubbel)
Sun King Buffalo Fest (Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel-aged Oktoberfest)
Founders CBS

2012

Guest Taps Provided By

• Firestone Walker
• Upland
• New Albanian Oaktimus and Rye Barrel Aged Yakima
• Haymarket
• Sun King
• Hitachino
• Schlenkerla
• Schneider
• Birra Del Borgo
• New Belgium
• Stone
• People's
• Sierra Nevada
• Left Hand
• Brugge
• Schlafly
• Brew Dog
• Cigar City
• Pizza Port
• Revolution
• Pipeworks
• Goose Island
• Fat Heads
• Founders

Notable taps inside the brewpub:
Regular tap list inside the brewpub: http://i.imgur.com/IvSNDuf.jpg

- Founders KBS and CBS were there
- Goose Island BCBS Cherry Rye
- FFF BA Robert the Bruce with raspberries
- Cigar City Apple Brandy Zhukov

 

2009 Golden Ticket

I can't find any high quality scans or images of this one. Here is what I found:



Some images from the designer here: http://entroemcee.com/zimmer-design.com/?q=node/37

I think I have scans of all the others, I'll round them up.