Dark Lord Day 2012 Recap

Heading up to Munster for our fifth Dark Lord day, there weren't the list of questions that normally float around the event. Or maybe those questions did still exist, but we've learned to just go with it.

The previous large Three Floyds event - their 15th anniversary party - wasn't without its problems; on the inside things went smoothly, but there were some folks who didn't make their way through the gates until much later than they had expected. But despite what some folks might believe, the 3F staff does pay attention, and they do work hard at making their events as good as possible.

With that in mind I expected a nearly flawless event, and Three Floyds delivered.


The HBG crew arrived later than normal this year - with the addition of per-ordained time slots, there's really not much reason to get there too early (though one gentleman set up shop at 3am). Although we were deep in the line, we knew what to expect, and things moved pretty quickly once the doors were opened. I was also well on my way at that point, thanks to our cooler bag and the help of the folks near us in line.

Sometimes you pose in a scarf.

In previous years we did our best to cover all aspects of the event. This year we enjoyed ourselves, setting up camp on a northeast corner picnic table with a group of folks who closely associate with STLHops - good folks to spend a day drinking with. My phone died very early into the event, so photographic coverage ceased. In any case, it won't be long until you can find multiple "line videos" on youtube, as we were passed by folks videoing the event nearly every 10 minutes.

Towards the end of our day our table was crowded by the Group C line, with folks trying to buy our beer, or trade line tickets for bottles, and things got a bit uncomfortable - our cue to go watch High on Fire. We took in a few songs, and headed back to our parking lot and a park bench to talk over the day. A good day, as expected.

Line beer two, I think. Line highlights included Firestone Walker's Sucaba.

Overall I thought the event was great. Lines were ridiculous as always, but I thought moving the picnic tables out of the middle and cycling the guest taps more frequently by offering less at a time were big improvements. It was also nice that they had 12+ 3 Floyds beers on at the other stations, instead of just the 4 standards.

""That's got 12.5% alcohol? That's a hell of a pizza!"
Cleanup efforts began much earlier this year, as roving groups of folks picked up empty bottles while many were still in line.

I was expecting the worst on Saturday and was surprised by how well it went. Lines are lines, so be it, but they were a helluvalot better organized than last year. No chairs and no big coolers meant more room for everybody. I liked how they handled guest taps too. At the end, they put Firestone Walker Sucaba on tap. Damn good shit. If they had put a lot more on tap at once, then all the good stuff would have been gone early. The amount of 3F beer was great too. They could use portalets in the carryout purchase line and around the industrial park for pre-entry waiting. But otherwise, I have nothing bad to say other than I didn't win. But that's just $50 I didn't have to spend.


It was very cold standing in line, but as the day went on things got more reasonable. These folks lowered the tent to get out of the wind.

As a dld virgin, I loved it. I don't have anything to compare it to, obviously, but things seemed to run pretty smoothly. My only suggestions would be more trash cans lining the entry route - makes people more likely to actually throw their trash away; adding some water stations around the place; some portalets outside on the entry route; and adding a little more seating. But that said, not having those things didn't cause any real problems. The beer selection was great, though between what I brought and what people were sharing, I actually only bought 3 beers.

Three Floyds 15th Anniversary Party

Love them or hate them, you can't argue that Three Floyds doesn't do things exactly how they want. Saturday's 15th Anniversary party wasn't just a party and beer release; it was a triumph of conviction.



Click to Enlarge
Of course, there was beer: Baller Stout --

"This massive stout [that's the] combined effort of Three Floyds, Surly, Struise and Mikkeller. Literally, we brewed Darklord, Darkness, Black Albert, and Beer Geek Brunch with our friends at our brewery then blended them. This is a celebration of not only our fifteen years, but also the international craft brewing industry and those of you that support it."

along with additional bottles of one-offs and leftovers.








