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Three Floyds, Dark Lord Day

Three Floyds, Dark Lord Day
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  • Post #271 - April 29th, 2011, 1:50 pm
    Post #271 - April 29th, 2011, 1:50 pm Post #271 - April 29th, 2011, 1:50 pm
    danimalarkey wrote:I suspect parking is going to fall into the 'known unknowns' category at this point. Given how the event has been over-hauled this year, I wouldn't necessarily count on anything from previous years still being the case. Having said that, there's a war memorial off Calumet Ave. with a small parking lot as well as another park (fka landfill!) across Calumet with several large parking lots. There's a housing development south of the industrial park where we parked last year - there were no signs about parking restrictions, as far as we could tell.

    The issue with parking along the streets of the industrial park itself is that the 2-lane street gets narrowed to 1-lane. If the changes to how the event works this year are due to liability/safety issues in addition to a more general 'be a good neighbor' attitude, parking along the streets may be curtailed moreso than with last year.

    A popular question on BA at the moment is how early people can show up at all - gates open at 10am, but how strict will the 'no loitering' policy be prior to that. For me, I'd just say that's another 'known unknown' and hope it works out. At least we have an answer on precisely how large a cooler will be allowed... ;)


    Should be interesting. My assumption is that we'll be allowed to line up at the gate before its opening (like with a concert or sporting event), but that once the gates are opened and everyone should be inside, they will start enforcing the loitering on anyone hanging around outside the gate too long without a ticket or a reentry handstamp. At least, that makes the most sense to me.
  • Post #272 - April 29th, 2011, 2:27 pm
    Post #272 - April 29th, 2011, 2:27 pm Post #272 - April 29th, 2011, 2:27 pm
    My husband and son are attending tomorrow and are in the a group. They are just now concerned with the drinking and driving situation. I saw earlier that very few bars are running a shuttle and reggie's arrives too late. How are you guys handling it? Are there any trains that will get you close enough to cab it from there? Thanks for any info.
  • Post #273 - April 29th, 2011, 2:43 pm
    Post #273 - April 29th, 2011, 2:43 pm Post #273 - April 29th, 2011, 2:43 pm
    The South Shore goes to East Chicago. Not really "near" but I bet you could take a cab.
  • Post #274 - April 29th, 2011, 2:52 pm
    Post #274 - April 29th, 2011, 2:52 pm Post #274 - April 29th, 2011, 2:52 pm
    In my group, one of us is just going to drink (much) less than the rest of us.

    The Metra station is about 7 miles from the brewery. I suspect that there are not a lot of cabs working in Munster/Hammond and it will be a long day for them - it might be a really, really long wait for a cab to pick up/drop off. Keep in mind that the weekend schedule for Metra is drastically reduced compared to weekdays.
    best,
    dan
  • Post #275 - April 29th, 2011, 2:54 pm
    Post #275 - April 29th, 2011, 2:54 pm Post #275 - April 29th, 2011, 2:54 pm
    Yeah, I just found that out, thanks. But should you take it to east Chicago or Hammond? Anyone ever try to catch a cab out in them parts?
  • Post #276 - April 29th, 2011, 3:01 pm
    Post #276 - April 29th, 2011, 3:01 pm Post #276 - April 29th, 2011, 3:01 pm
    danimalarkey wrote:In my group, one of us is just going to drink (much) less than the rest of us.

    NOT IT!

    SSDD
    He was constantly reminded of how startlingly different a place the world was when viewed from a point only three feet to the left.

    Deepdish Pizza = Casserole
  • Post #277 - April 29th, 2011, 3:02 pm
    Post #277 - April 29th, 2011, 3:02 pm Post #277 - April 29th, 2011, 3:02 pm
    You have to call a cab company. There are no cabs just driving around.
  • Post #278 - April 29th, 2011, 4:37 pm
    Post #278 - April 29th, 2011, 4:37 pm Post #278 - April 29th, 2011, 4:37 pm
    I have an extra ticket to DLD. It is for group C. Someone from our group decided to bring an extra person at the last minute, so we got duped into spending 50 bucks on this extra and now that person backed out. I just want to help out someone who really wants to go.
  • Post #279 - April 29th, 2011, 4:44 pm
    Post #279 - April 29th, 2011, 4:44 pm Post #279 - April 29th, 2011, 4:44 pm
    abolt wrote:My husband and son are attending tomorrow and are in the a group. They are just now concerned with the drinking and driving situation. I saw earlier that very few bars are running a shuttle and reggie's arrives too late. How are you guys handling it? Are there any trains that will get you close enough to cab it from there? Thanks for any info.


