Difference between revisions of "Dark Lord Day 2018"

Latest revision as of 15:25, 20 February 2020

Date: May 19, 2018

Overview

Dark Lord Day 2018 was held on Saturday May 19, 2018. The date was announced on October 23rd, 2017. Website went live and ticket sales were announced on Tuesday, March 20th. Band lineup was announced on April 25th. Variant list and select tap times were announced on May 15th.

The first notable change this year is the introduction of a RFID chip wristband which will be used to validate entry, validate your group for bottle pickups, and also can be used to purchase food/drink/merchandise, for more information on how wristbands will work, visit the Wristband Information page. In addition to this, the amount of beer each person is allowed to bring into the fest was reduced from 288oz to 72oz. Outside food was also listed as a banned item, however it was not strictly enforced as the day went on.

On May 15th, along with the variant list, Three Floyds released a schedule for select tap times, a notable change from previous years where variants would go on tap seemingly at random.

Details

The festival hours were: 9AM – 9PM

Wax Color

Silver

Allotment & Price

4 bottles of Dark Lord and 1 barrel aged Dark Lord variant. Included in ticket price.

Attendance

12,000

Food Menu

• PRETZEL - Warm house-made pretzel, Zombie Dust beer cheese, sea salt / $6

• DARK LORD BURGER - Half-pound patty, bacon, Dark Lord beer cheese, chipotle aioli, lettuce, pickles, pretzel bun / $12

• SMOKED BRISKET - Half-pound, bread + butter pickles, sweet + spicy BBQ sauce, white bread / $15

• PORK SHOULDER - Half-pound, bread + butter pickles, buttermilk BBQ sauce, white bread / $14

• PHILLY CHEESESTEAK POUTINE - Hand-cut french fries, grilled steak, provolone cheese sauce, caramelized peppers + onions / $10

• DARK LORD SAUSAGE - Pork sausage, Dark Lord mustard, herb aioli, pickled onion, chicharron powder, grilled bun / $10

• PORTABELLA SANDWICH - Grilled portabella, roasted red pepper, basil aioli, spinach, goat cheese, ciabatta (vegetarian) / $8

• CHICKEN + WAFFLES - Smoked and fried chicken thigh, Belgian waffle, Dark Lord hot sauce, coleslaw / $10

• SMOKED BRISKET TACOS - Jalapeño sour cream, cilantro + cabbage slaw, pickled radish, queso, corn tortillas / $6

• VEGETABLE CURRY - Coconut curry, roasted squash, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, mint, cabbage, lime, jasmine rice (vegan) / $8

• HOT DOG - Howard + Sons quarter-pound all-beef frank / $5

• VEGAN CORNDOG - Alpha King batter, curry ketchup / $6

• CHEMTRAILMIX ICE CREAM - Vanilla, guajillo pepper, cinnamon / $8

• 

  Dark Lord Burger

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  Smoked Brisket

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  Philly Cheesesteak Poutine

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  Dark Lord Sausage

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  Portabella Sandwich

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  Vegan Corndog

Food Trucks

• DönerMen Food Truck
• Grindhouse Cafe

Merchandise

• 

  Sunglasses

• 

  Alpha King Collected Edition Comic

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  Nonic Pint

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  T-Shirt (front)

• 

  T-Shirt (back)

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  Jacket (front)

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  Jacket (back)

• 

  Red Hoodie (front)

• 

  Red Hoodie (back)

• 

  Hoodie (front)

• 

  Hoodie (back)

• 

  Bottle opener

• 

  Gumballhead The Cat T-Shirt

• 

  T-Shirt (front)

• 

  T-Shirt (back)

• 

  T-Shirt (front)

• 

  T-Shirt (back)

• 

  T-Shirt (front)

• 

  T-Shirt (back)

• 

  Tote Bag

These items were sold by the Indiana Craft Brewers Guild.

• 

  Indiana Craft Brewers Guild DLD Snifters

Minion Shirt

This was the shirt worn by volunteers/staff for the event.

• 

  Minion (front)

• 

  Minion (back)

• 

  Volunteer (front)

• 

  Volunteer (back)

• 

  Dark Matter staff (front)

• 

  Dark Matter staff (back)

See more in this video.

