Despot Day 2016

@beernuts Im with you. Overly sweet stouts are not my cup. I need that balance of bitterness to bring it home to me. That being said, to each his own.

 

It's very clearly labeled RIS and has an estimated IBU of 78. I'm "with" you guys on liking that profile.

I can't imagine driving + buying tickets & $20+ bottles of something like this if you truly prefer something a little sweeter. As you said, to each his own, I guess.

 

Anyone not getting a full allotment? Looking for a any variants and one or two regulars.

 

I'll be heading down from PA for the weekend. Anywhere else I should hit up while I'm in the area?

 

A lotta strings on here about stuff to do in the Richmond area (along with the city's Places page). The TL;DR version of all those are gonna be Mekong/The Answer, Hardywood Park, Strangeways and Ardent.

 

From LCCB's Fb page yesterday:

Just updated the Specialty Pin list for Despot Day (Saturday, March 5th)

Specialty Pins:
As per Despot Day Tradition, we will tap a Specialty Pin of Enlightened Despot once an hour beginning at Noon.

12:00 - Dried Fruit Despot (Figs, raisins, dates and cherries)
1:00 - Apple Cinnamon Despot
2:00 - Butter Pecan Despot
3:00 - Coconut Despot
4:00 - S'mores Despot
5:00 - Cocoa Nibs and Jalapeno Despot

 

Which direction you coming from? If you have never been to LCCB just know it's out there. Not much else in the immediate area. Probably a good 30-40 minutes to the Short Pump/West End area of Richmond on the east and then 40-45 mins to Charlottesville on the west. Definitely The Answer/Mekong, Triple Crossing, Ardent as mentioned above would be solid stops. Stone will have their official opening on March 2nd so you could hit there over the weekend but expect large crowds. They are not brewing beer on site yet and only the tasting room / store will be open but if you don't get down to VA very often you should definitely swing by just to say you were there opening weekend and to see the massive size of the facility itself. They do have quite a number of beer available that are sent over from Cali. They are only a few miles from the current Triple Crossing location.

 

To those that have attended in the past, what were pour sizes/prices like for the taps during the event? Trying to budget/determine how many pours I'll be able to drink as a skinny ~130lb guy and still be able to function

 

I cannot 100% recall but want to say the beer tickets are $6 or $7 each an pours are probably 8-10oz at least

 

Was worried about that (I'd prefer spending less and getting slightly smaller pours even if the $/oz was a little higher), but it is what it is. Looks like I'll just be trying the "main" despot variants and maybe one or two of the pins if that's the case. Was hoping to get to try a few of the other beers like Heir Apparent and Redneck Wedding, but may have to pass. Still incredibly stoked for the event regardless!

 

They might have bottles of Heir and redneck wedding for sale on despot day.

 

The pin lines for the the two previous Despot Days have been CRAZY. Some people get in line a half hour early, and the volunters often gave full pours of a single pin of Despot. My advice is target a pin you really want and plan accordingly. Never understood why they would do only one pin of each of these variants when so many people have attended the first two years, and this year should be no exception.

 

It's not often I want smaller pours but since the majority of their beers are high abv I wish they did them a little smaller sometimes. It will not cost you any less but if you are worried about the pour then you could always just ask the person pouring for a smaller pour. They are all volunteers so as @Shilt said oftentimes they will pour more than they probably should. Other than that, if you are coming down with someone then maybe share beer so you're not drinking as much.

If the stations are as they often are for release they will probably have at least 2 pouring stations. One out in the field which will have a good offering and they their main one inside the barn. I don't recall which one has the pins. LCCB should update the event page with what beers are pouring at each spot or at least you will find out when arriving there.

 

They didn't have guest taps last year. Did they say they were this year?

 

Yes. I can't remember all of them but I do know that Resolute will be there. When I get on lunch if no one has posted what they are I'll see if I can find them again.

 

I do not recall them having Guest Taps last year. Even looked on their fb page and website at last year's details and did not see them either. The event for this year still lists the Guest Taps at "TBA" on their website and fb evet. I don't recall them doing guest taps for releases other than that event a few months ago where they had RVA vs C'Ville breweries but that was not a bottle release.

 

This would take place the day of UNC vs Duke part 2. Ugh.

 

But I am stopping at LCCB this weekend coming back from DFH. Really stoked about it.

 

Yeah, Resolute was definitely on "guest taps", but much like Hide the Despot originally being on the tap list, it seems to have been removed. Wonder what all is going on? Though I'm not too worried about it, event should still be killer no matter what