    Could check and see if this guy still has spots available:

    http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/3730976
  • Post #280 - April 29th, 2011, 5:19 pm
    Post #280 - April 29th, 2011, 5:19 pm Post #280 - April 29th, 2011, 5:19 pm
    FYI, there will be plain-clothed police officers walking through the two nearby public parks, and if they find people consuming alcohol (it's prohibited on park grounds without a group permit), those people will be arrested. Signs were posted this morning for no RV or bus parking anywhere in the industrial park or the two public parks.

    Also FYI, there's an Amtrak line with a stop in Dyer that's less than a mile from Three Floyds. The best Metra stop for FFF is the Hammond stop on the South Shore line. Second best would be the Homewood stop on the Metra Electric line.
  • Post #281 - April 29th, 2011, 10:38 pm
    Post #281 - April 29th, 2011, 10:38 pm Post #281 - April 29th, 2011, 10:38 pm
    The Hammond South Shore Station is closer than East Chicago. The cabs know when the trains arrive so usually there is one their waiting. It's a good 20-30 min drive from the train to the brewery.

    I'm not even sure if there is Amtrak service to Dyer on the weekends. While it is close to FFF, the "station" looks like a corner bus stop.

    If you drive watch where you walk tomorrow in the grass. With all of the rain that we have had the vacant lots are probably saturated.

    Based on how unorganized things were last year I'm sure the area businesses had plenty of complaints, so I imagine that the Munster PD will be pretty strict this year
  • Post #282 - April 30th, 2011, 11:00 pm
    Post #282 - April 30th, 2011, 11:00 pm Post #282 - April 30th, 2011, 11:00 pm
    It seems that if you can manage to behave like a decent human being, the Munster cops don't care about where you drink and loiter in the FFF area.

    Additionally, we found out that there is no system to prevent you from getting more than your 4 bottle limit, if you're able to go through the wait more than once. We ended up with a friend's ticket and had no trouble getting her bottles for her.

    A LOT of beer geeks who are anxious to talk beer... A handful of sort of snotty or unfriendly people. But I guess some are grumpy about standing around or whatever. Overall a totally positive experience, from my favorite brewery! Thanks FFF!
  • Post #283 - May 1st, 2011, 8:59 am
    Post #283 - May 1st, 2011, 8:59 am Post #283 - May 1st, 2011, 8:59 am
    In the end, I wasn't drinking (on antibiotics) and I was there with a friend who's not a beer drinker, so we were just there to get in, buy our (my) beer and get home. It was a fascinating experience & I can't wait to try the 2011 Dark Lord.

    A few random notes that may help people next year:
    1. We were in group C (5-7pm), got there at about 4 pm & the line was in front of FFF's next door neighbors (to the north?). We purchased our beer & were heading back to the car by 5:30. It's quite possibly one of the longest lines I've waited in, but once it started moving, it moved steadily.
    2. As a female, I could not have been more impressed with the diligence of the port-a-potty guys. Yeah, maybe a strange thing to single out, but at a beer event it's not surprising that the port-a-potties get a lot of use. I used two of them, neither smelled & both had toilet paper. There were people constantly cleaning them.
    3. I'd bookmarked the parking map, but in the end just went with the flow. When you get there, you'll easily figure out where it's OK to park & where it's not OK. (Basically, if there's an empty space surrounded by a dozen cars, it's probably OK.)
    4. Although it was a ticketed event, etc., no one seemed to care that people (with or without ticket) were hanging out on nearby lawn and drinking outside FFF's property.

    (Oh, and we ended up at Lao Sze Chuan for dinner.)
  • Post #284 - May 1st, 2011, 11:00 am
    Post #284 - May 1st, 2011, 11:00 am Post #284 - May 1st, 2011, 11:00 am
    DLD was great. A million times more organized than the past couple of years. BCS Rare on tap was a steal at $10 for 10 oz. Fucking delicious as well. Vanilla Bean DL, Bourbon barrel DL, BA Behemoth, '08 BA Moloko were all great too.

    The only things that sucked were not winning one of the DL variants and my friend somehow losing his ticket stub sometime during the day so we weren't able to get his 4 bottles of DL. Not really sure how he lost it, but he did. So if anyone got any extras bottles of Dark Lord that they wouldn't mind selling to me I'd be especially grateful. We were hoping they would sell some extra Dark Lord at the end of the day so we stuck around until 7:30, but they didn't.

