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I live just a few miles away in Hammond and it was my first DLD. I had a great time and met some fantastic people from all over the country but there were some really annoying problems.
Signs would have been a HUGE help, I kept asking people where to go and most people didn't have a clue, including the workers. Once I figured out how and where to buy a beer and what all the lines were for, I was happy.
Food was really lacking, I had not eaten all day but the lines were very long and everyone said the food was not good, especially for the price.
Port-a-potties? Wow, I can handle a lot but by 4:00pm they were nasty and over flowing.
The best part is that around 6:30 my friends and I waited about 5 minutes in line to buy DL without a golden ticket. I couldn't believe people waited for hours and we just walked up and bought it, kind of felt bad, well not too bad:)
Over all it was a fun event, great people(watching), music and beer.

I've been to 5 DLD's and have yet to have food that's worth the line & price. The best was in 2007 when members of one of the bands went down the line selling DarkLord brownies and some sort of soft pretzel bites.

Also, good tip to anyone going next year, avoid the bathrooms if you can.

http://safetycentral.com/sanitation1.html

Although, depending on what was in those brownies, maybe you wouldn't care so much about the bathroom facilities...

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor

Who's planning on going to the 2011 edition?

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@PChannonC
http://HumphrySlocombeatHome.blogspot.com
http://PChannon.blogspot.com

In all likelihood I'll be there, already on my calendar; be interesting to see if they modify the golden ticket process or not.

SSDD

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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

I don't think the golden tickets are the problem. If they can demarcate an actual, honest-to-goodness line just for buying Dark Lord - one that isn't so easy to jump in at any point - the event will already be better. At the very least, make sure they don't run the Dark Lord line perpendicular to the bathroom lines...

Having said that, I'll probably go - I may not even bother trying to get Dark Lord. Or, at least, try and hold out for the post-Golden Ticket sales.

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best,
dan

Oh, the ticket sales isn't "the" problem, just one of many; including the others that you mentioned.

SSDD

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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

I'll be there! But they gave me grief about my keg of homebrew last year so this year, no keg At least, not where they can see it. Probably leave a keg in a vehicle and just refill growlers from time to time Probably bring a bunch of bottles too.

As far as the problems you mention, those cease being problems as soon as you decide to stop treating the event like some kind of organized "event", and start treating it like a reason to swap beers with a bunch of other nerds starting early in the morning, and be completely out of it by 2 or 3 pm.

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

I'll be there again this year. Last year we didn't even try to buy bottles, just enjoyed some Dark Lord on draft and some other good beers. This year I think I'll try to get bottles again. Two years ago my tickets never showed up, as a result the tickets were waiting there for me (and about 8 others) with one of the Floyd brothers and we got to buy our bottles first and skip the line alltogether!

Hey JasonM: How come we're both beer dudes living in midlo and we've never gotten together for a beer? Or have we and I just don't recall?

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

We met briefly at DLD 2 years ago. We'll have to get together for a beer sometime.

Last year was actually my first DLD and to be honest I was a little overwelmed. I got in line early with my golden tickets, but still waiting 3.5 hours....but it turned out to be fun sharing growlers with other people in line.

I still have 4 bottles of 2010 Dark Lord left that are aging. I'm planning on opening one a year for the next 4 years.

How many bottles from last year does everyone have left?

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@PChannonC
http://HumphrySlocombeatHome.blogspot.com
http://PChannon.blogspot.com

The first year I went was before they started using Golden Tickets. We waited in line 6 1/2 hours and they ran out of beer about 6 people ahead of us!!!!!!!!!! although we did have plenty on draft
We still had fun, and the food was decent that year - Dark Lord sausages on pretzel rolls with course ground mustard.

I opened up one of my 2010 bottles last night during the Super Bowl and it's doing... okay. There was something of a red wine aroma right off the nose and the finish showed faint traces of oxidation. Especially with the wax seal, I wasn't expecting that (and, honestly, it may not have been oxidized at all but whatever alchemy that was going on in that bottle tasted like oxidation to me). Fortunately, both of these flavors went away once the beer was able to breathe a little bit. I had a Hoppin' Frog D.O.R.I.S. (Double Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout - 10.5% ABV) and a Founders Imperial Stout (also 10.5% ABV) recently and it's easy to see what sets Dark Lord apart - there is such a depth of flavor and aside from Goose Island's Bourbon County series, nothing has such a thick, bold, heavy mouthfeel. A lot of the taste is just rich, malty/chocolatey with faint notes of fig. The alcohol, I thought, was fairly well-hidden and it was the motor oil-like viscosity that made it a slow (but enjoyable!) sipper for me over the second half.