In addition, the parking lot was covered with a tent and became a sort of beer geek's bier garden paradise, with full selections from the collaboration-participating breweries, in addition to selections from Floyds' friends Port Brewing.

Click to Enlarge



There were bands, food, lines (there are always lines), but in general the crowd seemed like a happy one, with beer geeks from all over sharing in the wealth that had descended upon the brewery once again.




To say that one beer was the star of the show would be ludicrous - everything was great (including the ridiculous sandwich above). While some beer did eventually run out - have you ever been to a beer event with endless selection? - the smiles on the faces of those around sent a clear message - this was another great event.


Click to Enlarge


Our congratulations to the entire Three Floyds crew, who deserve every bit of success they've had. It's inspirational to see folks who did it their own way win. Here's to the next 15 years and the continued reign of Three Floyds.

Drunk Desserts: Dark Lord Tiramisu

This recipe for Dark Lord/Imperial Stout Tiramisu is the first is what I hope will become a series of posts about beer-based desserts. Often times when using beer in desserts the alcohol is cooked off; that is not my intent here. I'm trying to put together a series of recipes in which the punch remains.

We are some fancy motherf*ckers here, and by "prepared deserts" we don't mean something easy, like brownies or jello. Instead, what we've got here is the perfect way for you to use those spare bottles of Dark Lord - perhaps making the ladies in your life a tiramisu desert for the holidays is the ultimate gateway into better beer.


Look at this f*cking thing. More badass than that Dark Lord bottle, and even your mom might like it.
Before you begin make sure you read the whole recipe through. If you don't have an electric mixer or a sifter you're going to be out of luck when you hit those later instructions.

Recipe adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 1996 Edition.

Before you start, you should know there are two ways to do this - (1) the time consuming way, or (2) the even more time consuming way. You might think that baking a cake from scratch sounds difficult - then again I've managed it more than once - and if that's the case you should skip steps 1 through 4 (and ingredients list #1) and just go buy two or three packages of ladyfingers from the grocery store.

I realize "two or three packages" isn't exactly the clearest set of instructions, but it's been a while since I made it that way. Just buy three or four to be sure - buying ingredients for this thing is like asking Kroger to kick you in the ass anyway.

If you want to bake your own cake (it tastes better this way), you'll need:

Ingredients List #1 - Hot Milk Sponge Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Optional
Pam for Baking Spray to grease and flour the pan
Some wooden toothpicks to test cake doneness


This is what you're making in the first set of instructions.
If you're like me this list of ingredients is going to come straight off the store shelves - you'll end up with a giant can of baking powder you won't see again until you decide to make this again in 3 years - and you'll only find that can again after you went and bought another one (don't worry, that old can is probably expired anyway).

The last time I made this I purposely passed on buying sugar at the store, then came home and discovered not one but five half empty cans of sugar in my cabinets. I have no idea when I bought any of them, but I ended up using most of them in the recipe. No one died.

You can lighten it up with skim milk or margarine (I guess) but seriously this thing is probably come out at about 800 calories per serving anyway, so I bother trying to fool myself that there's anything light about this.

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease (I used Pam for Baking, which also contains flour) a 9x9x2 baking pan (actually I use and 8x8x2 and it turns out fine), set pan aside. Stir together flour and baking powder and set aside.

2) In a mixing bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for about 4 minutes or until thick*. Gradually add sugar, beating on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy*. Add the dry mixture (the flour and baking powder), beat on low to medium speed just until combined - you're looking for a fairly consistent mixture (it is cake batter, after all), but don't freak out if it seems too lumpy yet. You'll be adding a little moisture in step 3.

*In this case thick, light, or fluffy are whatever you think they are. I've been known to see a timer because I get paranoid about it. That'll at least get you close.

3) In a small saucepan heat and stir milk and butter just until butter melts, add to batter, beating until combined. Pour batter into your pre-greased pan.

4) Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes (until a wooden toothpick can be poked into the cake and comes out completely clean). Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then continue to cool on a wire rack.

