How do I begin to sum up my first Dark Lord Day experience? The best way is to just make a pro/con list.

Pros

  • A lot of craft beer fans from a plethora of backgrounds.
  • The sharing of beer and food. People went out of their way to generously share rare beers, homebrew, and food. For a first timer I was blessed by a group of guys (Jeff, Steve, and Anthony) who gave me a brat and let me sample Brooklyn’s Black Ops and Deschutes Abyss 2007.
  • Once in what resembled an actual line and after it started moving, I got my beer rather quick. Inside the brewery the purchasing was efficient.
  • People dressing up like Dark Lord himself (props to another guy named Tom).
  • Classic supply and demand! There was a lot of buzz about this product. I have to hand it to 3 Floyds for creating a quality beer and marketing it in such a way to make it a national spectacle/event.
  • Meeting fellow beer bloggers, reviewers, and networking.
  • Did I mention the sampling of so many beers!

Cons

  • The crowd was way too big for that venue. I could see this event being fun in years past, but basically 3 Floyd’s property is too small to hold 8000+. An industrial park did not seem like the best place to host it.
  • Any sort of pre-line did not matter when it was time to actually get in line. It was mass chaos and no one was announcing or giving direction.
  • No set line or organizational flow. There were too many port-a-john lines that got tangled with lines for sampling Dark Lord, the actual line to buy Dark Lord, the specialty quest tap line, the food line, the brewpub line, and the tables for sharing brews. Again, too much in one place.
  • Too many good beers all in one place. This year they had special quest taps on site, but with the amount of beer that people bring there is really no need for them.
  • People getting blitzed off of craft beer. I’m sorry, but if you want to get shit-pants’d drunk, do so on cheap piss-poor domestic beer. Don’t use product that was created to be enjoyed and savored as a vehicle to get hammered. Yes, craft beer should be enjoyed, but I walked away from the event feeling as though craft beer had been cheapened a little.
  • The hype was bigger and more grandiose than the event actually was. Not all that is was cracked up to be (in my opinion).

Ideas/tips

  • 3 Floyd’s should get a bigger venue or make better use of their property (i.e., establish lines, rope things out, etc).
  • Find a different way to distribute the beer.
  • Come later in the day after the ticket sale ends. If they still have some you can buy it without a ticket.
  • Just come to hang and share beer without even buying Dark Lord.
  • Bring some food, a grill, beer for people to sample, tables, and find a central location where you can be noticed so people can visit with you.

Dark Lord Day Photos

[nggallery id=355]