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Three Floyds, Dark Lord Day

Three Floyds, Dark Lord Day
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  • Post #91 - April 16th, 2010, 11:16 am
    Post #91 - April 16th, 2010, 11:16 am Post #91 - April 16th, 2010, 11:16 am
    leek wrote:Looks like the tickets have been claimed. Thanks :)


    I had a feeling that wouldn't take long.

    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 #92 - April 17th, 2010, 2:29 pm
    Post #92 - April 17th, 2010, 2:29 pm Post #92 - April 17th, 2010, 2:29 pm
    The tickets are available again, purchaser is not able to go after all. I have 4, so let me know if you want them.
    Leek

    SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
    but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
    American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
  • Post #93 - April 18th, 2010, 7:29 pm
    Post #93 - April 18th, 2010, 7:29 pm Post #93 - April 18th, 2010, 7:29 pm
    anyone need a ride out there? I organized a bus from the Black Rock on damen and several people backed out, so I have a good number of seats open. email me if interested bifrojm@yahoo.com

    super excited for the day!
  • Post #94 - April 19th, 2010, 8:42 am
    Post #94 - April 19th, 2010, 8:42 am Post #94 - April 19th, 2010, 8:42 am
    Leek-sent a PM.
    Thanks--Mrs. BuddyRock
  • Post #95 - April 19th, 2010, 8:20 pm
    Post #95 - April 19th, 2010, 8:20 pm Post #95 - April 19th, 2010, 8:20 pm
    What are you folks going to be bringing to drink/beer-swap?
  • Post #96 - April 20th, 2010, 7:54 am
    Post #96 - April 20th, 2010, 7:54 am Post #96 - April 20th, 2010, 7:54 am
    Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the bottle per ticket yield was in years past? Also, roughly how much were they charging per bottle?
  • Post #97 - April 20th, 2010, 8:01 am
    Post #97 - April 20th, 2010, 8:01 am Post #97 - April 20th, 2010, 8:01 am
    nshef wrote:Out of curiosity, does anyone know what the bottle per ticket yield was in years past? Also, roughly how much were they charging per bottle?

    Last year was 4 bottles per ticket, at $15/bottle. I don't think they've announced this year's prices yet.
  • Post #98 - April 20th, 2010, 9:24 am
    Post #98 - April 20th, 2010, 9:24 am Post #98 - April 20th, 2010, 9:24 am
    There have also been other special one-offs available (PopSkull last year, a collaboration with Dogfish Head & Hvedagoop, a collaboration with Mikkeller the year before) -- these generally were little pricier and were even more limited (maybe $18 and 2/person?) -- then again, the demand for them isn't quite as sky-high as for DLRIS.

    Speaking of prices, it's worth reminding everyone that DLD is cash only. Expect all ATMs anywhere in the immediate vicinity to be out of cash by the time you'll need it. Two years ago, I was in line - maybe 20 minutes from finally being able to buy beer - when the person in front of me learned the whole process is cash only -- and that he had no cash on him. Heart-breaking -- don't let it happen to you!
    best,
    dan
  • Post #99 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:13 am
    Post #99 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:13 am Post #99 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:13 am
    My tickets are taken, thanks :)
    Leek

    SAVING ONE DOG may not change the world,
    but it CHANGES THE WORLD for that one dog.
    American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog. http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org
  • Post #100 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:29 am
    Post #100 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:29 am Post #100 - April 23rd, 2010, 9:29 am
    Anyone out there still want tickets?
    Ronnie said I should probably tell you guys about my website so

    Hey I have a website.
    http://www.sandwichtribunal.com
  • Post #101 - April 24th, 2010, 6:46 am
    Post #101 - April 24th, 2010, 6:46 am Post #101 - April 24th, 2010, 6:46 am
    Happy Dark Lord Day!