Brewpub

The brewpub was closed for the event.

Weather

High: 69 °F Low: 57 °F

Sunny

Group Sales Schedule

• Group A - 9:00am - 11:00am
• Group B - 11:00am - 1:00pm
• Group C - 1:00pm - 3:00pm
• Group D - 3:00pm - 5:00pm
• Group E - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Festival Map & Layout

The festival layout was largely unchanged from 2017. There was a new DJ tent in the staging area to the south, and the draft tents were given names.

• 

  Sattelite overlay map.

Tickets

Cost: $180

Vendor: eTix

Date: 3/31/2018

Included with the ticket:

• Festival admission
• Metal show
• 4 bottles of 2018 Dark Lord Russian-Style Imperial Stout
• 1 bottle of a rare 2018 Dark Lord variant at random
• Tote bag

Tickets went on sale Saturday March 31st at Noon CDT and took just over 2 hours to sell out.

Early Ticket Sales

After the website went live, the ticket sales link at eTix displayed a password field allowing early access to purchase tickets. Users began guessing passwords and many were able to correctly guess the password, which was: dld2018. A number of people were able to purchase tickets early before the error was corrected. Initially Three Floyds indicated these tickets would be refunded and cancelled, but later indicated that those who purchased early could keep them. It is not clear how many tickets were sold early, however Three Floyds indicated that the early sales would have little impact on the official 3/31 sales date.

Don't Drink Beer tweeted about the drama.

• 

  Password entry screen

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  Screenshot of checkout screen on 3/20

• 

  Initial indication that tickets would be refunded

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  FFF indicating they are valid via Twitter

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  FFF email indicating tickets are valid

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  eTix confirming tickets are valid

Shipping Confirmation E-mail Snafu

On 5/2/18 eTix sent out shipping confirmation e-mails with details on how to activate your wristband. Also included in the e-mail was some general information regarding Dark Lord Day. However, this information was copied from 2017's confirmation e-mail which had two notable differences. One, it indicated you could bring in 288oz of beer, instead of the new limit of 72oz. Two, it indicated that a variant was not guaranteed and that you could receive 2 vintage bottles, as was the case in 2017. Fears were quickly put the rest however, with a followup e-mail confirming that the e-mail contained old information and that correct information can be found on darklordday.com

Brewpub Ticket Sales

Brewpub tickets went on sale on Saturday May 5th at 9:00am. Around 200 tickets were available. Sales were announced on Friday May 4th at 5:00pm Central via social media.

With advance notice, there were around 50 people lined up by 6:30am the next morning, by 7:30 close to 200 people had lined up. Tickets sold out after about an hour around 10:00am.

Wristband Designs

Unique designs for 2018

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  Group B

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  Group C

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  Group D

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  Group E

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  Information Sheet

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  VIP Ticket

Taplist

This year the list of guest breweries was announced in advance. The first time since 2012 that the list of breweries was formally announced.

Select tap times can be found here: Dark_Lord_Day_2018_Tap_Times

Draft beer will be available for purchase with a wristband or credit/debit card; no cash will be accepted at Dark Lord Day.

Guest Taps Provided By

• 18th Street Brewery
• Against the Grain Brewery
• American Solera
• Anspach & Hobday
• Ardent Craft Ales
• Barrel Theory Beer
• Beavertown Brewery
• Bent Paddle Brewing
• Boneyard Beer
• Burial Beer
• Burn ’Em Brewing
• Central State Brewing
• Cigar City Brewing
• Commonwealth Brewing
• Country Boy Brewing
• Crooked Stave
• Crown Brewing
• Dark Horse Brewing
• DryHop Brewers
• Fat Head’s
• Firestone Walker Brewing
• Founders Brewing
• Gigantic Brewing
• Half Acre Beer
• Haymarket Brewing
• Marz Community Brewing
• Mikkeller San Diego
• Modist Brewing
• New Oberpfalz Brewing
• Off Color Brewing
• Oxbow Brewing
• Penrose Brewing
• Perennial Artisan Ales
• Phantom Carriage Brewery
• Pipeworks Brewing
• Pizza Port Brewing
• Prairie Artisan Ales
• Revolution Brewing
• Scarlet Lane Brewing
• Short’s Brewing
• Side Project Brewing
• Sour Note Brewing
• Sun King Brewery
• The Answer Brewpub
• The Bruery
• The Devil’s Trumpet Brewing
• TRVE Brewing
• Upland Brewing
• Urban Chestnut Brewing
• Victory Brewing
• WarPigs Brewing USA
• Wiseacre Brewing

Dark Matter Coffee

Dark Matter Coffee was present at Dark Lord Day. Serving coffee and selling merchandise.