    Long day, but a ton of fun.
  • Post #285 - May 1st, 2011, 3:37 pm
    Post #285 - May 1st, 2011, 3:37 pm Post #285 - May 1st, 2011, 3:37 pm
    Where was the VB DL, BB DL, BA Behemoth and old Moloko? Were they IN the pub?
  • Post #286 - May 1st, 2011, 4:04 pm
    Post #286 - May 1st, 2011, 4:04 pm Post #286 - May 1st, 2011, 4:04 pm
    Tape Deck wrote:Where was the VB DL, BB DL, BA Behemoth and old Moloko? Were they IN the pub?


    Yes, they were all on tap inside the pub.
  • Post #287 - May 1st, 2011, 4:10 pm
    Post #287 - May 1st, 2011, 4:10 pm Post #287 - May 1st, 2011, 4:10 pm
    That's a bummer. We waited (group A) a long, long time to get our DL, and then we waited a bunch of time to get some food outside... then a bunch of time in the guest tap line... the line for the pub was another 2-3 hour line and we decided not to wait... CLEARLY we should have gotten in that line immediately after getting our DL! Well, the most fun part of it was talking to so many beer geeks, while everyone was still mostly sober or just buzzed. :)
  • Post #288 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:11 am
    Post #288 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:11 am Post #288 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:11 am
    Tape Deck wrote:That's a bummer. We waited (group A) a long, long time to get our DL, and then we waited a bunch of time to get some food outside... then a bunch of time in the guest tap line... the line for the pub was another 2-3 hour line and we decided not to wait... CLEARLY we should have gotten in that line immediately after getting our DL! Well, the most fun part of it was talking to so many beer geeks, while everyone was still mostly sober or just buzzed. :)


    Yeah, I would have liked it if at least they had 2011 Dark Lord on draft (sample sizes even) available outside of the pub. The line for the pub was way too long if you've had vanilla bean and oak aged before. If you haven't had them before, it's probably worth waiting to try once. Especially since people in lines at DLD are usually very friendly and likely have beer to share.
  • Post #289 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:42 am
    Post #289 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:42 am Post #289 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:42 am
    Figured I'd chime in and... agree with everyone else! DLD2011 was a huge improvement over the previous couple of years. I would have liked it if they had spread out some of the kegs in the guest tap tent - seeing all of the 'whales' up at 10am when I wasn't going to be arriving until 4pm was a little disappointing. Though, as I said to someone else, it's called Dark Lord Day not Guest Tap Day (still, 10oz. glasses of Bourbon County Rare for $10?!). I was also a little disappointed by the lack of variety in FFF's own offerings outside the pub. Lots of Evil Power, Zombie Dust, Alpha King and Gumballhead but I would have liked to see more random kegs get tapped (I heard Rabid Rabbit was flowing, but I must have missed that table). For next year, it would be nice to have a single table (outside) pouring Dark Lord and any variants they might have. I've heard read some reports on BA that the 2011 is tasting incredible right now but I don't know if I want to open one of my bottles.

    Lots of unfortunate sunburns, though. That asphalt is a beast when it comes to reflecting UV rays!

    I know they were selling bottles of Evil Power in addition to Dark Lord. Were any other bottles for sale on Saturday? I heard someone talking about Fantabulous Resplendence, but they haven't made that in years (and it's a summer release, if I recall correctly).
    best,
    dan
  • Post #290 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:55 am
    Post #290 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:55 am Post #290 - May 2nd, 2011, 9:55 am
    danimalarkey wrote:Figured I'd chime in and... agree with everyone else! DLD2011 was a huge improvement over the previous couple of years. I would have liked it if they had spread out some of the kegs in the guest tap tent - seeing all of the 'whales' up at 10am when I wasn't going to be arriving until 4pm was a little disappointing. Though, as I said to someone else, it's called Dark Lord Day not Guest Tap Day (still, 10oz. glasses of Bourbon County Rare for $10?!). I was also a little disappointed by the lack of variety in FFF's own offerings outside the pub. Lots of Evil Power, Zombie Dust, Alpha King and Gumballhead but I would have liked to see more random kegs get tapped (I heard Rabid Rabbit was flowing, but I must have missed that table). For next year, it would be nice to have a single table (outside) pouring Dark Lord and any variants they might have. I've heard read some reports on BA that the 2011 is tasting incredible right now but I don't know if I want to open one of my bottles.

    Lots of unfortunate sunburns, though. That asphalt is a beast when it comes to reflecting UV rays!

    I know they were selling bottles of Evil Power in addition to Dark Lord. Were any other bottles for sale on Saturday? I heard someone talking about Fantabulous Resplendence, but they haven't made that in years (and it's a summer release, if I recall correctly).


