Darklord Day 2017

Dark Lord Day 2011. Beautiful, bright sunny day.

Location: Just outside the garage where people (used to) exit after picking up bottles.

Jolly gentleman standing in the middle of a crowd basking in the warmth of the beautiful day is carrying around a growler of his coveted homebrew, asking everyone around him if they would like some. Everyone having a great time and then suddenly, just as I turn my back, I hear a loud BOOM. After a brief flinch, I turn back to see the growler the gentleman was carrying had exploded and he was left holding the handle and a part of the base. Amazingly, no one got hurt from the shattered glass, including him. A true Dark Lord Day miracle.

Moral of the story - careful this year with (hopefully) a nice sunny day and bottles/growlers of homebrew. That CO2 buildup with help from the sun could produce some less-than-optimal results with that precious bottle.

 

*Still anxiously awaiting the next DLD announcement from FFF...

 

Might wanna pop a Xan, brah. Gonna be a minute.

 

I know, I'm just having fun with it. The DLD thread every year is the best.

 

A few years back a BA in front of me was sharing a growler while we were waiting in line outside the gate.

 

Carrying a growler around all day sounds like a fucking nightmare. What could possibly so good that you need to bring a growler of it?

 

The only thing I can think of is that he ditched the growler when empty. I know I have enough of them (and keep getting free ones) that I'd be fine bringing one to the entry line, and then just tossing it when it empties out.

But also, yes, carrying one around all day sounds f'ing awful.

 

Has anyone had experience bringing an outside keg into DLD? But this seems to be a nice growler carrier for those inclined to bring one. I do wish FFF would rethink the no dog policy though.

 

There is a lot of fresh, local stuff that can only be purchased in growlers- first one that comes to mind is Hill Farmstead. Well worth carrying a growler of. I think the point is you don't want to carry around a growler of something that isn't going to be in demand to try. You could clear out a growler of Assassin in 30 seconds if someone was able to obtain one.

Edit: and of course if the guy bringing in the growler is getting fills of Vanilla DL under the table, we all look silly.

 

I think that qualifies as a service dog...

 

Custom blend of Alpha King and YumYum, just in case there's not enough inside.

 

Then you have to figure out what to do with a growler once its empty. There is SO MUCH beer at DLD. Sounds like an incredible pain in the ass.

 

OK so I'll definitely skip the growler at DLD, thanks!
In the meantime, I got one of these recently: http://www.growlerwerks.com/products/ukeg-64-pressurized-growler and have been wondering what would be the best maiden fill. I live in downtown Chicago and have been thinking Burnt City or Dry Hop since they're close. Any recommendations from you pros?

 

I would personally take it to Half Acre. They let you try copious amounts of samples so you can choose whatever you enjoy the most. Burnt City and Dry Hop are pretty decent, but I go there more for food/beer combo rather than filling a growler.

 

Some people from far off lands enjoy sharing their local beers. If they are flying in, getting a hotel, and dropping $240 on a ticket, I don't think eating the cost of a $4 growler and leaving it behind are their biggest worries.

 

I don't think we've ever fought about growlers on a DLD thread before, so this is fun!

 

If I remember correctly the growler had to be empty when you left last year to keep people from filling them up with variants and smuggling it out...

 

They make a fine portable pisser when empty, saving a trek to the porta-potty lines

 

As long as you (or someone else) doesn't get too drunk to remember that's not beer in there.

 

This continues to sound like a god damn nightmare.