(The recipe says that this makes 9 servings, but the end result will depend entirely on how you cut this. Because I made it and I wanted a lot, we ended up with something like 9 servings).

At this point you can go ahead an open that bottle of DarkLord (or any Russian Imperial Stout). You should only need about half the bomber for the recipe, so go ahead and pour yourself a small sample. That cake will take a little while to cool anyway.

In the case that you don't have Dark Lord and decide to use a different Imperial Stout, you'll want to go with something heavy on coffee flavors - and probably stay away from any RIS that's heavy on smoked meat character. Remember, you're making a desert, and smoked meats and whipped cream do not a desert make.

Let's make a Tiramisu!

You're already thinking "that was a lot of work" because if you're like me you sit at a desk all day looking for funny youtube videos, and all that standing in the kitchen is enough to make you reconsider how fun Top Chef looks. Good news! You're just getting started.

Ingredient list #2

1 recipe Hot-Milk Sponge Cake (or those ladyfingers you bought because you're lazy)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 bomber of Dark Lord (or 2 regular bottles of Russian Imperial Stout*)
2 8-ounce containers of mascarpone cheese or two 8-ounce packages of cream chese, softened
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, grated
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (I used some old kahlua - this ingredient is probably optional)
1/2 ounce semisweet chocolate, grated
*You may not need two bottles but you can always drink the other one.

1) Prepare Hot-Milk sponge cake. You've done that already. Or if you're using ladyfingers*, open the first package.

2) Prepare your syrup - pour the Dark Lord (or RIS) into a container that will work with your pastry brush.

3) For filling, in a medium bowl stir together mascarpone or cream cheese, powdered sugar - You sifted it, right? I ran mine through a splatter screen. That was a pain in the ass and made a huge mess. BUT I got it done - and vanilla. Stir in the 2 ounces of grated chocolate.


Your first level should look something like this. Brush the whole thing with beer - this is halfway through. I know you're not that stupid but better safe than sorry.
4) To assemble your tiramisu, cut cake horizontally into 3 layers. You'll need a long knife. Put your first (bottom) cake layer back in the cake pan (or just layer ladyfingers in there until they fit), and brush the layer with Dark Lord until the whole thing is coated. You can go as thick as you want here, but remember that the alcohol isn't cooked off here, and that means this can get pretty strong. I brushed the layer until the whole thing was wet but not soaking. Now spread half of the cream cheese filling on top of your first layer. Repeat layering the second layer, following the same steps - paint with Dark Lord, spread the other half of the cream cheese. Now place the final cake layer on top, and brush with more Dark Lord. Don't be shy - you don't want this thing to be dry, you're looking for moisture throughout.


You've layered your cream cheese and cake layers and this is the top layer. Look at it glisten with Dark Lord. Like a fat guy that had too much in Munster.
5) In a chilled bowl combine whipping cream and a couple tablespoons of Dark Lord. I threw in two tablespoons of coffee liquor (Kahlua) here because I like eating myself drunk. Beat the whipped cream/beer/liquor with chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks* form. Spread whipped cream over top cake layer; sprinkling with the 1/2 ounce grated chocolate. Refrigerate at least four hours before serving.

*Your guess is as good as mine.


End results should look something like this.
*Can we talk about the name "ladyfingers"? After you realize they're not based on a Bond movie title, you're left with this:

Joe: "Hey guys! I'm baking some tiny cake things!"
Guys: "Tiny cake things?"
Joe: "I'm thinking of calling them ladyfingers!"
Guys: "You're a f*cking creepy bastard, Joe."

Dark Lord Day 2010

"This one goes out to the working man! The working men and women of America! Of Canada! Of Mexico! Of Japan and Australia and Iraq and England and Egypt... THIS ONE GOES OUT TO THE WORLD!"