    MincyBits and I will be getting there around 2.
  • Post #102 - April 24th, 2010, 7:59 pm
    Post #102 - April 24th, 2010, 7:59 pm Post #102 - April 24th, 2010, 7:59 pm
    Got in line at 12:30. Got my beer a little after five. During that time, I went to get food while friends stayed in line; it took over an hour to get a nicely flavored but lukewarm sausage. Oh, and around 2:00, they reduced the number of beers ticket holders were allowed to buy from 4 to 3.

    The lowlight of the event was when my 8-months-pregnant friend wanted to use the bathroom in the brewpub rather than sit on an overflowing port-o-potty and was told she'd have to get in line behind the hundreds of people in line waiting to get beer.

    This was quite simply the most poorly organized event I've ever attended.
  • Post #103 - April 25th, 2010, 11:38 pm
    Post #103 - April 25th, 2010, 11:38 pm Post #103 - April 25th, 2010, 11:38 pm
    MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:This was quite simply the most poorly organized event I've ever attended.


    Sadly, this is pretty much par for the course with DLD. Every year it gets bigger, but the folks at Three Floyds don't seem capable of imagining how very much bigger: they're never quite prepared enough, and the level of squalor in the bathroom department gets worse and worse. I think it's years past time they get a better location with some (gasp!) parking, though I can see how a single brewery simply selling their beer would be somewhat daunted at the prospect of paying for a large facility.
  • Post #104 - April 26th, 2010, 8:16 am
    Post #104 - April 26th, 2010, 8:16 am Post #104 - April 26th, 2010, 8:16 am
    I heard it was chaos later in the day--and even early on it was definitely a mass of humanity--but we got there around 8:25 or so, waited by the driveway until they opened up the lot, got into "line" and had our Dark Lord by 12:15 or so. Of course, that 4 hours was filled with meeting beer enthusiasts in line, sharing homebrew with them, and them sharing homebrew and commercial beers with us. After we had our bottles, we chilled off to the side on a lawn for another couple of hours, met some more people, poured some more homebrew. Had a great time but it definitely sounds like something has to change
    Ronnie said I should probably tell you guys about my website so

    Hey I have a website.
    http://www.sandwichtribunal.com
  • Post #105 - April 26th, 2010, 9:26 am
    Post #105 - April 26th, 2010, 9:26 am Post #105 - April 26th, 2010, 9:26 am
    MincyBits wrote:
    MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:This was quite simply the most poorly organized event I've ever attended.


    Sadly, this is pretty much par for the course with DLD. Every year it gets bigger, but the folks at Three Floyds don't seem capable of imagining how very much bigger: they're never quite prepared enough, and the level of squalor in the bathroom department gets worse and worse. I think it's years past time they get a better location with some (gasp!) parking, though I can see how a single brewery simply selling their beer would be somewhat daunted at the prospect of paying for a large facility.


    The easy solution for paying for a large facility is to simply build that cost into the price of the beer. Demand for the beer wouldn't reduce much at all if they charged 20 bucks instead of 15. People would bitch about it, but almost off of them would still pay it.

    The biggest problem is they seem like they're allergic to something as simple as a few signs, or spraypainting colored lines that would indicated the line for Dark Lord, the line for the guest taps, etc. Line cutting wasn't an issue in 2009 to the extent it was in the days where they didn't have the tickets to buy the beer, but it sounds like it was back again this year. And there have been a lot more rumors of people counterfeiting the tickets this year.
  • Post #106 - April 26th, 2010, 9:45 am
    Post #106 - April 26th, 2010, 9:45 am Post #106 - April 26th, 2010, 9:45 am
    I was worried about counterfeiters when my tickets arrived...I wonder if that's why they had to cut the bottles/ticket down to 3 later on.

    Honestly, aside from the porta-potties filling up towards the end of the day, I found the chaos really refreshing. Standing in line for Dark Lord was the best part--I probably sampled 15 different beers in the hour or so I was standing around, from complete strangers. The power of beer to unite was strong in that line.