I've heard that the 2009 and 2010 batches were disappointing compared to some of the earlier vintages (especially 2008). I don't think I've had any of the 2009 since 2009 but I did crack open a 2008 at last year's Dark Lord Day. I'm curious about the 2008 lately, but I'm only down to 2 bottles. I'm curious about letting my remaining 2010 bottles (4 left now) go for a lot longer but I'm concerned about some of those off-notes I detected when I first opened the bottle.

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best,
dan

2008 is spectacular. It was really good at release and has gotten even better. 2009 was pretty disappointing at the release but after some aging has improved significantly. Still not in the same league as '08 though.

We opened a 2010 a few weeks ago. I tend to be fairly sensitive to off flavors but did not notice anything. It's possible that you just had a bad bottle. It's also possible that the other RISes we opened that evening had already bludgeoned my palate insensible.

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

What's the best way to store bottles of DL? My wife stuck my 3 remaining bottles from 2010 in the garage fridge a few months ago.

My understanding is that the "worst" thing you can do to beer is expose the bottle to light. That will play a larger role in 'skunking' a beer than temperature. Having said that, if the bottle is too cold, the yeast in the beer may not be able to continue doing what they do and the flavor of the beer may not develop as much as it would otherwise. I think "cellar temp" is the way to go, right around 50-55 degrees (refrigerators usually sit in the mid-30's). There shouldn't be an issue with taking the beer out of the fridge and letting it sit in a closet, too - again, small fluctuations in temperature won't harm the beer as much as exposure to light.

And it's interesting, Jim, a co-worker of mine opened up a bottle of 2010 a few months ago and described some of the same off-notes. I didn't believe him (he's said he doesn't like stouts/imperial stouts in the first place but wanted to know what the fuss was with respect to Dark Lord) and figured that, worst case, it was a bad bottle. I gave him a bottle from my cellar, though, so maybe everything I bought last year came from a subset of bad bottles? Like I said, though, the off-notes went away pretty quickly and I haven't seen any other comments on places like BeerAdvocate from people with similar issues. Maybe I'm imagining everything. Might have to open another in the near future (what a shame... hah!) to check again.

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best,
dan

I keep my 4 bottles in the box they came in in a dark cool closet. I was told, unlike wine, to keep beer bottles upright.

_________________
@PChannonC
http://HumphrySlocombeatHome.blogspot.com
http://PChannon.blogspot.com

I think that applies to all capped beers, but I'd hold corked beers on their side. And if they're worth aging, I think it's a good idea to store them somewhere dark and way out of the way (like the closet I have under the stairs that go to the basement) so you'll forget about them and won't be tempted to open them too soon.

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Chicago Craft Beer Week!

Thanks for the replies. Just one more question; I was under the assumption (from my frat days) that once beer is cold, it needs to stay that way. Warming it, even to a cool temp will skunk it up.

I believe that is correct. Small tempiture fluctuations will happen, you just want to avoid the extreme changes.

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@PChannonC
http://HumphrySlocombeatHome.blogspot.com
http://PChannon.blogspot.com

Well, consider this - how many beer trucks are refrigerated? I know FFF keeps their cases of beer to be shipped out in a cooler but after that? From sitting in trucks to sitting in the back of a store before finally getting put on a shelf, the beer has already been warmed up/cooled down. No, it's not the best thing to do to beer but going from a fridge to a cool, dark closet probably won't make much of a difference, in the end. At least, that's what I've picked up from assorted threads on beeradvocate and I could be completely wrong (I hope I'm not since I have several bottles that have gone from fridge/cellar temps/back to the fridge).

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best,
dan

Actually skunky flavors are caused by the interaction of compounds in hops with sunlight or fluorescent light. Wild fluctuations in temperature aren't great for beer either but you should be fine moving it to a closet.

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Well I got drunk and I ate a chicken
I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen
Not just a leg and not just a wing
I'd like to let you know that I ate the whole damn thing

Like many fortified wines which had higher alcohol contents to survive the trip across seas and oceans, India Pale Ales and Imperial Stouts were both made with higher alcohol contents to act with preservative properties (IPAs also used large amount of hops, which act as a natural preservative, to survive the trip to India) so it's not as big of a deal with these kinds of beer. That's probably why you notice the american mass-produced beers getting "skunked" more often than you do with craft beers.

And per the current brewpub chef, Mike Sheerin, Wednesday was the big brew day for this big beer (courtesy http://twitter.com/chefmikesheerin):

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best,
dan

Glad to see they moved it so it didn't conflict with Easter weekend.

Pretty sure it's always been the last Saturday in April, so did they actually move it?

Yeah, I don't think it was moved so much as April 2011 wound up with 5 Saturdays.

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best,
dan