    I saw Rabbid Rabbit on tap in the warehouse by the stage. There were a couple of tapping booths set up in there. One that had a bunch of rotating Indiana Breweries and one with 3 Floyds stuff.

    I do agree though on having Dark Lord on tap outside of the brewpub. This was the first year I decided to try and get some from inside, because I was hoping that they would have the new variants on tap. We were there right when it opened, so first thing we did was get like 4 glasses for Rare and then get in line for the brewpub. We had to wait about an hour to get in. Unfortunately they didn't have the new variants, but the VB DL is always great.

    BCS Rare went down way too smooth for a 13% beer. Just delicious.
  • Post #291 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:00 am
    Post #291 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:00 am Post #291 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:00 am
    danimalarkey wrote:I've heard read some reports on BA that the 2011 is tasting incredible right now but I don't know if I want to open one of my bottles.


    What's typically the optimal time period in which to drink Dark Lord? I ended up with 8 bottles (a good friend who's not a beer drinker came with me), so I'm tempted to open one sometime in the next couple of weeks.
  • Post #292 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:17 am
    Post #292 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:17 am Post #292 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:17 am
    It's tough tos say, chgoeditor. If you have 8 bottles, open one now. While not as aggressively hopped as their other stuff, Dark Lord is still a FFF beer and will have more hops than most. The hop character will fade pretty quickly so if you want to capture that taste, the next couple of weeks would be great. I was at the Black Cat v. Dark Lord event and tried the '07, '08, '09 & '10. I think '08 and '09 were the best while the '07 may have just slipped past its 'prime' (it was almost too sweet with nearly zero carbonation anymore - still good to drink but maybe not as good as it could have been). I'd say 2-3 years? It seems like the recipe changes a little every year (the ABV does, at any rate) so each batch may age differently.

    The beer will also taste better if it's not served refrigerator-cold. For most high-ABV stouts, something in the 50-55 degree range is considered ideal (this is also the range in which many will suggest you cellar the beer).
    best,
    dan
  • Post #293 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:26 am
    Post #293 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:26 am Post #293 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:26 am
    I opened one Saturday night. Deep, rich, complex notes of coffee, chocolate, toffee, molasses, but you'd never know it's a 15% ABV beer - it drinks like something well under 10% (still a bit of alcohol in the finish). Definitely a sipping beer. I'm not opening my remaining bottles for at least another year or two. (Actually, I have all four of my bottles. I wheedled a friend into opening one of his.)
  • Post #294 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:43 am
    Post #294 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:43 am Post #294 - May 2nd, 2011, 10:43 am
    chgoeditor wrote:
    danimalarkey wrote:I've heard read some reports on BA that the 2011 is tasting incredible right now but I don't know if I want to open one of my bottles.


    What's typically the optimal time period in which to drink Dark Lord? I ended up with 8 bottles (a good friend who's not a beer drinker came with me), so I'm tempted to open one sometime in the next couple of weeks.


    This is why I want them to have it available on draft in more than just the pub, because it's nice to know how it's tasting right at release instead of having to open a bottle to find out -- in '08 and '09 I was able to have some at the event instead of opening a bottle (in '09 your golden ticket included a sample pour). '08 was excellent at release and remains outstanding with age. '09 was pretty disappointing (a hot, sweet mess) at release but has improved significantly in the bottle, and now it's quite good. I heard some similar comments about '10 as the '09 but to a lesser extent. And initial reports on this year's seem to be that it's great right now. It's hard to say how it will age, but if you 8 bottles you can drink one every 6 months or so and see how it goes.
  • Post #295 - May 2nd, 2011, 11:09 am
    Post #295 - May 2nd, 2011, 11:09 am Post #295 - May 2nd, 2011, 11:09 am
    danimalarkey wrote:It's tough tos say, chgoeditor. If you have 8 bottles, open one now. While not as aggressively hopped as their other stuff, Dark Lord is still a FFF beer and will have more hops than most. The hop character will fade pretty quickly so if you want to capture that taste, the next couple of weeks would be great. I was at the Black Cat v. Dark Lord event and tried the '07, '08, '09 & '10. I think '08 and '09 were the best while the '07 may have just slipped past its 'prime' (it was almost too sweet with nearly zero carbonation anymore - still good to drink but maybe not as good as it could have been). I'd say 2-3 years? It seems like the recipe changes a little every year (the ABV does, at any rate) so each batch may age differently.

    The beer will also taste better if it's not served refrigerator-cold. For most high-ABV stouts, something in the 50-55 degree range is considered ideal (this is also the range in which many will suggest you cellar the beer).


