My friends and truly I made the most of it. The doors opened at 10 am CST, so we decided that it would be best to get a spot in the front of the line. We arrived before 5 am and set up a table and coolers to tailgate while we were waiting in the line. We brought some epic beers and started the festivities around 5:30 with beer and sausage patty sandwiches on the grill.
The line is a crazy place full of beer geeks walking up and down the lines sharing different beers. I think I tried over fifty beers while waiting for the doors to open. Strangers came up and down the line with beers offering tastes. The sense of community was undeniable.
Since the line was so epic, I thought the party was going to be crazy once we got into the festival, but I basically just got in line. First I waited in line for glassware. Three Floyds doesn't actually provide those mini snifters that you see every year. They're provided by the coffee company they partner up with for the Dark Lord beer. This was the first year we got product from Dark Matter, a coffee roaster located in Chicago. The line was crazy. We were probably part of the first hundred people through the south gate, and we barely got glassware. Dark Matter made less than 1000 of each, so they went fast.
Once I got my glassware fix, it was just about time for the B group, which I was a part of, to go get our Dark Lord, so I got in another line. Luckily throughout all these lines people were sharing great brews from their local market, so the party slowed down a little bit but it never stopped. The line for the beer was quick and easy, but all in Brie and I spent about 3 hours in line since we got through the line we were waiting in outside the gates. It was turning out to be Dark Line Day.
At that point I was half popped and having a great time, so I told myself no more lines. I did not go through the take home line because it was mostly stuff I'd had. Friends had gotten a picnic table, so we had a nice base of operations. From there we could drink beer from Three Floyds on draft, awesome guest taps and some really great bottles we were sharing.
There was some excellent high end fair food. The Alpha Brat was incredible. It was a beer soaked brat that was crisped up nicely on the grill with some sort of chopped relish that was delicious. If you were looking for something on the sweeter side, they made ice cream out of the Dark Lord beer. It was sweet and malty and delicious. I wish they had sold pints to take home.
The beer was the most important thing to us, but there were a lot of people there for the concerts. Dark Lord Day is a big heavy metal concert. Once I was in the party mindset I went out and started enjoying the music. The festival trailed off at that point, but in a blur of excellence.
My first time at Dark Lord Day was worth all of the lines and the effort to get tickets and all the other hassles that went along with it. If you haven't been yet you should add it to your bucket list.
The line is a crazy place full of beer geeks walking up and down the lines sharing different beers. I think I tried over fifty beers while waiting for the doors to open. Strangers came up and down the line with beers offering tastes. The sense of community was undeniable.
Since the line was so epic, I thought the party was going to be crazy once we got into the festival, but I basically just got in line. First I waited in line for glassware. Three Floyds doesn't actually provide those mini snifters that you see every year. They're provided by the coffee company they partner up with for the Dark Lord beer. This was the first year we got product from Dark Matter, a coffee roaster located in Chicago. The line was crazy. We were probably part of the first hundred people through the south gate, and we barely got glassware. Dark Matter made less than 1000 of each, so they went fast.
Once I got my glassware fix, it was just about time for the B group, which I was a part of, to go get our Dark Lord, so I got in another line. Luckily throughout all these lines people were sharing great brews from their local market, so the party slowed down a little bit but it never stopped. The line for the beer was quick and easy, but all in Brie and I spent about 3 hours in line since we got through the line we were waiting in outside the gates. It was turning out to be Dark Line Day.
At that point I was half popped and having a great time, so I told myself no more lines. I did not go through the take home line because it was mostly stuff I'd had. Friends had gotten a picnic table, so we had a nice base of operations. From there we could drink beer from Three Floyds on draft, awesome guest taps and some really great bottles we were sharing.
There was some excellent high end fair food. The Alpha Brat was incredible. It was a beer soaked brat that was crisped up nicely on the grill with some sort of chopped relish that was delicious. If you were looking for something on the sweeter side, they made ice cream out of the Dark Lord beer. It was sweet and malty and delicious. I wish they had sold pints to take home.
The beer was the most important thing to us, but there were a lot of people there for the concerts. Dark Lord Day is a big heavy metal concert. Once I was in the party mindset I went out and started enjoying the music. The festival trailed off at that point, but in a blur of excellence.
My first time at Dark Lord Day was worth all of the lines and the effort to get tickets and all the other hassles that went along with it. If you haven't been yet you should add it to your bucket list.
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