Dark Lord Day 2010 Crowd (6:30 AM)
Watching Dark Lord Day musical guest Sybaris, I couldn't help but note how right bassist Shawn Podgurski's dedication was. This year's Dark Lord crowd was the most traveled yet, with folks coming from all over the world to experience the madness.


Dark Lord Day 2010 Crowd Panorama (9 AM)
Click for a larger version
That crowd was obviously bigger this year. Less than five years ago, Nick Floyd was personally handing out bottles of Dark Lord from the top of a pile of wooden pallets. But the event is now an octopus, with tentacle-like lines wrapping this way and that, threatening to lay waste to anything in their wake.


Dark Lord Day 2010 Crowd Panorama (11 AM)
More Impressive
Click for a larger version
It should be interesting to see what sort of feedback crops up in the next week; while last year's event seemed to eliminate most problems of the year before, the same systems may have been crushed by the crowd this year. Last year's line ran one way; this year's line ran both, with a merging in the middle. Earlier birds were given the opportunity to buy four bottles for each golden ticket, but somewhere near 3 PM the four bottle limit became three.


Golden ticket lines stretched out of site of the brewery
None of this is to say that there weren't improvements for this year's event. The guest taps moved out of the brewery space into the parking lot, allowing everyone to access them better (perhaps at the detriment of the golden ticket line). There were more people sharing beer, which is always a good thing.


Creative outlets for brewery enthusiasm


The staff was equally enthusiastic.
On a personal note, we joined the line at 8AM and had our beer about and hour and a half after the doors opened a little after 11AM. We then set up shop about a block to the left of the brewery, with a tent and a table full of bottles for sharing. We rolled out our dueling bacon beer growlers and quickly attracted an audience with the help of a our collective twitter accounts.


Despite the fact that we were wearing shirts with the words "Dork Lord" on them, we were easily outdone by this pair. Nice shinguards, Captain Evil. I'm not sure what your buddy is supposed to be, but he's really doing a good job at it.


And a job. I need a miracle and a job.
One thing that left us confused was the reaction of some of the crowd to our efforts. We were regularly asked if we were selling or trading. When we told folks that everything was free for the sharing, many walked off. We're not sure what to think of that.


Take some of our beer! Seriously! Rod isn't that scary. Is he?


I may have figured out why our sharing table wasn't as successful as we had hoped.
In any case, the day seemed to be a success for all around - a giant smiling crowd, a bonanza of rare beer for sharing, great music, guest beer, good food, and very little in the way of unruly behavior. Much respect is due to the folks at Three Floyds for their efforts. We'll be back next year.


A hearty crowd awaited us at every turn.


What we're all here for.
So how about you? Did you make it up? Leave a comment, and tell us how your day went.

Want to compare this year's Dark Lord Day to the previous two years?
Click here for our 2009 coverage
Click here for our 2008 coverage

Hoosier Beer Geek's Guide to Dark Lord Day 2010

This year's Dark Lord Day is set to be the biggest ever. This event just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year and we've been asked to throw out a few tips to people coming this year. These are my tips that I've learned over five years of heading to DLD.

1. Cash That is the only thing accepted at FFF's. Don't leave home without it or pay the crazy gorilla math surcharges at the ATM machines that will be there.
2. Talk This is the greatest thing about DLD. I enjoy talking with other like minded people and sharing beer with people from all over the country. Bring some tasty brews to share and just say hello to everyone and you will have a good time.
3. Food Bring some water and snacks in a bag with you because drinking high gravity beer all morning will quickly take its toll on you.
4. Tasting Tables If you bring beer to share this is one of the things about the day as well. Just step up to the tables and pop your beers and start sharing what you have brought. Don't be intimidated by what people may have brought because chances are that someone wants to try what you have brought and as long as you are sharing most other people are going to share with you.
5. Parking Parking was hard to come by last year by 9 am, so I have no idea what to expect this year. I would just say get there earlier than later this year.