Merchandise & Coffee:

• Black Hole Necromancer - Blood Lord iced coffee bomber (Qty: 600)
• Black Hole Necromancer (Cocoa and Vanilla) - Black Hole Necromancer with Cocoa and Vanilla.
• Space Time Inferno (Spiced Rum) - Coffee cask conditioned with spiced rum.
• Space Time Inferno (Bourbon) - Coffee aged in Four Roses and FEW Bourbon Barrels
• Dark Matter Blood Lord Mug
• Black Mini-snifter
• Blood Lord Coffee

• 

  Dark Matter Mug

• 

  Black Mini-snifter (front)

• 

  Black Mini-snifter (back)

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  Black Hold Necromancer Iced Coffee

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  Black Hole Necromancer Iced Coffee (Cocoa + Vanilla)

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  Space Time Inferno Iced Coffee (Bourbon)

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  Space Time Inferno Iced Coffee (Spiced Rum)

Variants

• Marshmallow Handjee — Bourbon barrel aged Dark Lord with vanilla beans
• ChemTrailMix — Dark Lord aged in rye barrels with cinnamon + pink peppercorns
• French Vanilla Militia — Dark Lord aged in Sauternes barrels with vanilla, cocoa nibs + coffee
• Spaceforce! — Dark Lord aged in Pineau Des Charentes barrels with vanilla, cocoa nibs + coffee
• Lounge Against the Macromachine — Tequila barrel with Mekong cinnamon, cocoa nibs, guajillo peppers + tangerine peel
• Greatest Teachable Moments — American brandy barrel with verbena, ginger + orange peel
• Hung Drawn N Quartered — Rye barrel-aged Dark Lord
• Cavaleiro of Varnov — Oloroso sherry aged Dark Lord
• Brozerker — Ruby port aged Dark Lord
• Brotilla — Carcavelos aged Dark Lord
• Turtledogg — Scotch barrel-aged Dark Lord

Bands

• Dying Fetus
• Pig Destroyer
• Revocation
• All Hell
• Brain Tentacles
• Canyon of the Skull with WarPigs Brewing’s Erik Ogershok + guest Todd Haug of 3 Floyds
• DJ sets by Gregg Elzinga of Metal Vinyl Weekend + Jill Hopkins

Poster

Artist: Dan Grzeca

Photos

Photo Album

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJPgdNwwxI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_msr5UK-WYw

Shuttle Buses

A number of shuttle buses were available for transportation.

• FestDrive - Chicago (West Loop) - https://festdrive.busbank.com/dark-lord-day/
• Reggies - Chicago (South Loop) - https://www.reggieslive.com/busrides/dark-lord-day-5/
• The Beer Temple - Chicago (Avondale) - http://store2.craftbeertemple.com/event-tickets/?sort=pricedesc
• The Open Bottle - Tinley Park - http://theopenbottle.com/store/?product=dark-lord-day-2018-shuttle-bus
• Beer on the Wall - Park Ridge - https://m.facebook.com/events/178856029411538

Press Coverage

• http://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/dark-lord-day-tickets-go-on-sale-march-cost/article_9830b943-e957-5014-92d0-e1bff4540d18.html
• http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/traffic-will-be-heavy-as-thousands-expected-to-turn-out/article_472f4f91-9658-5791-89fc-bafc3b78171f.html
• http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/beer-flows-like-wine-at-floyds-th-annual-dark-lord/article_35ae8e4b-c68f-5fc2-a664-e3bd41f28f2f.html
• https://www.guysdrinkingbeer.com/dark-lord-day-2018-three-floyds-brewing-munster/