History of Dark Lord
Dark Lord was first brewed in 2002. Nick Floyd was inspired to brew this beer because a local brewery in Illinois (Flossmoor Station) continued to receive medals, including a GABF Gold, for their Imperial Eclipse Stout. Imperial Eclipse Stout was brewed by Todd Ashman while he was the brewmaster at Flossmoor Station, before he brought the recipe with him to FiftyFifty Brewing. Nick was sick of hearing about their success and wanted to brew a big stout of his own. The beer was only available on draft in both 2002 and 2003. Originally described as a Gargantuan Russian Stout brewed with Starbucks coffee, molasses, and honey; 13% ABV. The current description reads: A demonic Russian-Style Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, Mexican vanilla, and Indian sugar.
Since the first bottling in 2004, Dark Lord Day continued to draw larger and larger crowds of beer fans hoping to purchase a few bottles.
Nick Floyd speaking of the brewing process at the Dark Lord vs Black Cat event at Map Room in 2006
Finely ground Black Cat is added during the "mash in" step of our brewing process. All the cracked barley (malt) & espresso is dropped into a big mash tun were the malt is hydrated with 160 degree water and mixed into a thick porridge-like liquid called the "mash" which is allowed to rest for 30 minutes, enzymes in the malt convert the starches in the barley to a sweet liquid called wort. The wort is then separated from the barley husks & solids using the false (slotted) bottom of the mash tun which is very much like a coffee maker. The wort is then extracted into the brew kettle where it is boiled at 212 degrees for 3 hours. After the boil the wort is chilled then pumped into a fermentor were the yeast eats all the sugars and creates the alcohol.
This page is a work in progress.