    On the other hand, if you don't like throngs of large, hairy, sweaty homebrewers with tats and pointy piercings sticking out of them, DLD just might not be for you. I had a great time, though.
  • Post #107 - April 26th, 2010, 10:04 am
    Post #107 - April 26th, 2010, 10:04 am Post #107 - April 26th, 2010, 10:04 am
    I've been to DLD the past three years, and I always have a great time. This year we showed up at 9:45AM. A couple people in my group stood with the beers we brought in line while a couple others went and stood in line for vanilla bean dark lord. As everyone says, the fun of DLD is the waiting in line. Be sure to bring lots of cups and interesting beers and you're certain to sample plenty of unique and delicious beers. We had our Dark Lords in hand by 1:00 and a crave case from White Castle in hand by 1:30. I understand the frustrations everyone has, but I've never come home from DLD disappointed.
  • Post #108 - April 26th, 2010, 10:21 am
    Post #108 - April 26th, 2010, 10:21 am Post #108 - April 26th, 2010, 10:21 am
    I know it's a small operation (the brewing company) and they can only devote so many resources to selling this one beer on one day, but... yeah, I just think something has to change. The product is clearly under-priced -- and it's not like they don't charge upwards of $20 for some of their other beer (I think Behemoth retails for nearly $20). Line-cutting was pretty widespread from what I heard -- it didn't help that one set of lines for the porta-johns ran perpendicular to the DL line. All someone had to do was get in line for the bathroom and at the right moment, make a neat 90 degree turn and poof! - now it's the DL line.

    Signs would be nice. The line for the brewpub seemed to run south of the brewery -- but I doubt most people realized that at first. I didn't realize I was in the line for the guest draft tent (which was super slow) -- the FFF beer tables had little/no waiting across the board (and they were pouring some really good beers like Samurai Gazebo, Marketing Ploy and Topless Wych).

    At 6pm, non-ticket holders were able to buy DL. The line at this point was maybe 20 minutes. By 7pm, it was 5. Friends of mine went back one last time around then and it looked like they were pretty much out.

    If there was one thing that really annoyed me, it was the food. There was one dude cooking everything to order. Sure, the brisket and pulled pork can sit for a bit, but they were otherwise grilling sausages 2-3 at a time. And they weren't really that good for $8 (which also came with a piece of dry bread and a dollop of mustard -- and yes, complaining about beer/food prices at any sort of festival is a losing proposition, but still). Last year, I think it was just pork, brisket and sausages -- they were able to keep their grill full the whole time and the line moved much more quickly. Next year, it's a mini grill and a stop at Paulina Meat Market the day before for me!

    I was pretty dismayed, too, at all the trash people just left behind. It's all well and good to show off whatever fancy-schmancy beer you brought to drink in rows upon rows of empties, but pick them up when you're done! It's all about the campsite rule, folks. FFF could have helped things by getting more trash cans/dumpsters set up along the street.
    best,
    dan
  • Post #109 - April 26th, 2010, 11:52 am
    Post #109 - April 26th, 2010, 11:52 am Post #109 - April 26th, 2010, 11:52 am
    This blog post shows a good description of the line situation: http://hoosierbeergeek.blogspot.com/201 ... -2010.html

    I'm not really sure when the line going North towards Superior started. I got there around 8:30 and was all the way in the parking lot for the Munster School Bus Garage south of 3 Floyds. Once 10 hit and everyone was allowed on the property we moved all the way up the street to the front driveway of 3 Floyds. We got our Dark Lord around 12:40 and retreated to a safe spot in the grass back towards where we started the day. Spent the rest of the day drinking all of the different beers our group had brought. After last year I learned my lesson and brought a mini grill and brats/polish from Ream's in Elburn. We left around 6:30. The place was a wasteland. People just left trash everywhere and it was compounded by the fact that there weren't any trash cans anywhere besides by 3 Floyds building.

    I had a fun time as usual, but it does seem like the event has just gotten too out of control and too big for the space. I can't imagine that any of the neighbors would want to put up with this again. The pond that is next to 3 Floyds had all sorts of trash in it. People were pissing on buildings.