Last year was my first year at Dark Lord Day and everything pretty much went as I expected, if not better. Sometimes people stress out about events like this because there is guaranteed to be a percentage of the population that is bringing the rarest anything ever and nothing you have will be good enough for them. Screw that. There are a ton of people here just for the love of beer and they are the gross majority. Here are my tips:

Guest Taps
Last year 3F brought in 30+ rare and insane beers, not restricted to those distributed in Indiana. These were being sold inside the warehouse at $5 per pour. Much like everything else, they only accept cash. A new batch of beers is tapped every hour and when they're gone, they're gone. With the Craft Beer Conference in Chicago this year, I expect there to be an exceptional selection of extremely rare beer available.

Bring Growlers
If you don't have a huge cellar of rare beer, go fill some growlers with great seasonal, local beer. You'll have a ton to share, won't spend too much and are guaranteed to have something a lot of people haven't tried. This probably won't work for the Tasting Tables, but there's a lot more beer being shared than what's on the trading tables.

Hold the bottom of your Dark Lord Case
We saw a lot of box bottoms fall out and a lot of Dark Lord destroyed last year. Don't fall victim to this. HOLD YOUR CASE BY THE BOTTOM. It will be rainy again, and wet cardboard doesn't hold up well.

Bring a cooler with wheels
Use it as your seat while in line. The wheels will help you save your strength for drinking.

You will be exhausted
If you're familiar with tailgating, you know how a day full of heavy drinking can wear down the body. Now imagine that with 10%+ ABV beers all day. Yeah, you're going to be exhausted at the end. Plan accordingly with either a hotel reservation or a nice nap in your car before you head out. I think last year we were in bed by 8, which made me really sad because I really wanted to see Pelican.

Be sure to add your personal tips in the comments!

In my experience, I've found the two Dark Lord Days I've attended to be amongst the most memorable and fun beer events I have experienced.

1. Bring snacks and water. Don't forget to eat and drink them during the day.
2. Bring some beer to share. As Rod said, it doesn't matter what, just bring some and be friendly. People come from all over the country to attend so it's a great opportunity to show a little bit of that Hoosier Hospitality and offer up some of the great beers we have in the state.
3. This one may just be for the ladies: Bring toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and/or your own personal restroom cause 3000 people drinking beer all day sure takes a toll on the port-a-pottys (as you summer beer festival goers know all too well).
4. It's spring in Indiana, so the weather changes quick. Last year when we arrived, there were thunderstorms in the distance. It turned out to be a nice, sunny afternoon, but the temperature went from a breezy 70 to about 40 in what seemed like a matter of minutes. Bring a couple layers and comfortable shoes.
5. Don't forget about what's inside the warehouse. Music, guest beer, cool people.
6. Keep an eye on that watch if you have Golden Tickets. There were still long lines to pick up the allotment of Dark Lord last year for most of the time, and it looks like 4 o'clock (if you check your ticket) or 5 o'clock (if you check the website) will be the cutoff for guaranteed sales.
7. If you do something stupid, it will end up on the internet.

Have fun, pace yourself, and please say hello if you see us in our "Dork Lord" shirts. We'll probably have some beer to share.

I think everyone else covered everything pretty well, but there are a few other minor things worth noting.

Don't forget to check out the bands. They're loud, you'll be sorta drunk, and it's a nice bit of respite when you're on the precipice of "oh I think I drank too much". Plus you can watch drunk guys headbang. Always entertaining.

Keep your eyes out for bacon beer. It may be very limited, but there are rumors of leftover growlers from HBG's CBMTCBL.

Bring a tasting glass. Sure, you can drink out of any old cup, but a tasting glass (preferably one with a 1 oz. line) will allow to to better keep those samples small (and as a result, more varied).

Bring lawn chairs. There's not much for seating at Dark Lord Day.

Respect the police. They're letting you get away with a lot of things that you typically wouldn't. Don't forget that.

