Dark Lord Day 2010

Yesterday was Dark Lord Day over at the Three Floyds brewery in Munster, Indiana. For those who don't know - and if you like craft beer, I'd be surprised if you didn't - Dark Lord Day is the only day of the year that you can purchase Dark Lord, Three Floyds' take on a Russian Imperial Stout. The only way to purchase Dark Lord is if you have a golden ticket. Each ticket was $10 (proceeds going to charity), and grants you access to purchasing a limited quantity of bottles per ticket. 2 ticket limit per person, 4 per household. Unfortunately I was only able to snag a ticket for myself and a friend before they sold out (which was in under an hour) as the server was being bombarded by thousands of people trying to purchase tickets.

The golden ticket. Notice the 3floyds logo made of orthodox crosses in the top left. METAL

We ended up getting there at 12:30 PM - much later than planned, but my friend decided to sleep in. Although we had plenty of time to get the Dark Lord, by the time we got in to the brewery they had lowered their bottle limit from 4 to 3 per ticket due to them 'running low'. I really want to know how they ran low when they don't set the limit until they know how many bottles the batch is going to yield (by then knowing how many tickets they sold), but that's just me being pissed off and knowing how to do basic math I guess. They did have some bottles of 2009 Dark Lord for sale as well, so that made things a little better. I ended up with 2 bottles of 2010 and 1 bottle of 2009, all of which are now being cellared. Probably going to open a 2010 and the 2009 in a year, and the other 2010 in two years. That is, if I don't get too thirsty before then.

Apparently this year's Dark Lord is 15% ABV. Previous vintages are 13% ABV. Hoping that cellaring it will take away a bit of the taste of the alcohol and bring out more flavors. Some people who reviewed 2009's DL claimed that it tasted too sugary with a lot of soy, but after having some of my friend's 2009 this year I can say that the soy flavor is not as bold over time.

"It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none. None more black." 

(And now I sit here wondering if using my camera flash skunked all the bottles.)

This picture doesn't even begin to show the vast horde of people who were there.

This man put his arm around me in a loving manner and whispered a slurred message about giving away free beer to people and waiting for someone to return the favor. He smelled like an old cheeseburger.

So... close... so thirsty...

While standing in line I did get to try a sample of this year's Dark Lord. I can see why people come from all across the country for this stout, but at the same time the hype and rarity play a rather large role in that. It is very sweet - something I didn't expect for a stout (I tend to expect bitter when I have a stout beer). Definite notes of chocolate, molasses, prune, and some coffee. With each sip I noticed something new. It covers the mouth with a slick and sweet coating, and had the nasty surprise of staining my lips and a bit of my beard. This beer is also VERY thick, and swirling it around will turn your glass brown. It seriously looks like engine oil. Tasty, tasty oil. It is going to be hard to hold off drinking a bottle right away.

I can see where some of the critique about the event not being the best planned comes from. There were lines that started at random points that stretched long distances - but ultimately led nowhere. While standing in one of these lines - in which everyone said led to the spot where you could purchase Dark Lord - my friend went to look ahead and found that it led to a group of people just mingling around in the parking lot. There were at least 3 lines like this full of people.

I did not get to stay very long, as I had to leave for downtown Chicago to drop off some of my artwork that I am hanging in a gallery that premieres May 8th. Reception runs from 5-9pm at the Flat Iron Building (corner of Milwaukee and North) AND has an open bar. Shameless plug etc etc etc.

If you are looking to get a bottle, you can find some on ebay now for about $40 each. Blah.

And one last thing - at the time of writing this post, Dark Lord had 666 reviews on BeerAdvocate. How fitting!

Most. Metal. Beer. Ever.