    Here are some of the pictures that I took from throughout the day.
    http://picasaweb.google.com/danielgnava ... rdDay2010#
  • Post #110 - April 27th, 2010, 9:54 am
    Post #110 - April 27th, 2010, 9:54 am Post #110 - April 27th, 2010, 9:54 am
    I forget if it was set up like this last year, but I did like that the table selling other (packaged) Dark Lord beer was separate from the Dark Lord line. We didn't bring nearly enough so it was great to walk up and get a mixed case pretty easily.

    Can anyone point me to a list of what was available at the guest draft tent? Like I said, though I skipped it entirely, I'm curious what goodies I could have sampled.
    best,
    dan
  • Post #111 - April 27th, 2010, 10:09 am
    Post #111 - April 27th, 2010, 10:09 am Post #111 - April 27th, 2010, 10:09 am
    Here's a link to the guest tap list published a couple of days before the event: http://thefullpint.com/beer-news/darklo ... t-tap-list

    I also mostly skipped the guest taps but in addition to the bewildering array of beer from all over just being passed around in line for the Dark Lord bottles, there were also people stopping by and pouring samples of what they got at the guest taps in exchange for samples of homebrew so I at least got to try a few :)
    Ronnie said I should probably tell you guys about my website so

    Hey I have a website.
    http://www.sandwichtribunal.com
  • Post #112 - April 27th, 2010, 2:28 pm
    Post #112 - April 27th, 2010, 2:28 pm Post #112 - April 27th, 2010, 2:28 pm
    HI,

    When they issued tickets a few years ago, I thought this was going to prevent people from standing in line. Is the function of the tickets to guarantee you can buy Dark Lord only?

    Maybe the BaconFest folks can consult with Three Floyds on how to run this event better.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #113 - April 28th, 2010, 4:29 am
    Post #113 - April 28th, 2010, 4:29 am Post #113 - April 28th, 2010, 4:29 am
    I was thinking exactly that, Cathy. Baconfest was one of the best run events I've ever been to.

    The tickets worked last year for the line situation. Last year, infact, seeing the line was so long, I sat down in my folding chair and drank a few beers with friends until it got shorter around noon.

    This year, the line never got shorter. We showed up at 2 and it was out the driveway and down the street - in both directions. When we got our beer around 4:30, the line wasn't any shorter. I'm not sure if it was people with tickets, or people hoping to get the beer after cut-off. No one was telling anyone where to line up, so you just got into "the line for darklord". Well, one of them, at least. I hope everyone with tickets got beer, but it seemed unlikely.

    Also, you may say "2 and a half hours in line, not bad!" but to be honest, we hopped in line with some friends who were there since noon. Before you cry foul, we asked the nice nice folks behind them and shared our last bottle of Dogfish Head's special release Zwaanend'ale from 2006 with them.
  • Post #114 - April 28th, 2010, 7:23 am
    Post #114 - April 28th, 2010, 7:23 am Post #114 - April 28th, 2010, 7:23 am
    Llama wrote:This year, the line never got shorter. We showed up at 2 and it was out the driveway and down the street - in both directions. When we got our beer around 4:30, the line wasn't any shorter. I'm not sure if it was people with tickets, or people hoping to get the beer after cut-off. No one was telling anyone where to line up, so you just got into "the line for darklord". Well, one of them, at least. I hope everyone with tickets got beer, but it seemed unlikely.

    Also, you may say "2 and a half hours in line, not bad!" but to be honest, we hopped in line with some friends who were there since noon. Before you cry foul, we asked the nice nice folks behind them and shared our last bottle of Dogfish Head's special release Zwaanend'ale from 2006 with them.


    As someone who was in line at 12:30 and did not get beer until after 5:00, I will say that you were most definitely part of the problem. And the fact that got permission from and gave beer to a couple of people immediately behind where you cut in line is 100% immaterial.

    That said, it is inconceivable to me how it took as long as it did. If I had been first in line and all 5,000 or so other ticket holders cut in front of me, it should not have taken more than a couple of hours to hand out all of the beer. There were 10 or so people handing out beer. It was cash only and the bottles were $15 each with a max of 4 (later 3), so calculating totals and distributing change took seconds.