    I will second danimalarkey's opinion about the 07 possibly being somewhat past it's prime. Then again there were people at my table who enjoyed that one the most, perhaps flat and smooth doesn't' always have to be a bad thing. My favorite was the 08. The 09 and 10 were a close second for me, probably because it was between those 2 years that the flavor changed the most, so it was enjoyable to compare the differences. It's also possible the difference was due to differences in batches. I have yet to try the 2011 from a bottle, however i did have the 2011 on tap from the brewpub. As a disclaimer, i was in no state to be reviewing beers by the time i got into the brewpub... However I was very impressed with the 2011 from tap, I'm placing it easily as good as the 2009 and possibly the 2008 from the intelligentsia tasting. The carbonation was smooth, the flavors very well balanced. I'm looking forward to opening a 2011 bottle soon.
    Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

    -Mark Twain
  • Post #296 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm
    Post #296 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm Post #296 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm
    I was at the Intelligentsia vertical as well, with 2 friends. Our 07 pour had plenty of carbonation... no less than the others. And having recently enjoyed a few aged stouts that were definitely lacking in that area, I was sort of expecting it to be a little flat.

    We felt that 07, 09 and 10 were very similar in flavor and mouth feel, and that 08 was almost entirely different. It stands to reason that many would prefer the 08, because it stood out, and because among 4 great beers, that could be enough reason for preference in and of itself. My friends and I all preferred the 09, but liked the 10 almost as much. We all thought 08 was great, but a little heavy on the alcohol taste. That's not a bad thing, but it tasted a little off balance. Smoothest of the 4 by far, though. I liked 07 a lot. The other two in my group felt that it was noticeably inferior to the 09.

    I can't wait to open 11. I have 12 bottles in my house right now. I will be posting my address and suggesting what time my wife and I are out for work. Mainly because I want to see half carcasses of beer thieves when my trained attack cats strike. That will make me very popular on Flickr and Facebook yay.
  • Post #297 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm
    Post #297 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm Post #297 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:34 pm
    Thanks for all of the feedback! I'll definitely crack open the first one soon. Amazingly, I managed to fit all 8 bottles into my wine fridge (49-55 degrees, depending on the section they're in). I say "amazingly" because it was packed full before the beer arrived. This is my first experience (intentionally) aging beer, so I'm assuming that storing on their side at the optimal temperature is preferable to storing upright in closet where the temp will fluctuate a fair amount during the summer months. (Oh, to live in a home with a basement!)
  • Post #298 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:45 pm
    Post #298 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:45 pm Post #298 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:45 pm
    chgoeditor wrote:This is my first experience (intentionally) aging beer, so I'm assuming that storing on their side at the optimal temperature is preferable to storing upright in closet where the temp will fluctuate a fair amount during the summer months.

    Storing on their sides isn't necessary ... the cap doesn't potentially dry out like a wine cork can. Consistent cool temp for storage is a good thing, though.
  • Post #299 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:47 pm
    Post #299 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:47 pm Post #299 - May 2nd, 2011, 1:47 pm
    Yeah, a consistent temp and darkness are the most important factors.
  • Post #300 - May 2nd, 2011, 2:01 pm
    Post #300 - May 2nd, 2011, 2:01 pm Post #300 - May 2nd, 2011, 2:01 pm
    Tape Deck wrote:I was at the Intelligentsia vertical as well, with 2 friends. Our 07 pour had plenty of carbonation... no less than the others. And having recently enjoyed a few aged stouts that were definitely lacking in that area, I was sort of expecting it to be a little flat.

    We felt that 07, 09 and 10 were very similar in flavor and mouth feel, and that 08 was almost entirely different. It stands to reason that many would prefer the 08, because it stood out, and because among 4 great beers, that could be enough reason for preference in and of itself. My friends and I all preferred the 09, but liked the 10 almost as much. We all thought 08 was great, but a little heavy on the alcohol taste. That's not a bad thing, but it tasted a little off balance. Smoothest of the 4 by far, though. I liked 07 a lot. The other two in my group felt that it was noticeably inferior to the 09.

    I can't wait to open 11. I have 12 bottles in my house right now. I will be posting my address and suggesting what time my wife and I are out for work. Mainly because I want to see half carcasses of beer thieves when my trained attack cats strike. That will make me very popular on Flickr and Facebook yay.


    Like I posted earlier, my friend dumb-ass-ingly lost his ticket stub prior to our Group being able to buy bottles so he's got none. If you have any desire to sell or trade 1 or 2 bottles I would be greatly interested in trying to work something out.

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