Once again, dear readers, I am forced to begin this electronic missive with an apology for my silence in the past months. Ultimately, this blog is supposed to be about the beers being brewed in my kitchen, and there has been no kettle activity whatsoever! I keep tasting that damn Russian River Consecration clone, and it still isn't anything I'd like to bottle yet. It has gotten through the "tastes like literal shit" phase, though....it starts pretty decent but finishes so harshly that it's painful. I thought about brewing a younger beer to blend, but I'm worried I'll start the whole taste-phase process over again? Or make bottle-bombs! Yikes!
So....I've been reluctant to start cooking a new brew, even a straightforward, easy in, easy out kit brew, while I've got the wild sour beast in a bucket demanding fairly frequent attention and thought.
To remind all ya'll that I'm still here, then, this evening's missive will briefly touch on a much more positive topic: Three Floyds Brewing Co's Dark Lord Day, 2018. This year went sooo much more smoothly than last. Traffic in and out of the area was much less congested (i.e., the uber/lyft drop-off and pickup area wasn't half the clusterfuck it was last year!) The allotment line didn't even form for my group until a few minutes before they started handouts, and moved quickly once it did form. (unlike last year when it was nearly to the front gate an hour early, and moved at a glacial pace until you hit the empty spot in chain-link maze and had to run to avoid being trampled!) The special tapping lines were still very long and slow-moving, but when the keg kicked you had a very short line for "normal" taps! LOL
I really liked the chipped wristbands, with the ability to register them with your CC info and your emergency contacts/medical allergies, etc. Fantastic idea that I hope is continued in the future and picked up by other festivals and events.
I ended up getting Chemtrailmix, which is DL aged in cinnamon and pink peppercorns. In rye barrels this year, instead of bourbon barrels. Seems like a good idea to bring out the heat in the cinnamon and peppercorns, instead of accentuating the already very very strong sweetness in the base beer. Haven't tried it yet, though.
My buddy Steve got the Turtledogg, an Islay Scotch barrel aged variant. There was less of that variant than of any other, which kinda makes sense: I'm guessing good Islay scotch barrels are about as common as Pappy barrels. I'm also guessing that is gonna be one fantastic barrel addition: that deep smoky peat should dry Dark Lord to some very interesting results.
Despite the lines, I did manage to get a pour of 2018 Dark Lord. It wasn't quite as sweet as last year, and had slightly richer/thicker mouthfeel to it/ Pretty damn fantastic! Also snagged a taste of 2018 Hanjee, which was also very, very tasty. Those were the only two DL tappings I managed to get a taste of, despite my time in very looooooooooooooooooong freaking lines! Very disappointing to spend that time getting two or three people from a pour just to have it kick.
I'm gonna set aside one bottle for a future vertical tasting, but the other three will either get drunk soon, or traded out for ??? (The Chemtrailmix is gonna get in my belly, though--no trading variants that haven't been tasted!)
Pig Destroyer kicked ass, but I didn't hear a whole lot of the other bands. If there was a band merchandise tent, I couldn't find it...would have been nice to get a Pig Destroyer/3Floyds tee or sweatshirt. Another slight bummer, the merchandise stand was down to small or medium size tees by the time I got there. We drink big ass stouts, we don't fit in those sized anymore, and we'd really like a t-shirt!
Made some great new friends, and saw at least one of my favorite Untapp'd friends at the event. Was a ton of fun, and yes, I've already reserved a room for next year. Hampton Inn, Schereville.