    Experts on traffic flow theory could write books on this event; it was a case study in crowd mismanagement.
    Last edited by MarlaCollins'Husband on April 28th, 2010, 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
  • Post #115 - April 28th, 2010, 9:22 am
    Post #115 - April 28th, 2010, 9:22 am Post #115 - April 28th, 2010, 9:22 am
    You're right, of course, but I expected it to be a non-issue because of the way the line had moved the year previously. Mea Culpa.
  • Post #116 - April 28th, 2010, 11:17 am
    Post #116 - April 28th, 2010, 11:17 am Post #116 - April 28th, 2010, 11:17 am
    All is forgiven :D

    If I get golden tickets next year, I'm going to bribe a friend to stand in line for me while I enjoy the rest of the event. And I'm going to bring my own food. I look forward to having a thoroughly enjoyable time.
  • Post #117 - April 28th, 2010, 11:43 am
    Post #117 - April 28th, 2010, 11:43 am Post #117 - April 28th, 2010, 11:43 am
    MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:All is forgiven :D

    If I get golden tickets next year, I'm going to bribe a friend to stand in line for me while I enjoy the rest of the event. And I'm going to bring my own food. I look forward to having a thoroughly enjoyable time.


    Pretty much, I'll have to con my partners in crime in actually going down early next year, might make it more sane. (and of course early will only really work if it is not the day after WhiskyFest again!)

    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 #118 - April 28th, 2010, 12:13 pm
    Post #118 - April 28th, 2010, 12:13 pm Post #118 - April 28th, 2010, 12:13 pm
    Llama wrote:This year, the line never got shorter. We showed up at 2 and it was out the driveway and down the street - in both directions.


    This is what surprised me as compared to last year. I think by 2 or 3, the line had died down and so, no, there was no reason to wait in line once you had your actual golden ticket. But this year? I don't know... maybe there was rampant counterfeiting. Maybe people got spooked when the bottle limit was reduced mid-day. Suddenly the golden ticket guarantee wasn't so certain.

    Another benefit to the golden ticket, retained from last year, is a free glass of beer per ticket. Of course, it wasn't that simple to actually redeem that free beer -- I go to a FFF beer table inside, but am told that it's only the outside tables that will accept the ticket. I go to a table outside and am told it's some other table, "over there". Not exactly descriptive. But, finally, I found the right table and got a glass of Rabid Rabbit and a 4-6 oz. pour of this year's DL.

    And thanks, Jim, for the taplist. Looks like I missed out on some goodies but with the Chicago Craft Beer conference/event/whatever coming up, I suspect I'll find some nice beers then.
    best,
    dan
  • Post #119 - April 28th, 2010, 12:28 pm
    Post #119 - April 28th, 2010, 12:28 pm Post #119 - April 28th, 2010, 12:28 pm
    danimalarkey wrote:
    Llama wrote:But, finally, I found the right table and got a glass of Rabid Rabbit and a 4-6 oz. pour of this year's DL.


    With no line to boot!

    but with the Chicago Craft Beer conference/event/whatever coming up, I suspect I'll find some nice beers then.


    ??? I thought that was a couple of weeks ago? Wasn't that was was going on when we were at Goose Island that last time (for me at least)?

    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 #120 - April 28th, 2010, 12:48 pm
    Post #120 - April 28th, 2010, 12:48 pm Post #120 - April 28th, 2010, 12:48 pm
    That was the Craft Brewers Conference -- a convention about craft beer (and the business thereof) that pulled in people from across the country which also hosted this year's World Beer Cup competition.

    May 17-23, 2010 will be the Chicago Craft Beer Week and seems to be sponsored by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild. There aren't too many events listed, and they're kind of scattered around the city, but Smallbar on Fullerton will be hosting a rare beer event on Wednesday, May 19 (http://chibeerweek.com/schedule/e/28).

    More information here: http://chibeerweek.com/
    best,
    dan

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