Lastly, here's the rumored guest tap list:

Stone Vertical Epic 08-08-08
Stone Old Guardian 2006
Stone Old Guardian aged in Red Wine Barrels
Southern Tier Choklat
Southern Tier Javah
Southern Tier Oak Aged Unearthly
Bell's Hopslam
Bell's Oarsman
Bell's Poolside
Bell's Barrel Aged Hell Hath No Fury
Gouden Carolus Cuvee' The Emperor Blau 2007
Upland Infinite Wisdom Triple
Upland Light Wave
Upland Scoth Ale
Upland Firkin
Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout
Founders Double Dry Hopped Centennial IPA firkin
New Belgium Eric's Ale
New Albanian Old Ale
Dogfish Head Fort
Dogfish Head Burton Baton
Dogfish Head Red and White
Dogfish Head Old School
Van Steenberge Klokke Roland
Victory St Victorious
Victory St Boisterous
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree
Petrus Oud Bruin
Ommegang Belgian Pale Ale
Schlafly Quadruple
Schlafly Barrel Aged Smoked Porter
Brooklyn Brewmaster's Reserve Cookie Jar Porter
Brooklyn Brewmaster's Reserve Sorachi Ace
Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary
and something from Port Brewing

We'll see you there.

Dark Lord Day 2010 Has A Date..

Even if you're new to craft beer, you're probably already familiar with Three Floyd's Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout, and the beer holiday that surrounds its release. The date for that holidy? According to DarkLordDay.com, it's Saturday, April 24th. Plan accordingly.

We'll have more details when they're available.

It's almost here!

DarkLord Day is Saturday the 26th, and a couple of the Knights of the Beer Roundtable are planning on attending. But we're rookies...

How about you? Headed to Munster? Care to share your plans? Wanna give us a ride? Got any tips? Leave a comment!

Dark Lord Day Rumors | Chimay Article at National Geographic Traveler

Updated 4/27/08: For a recap of DarkLord Day 2008, see this post.

Almost all of this information is incorrect. For correction to this post, please visit this post.

For those of you not familiar with Dark Lord Day, it's a once a year beer release event for Three Floyds' Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout. Here's the wiki info:

Dark Lord is the beer that Three Floyds is most famous for because it is widely rated as one of the best beers in the world. The brewery describes it as a "Gargantuan Russian Stout brewed with coffee, molasses, and honey; 13% abv." It is sold only on 'Dark Lord Day' which is usually late spring. This event happens at the brewery in Indiana where each customer is limited to a set number of bottles (six bottles in 2007) and only cash is accepted.

Last year's Dark Lord Day drew a rumored thousands upon millions of happy beer fans, so for this year, Three Floyds has something bigger planned - but there haven't been many details released yet.

Luckily, the internet is a perfect place for rumors, like this one, which I found from this post on BeerMapping.com and GoHammond.com:

We just booked two new, fresh & fun events at the Hammond Civic Center that I think you’ll enjoy!

First, Three Floyds Brewing Company has a one-day festival called DarkLord Day. DarkLord Day is the one day a year Three Floyds Brewing Co. sells/releases DarkLord Russian Imperial Stout. Beer enthusiasts, home brewers, professional brewers and collectors come from all over the country and abroad to buy the limited release of the DL Stout. They’ll have live bands, food and fun! Since they outgrew their current brewing facility due to the event’s growing popularity, we lined them up with the Civic Center! This is a really unique, new event that you’ll be hearing much more about. Our date is set for Saturday, April 19, 2008. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend this mainly adults only event!

The event still hasn't been announced by Three Floyds, but you might want to keep April 19th available on your calendar.

* * * * *

Looking for a nice place to take a holiday? How about Chimay, Belgium? National Geographic Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog - "The blog about authentic & sustainable travel" - has a nice write up about the eco-friendly practices at the Chimay Brewery. Surprisingly, they don't mention how many trees you'll have to plant to offset the carbon created in getting to Belgium.