As previously posted by yours truly, I was gifted tickets by mthhurley to this event. I was lucky enough to have 2 tix to the event, thanks to Mikey, so I asked WB to be my partner in crime. We made the trek to the West side of Chicago while smoking H Upmann Mag 46's. The event was held at Intelligentsia Coffee, where they set up the event on the floor of their manufacturing facility. It was definitely a very industrial setting, but with the heavy metal background music and 3Floyd's atmosphere, it tied in perfectly. On to the event. WB and I grabbed a glass of Zombie Dust and some of the treats at the dessert table. We then made our way over to the Dark Lord Bar, where we munched on an a terrific beef jerky with pork rinds. We then realized that we were sitting across from the dinner bar, so we made what would become one of many trips to grab shrimp with chocolate consumee, cuttle fish with garlic crisps and a fried pastrami rice fritter. All were very good and extremely tasty. We mingled with other guests while the bartender poured Dark Lord from '07, '08, '09, and '10. We finally got to doing the thing we were there for...........TASTING AGED DARK LORD! I won't bore you any further, but I will tell you that Dark Lord does change quite a bit from year to year. I will also say that it was agreed by the group around us, that the '09 was the best of the 4. Needless to say, we had a great time drinking craft beer from the best craft brewer in the world. If you get the time, and you're in the area, stop out to their brewery in NW Indiana. You won't be disappointed.
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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.
Dark Lord Vertical Tasting Event
- Thread starter aquarich
- Start date
Wow that is interesting the 07 bottle I cracked a few months back was way better than the 09 I cracked last summer. No alcohol heat left and a ton of chocolate flavor coming thru.
It is fun to see how the bottles age totally different than kegs, or were the bottle pours as well?
It is fun to see how the bottles age totally different than kegs, or were the bottle pours as well?
Everything was bottle pour. The first Dark Lord I ever tried was '09 and it still lives up to that "punch you in the mouth" kick that I like about it. At Dark Lord Day last year, we were able to sample the barrel aged '09 and that was amazing. Looking forward to hanging with the 8 other BOTLers that I'm going to this year's event with.
So what made the 09 stand out versus the others? Was there still hops bitterness to backup the sweetness? Did it have more roasted coffee character or something? I'm just trying to figure out what flavors stand out to some people in aged stouts like that.
Wow, the event was the coolest 'taste'( beer, food and desert) involved one I've ever been too. I was so engrossed with the Dark Lord that I didn't even notice the frozen desserts. Food outstanding, dessert fantastic, aged Dark Lord WOW! Big thanks to Rich for the invitation and camaraderie and Mike for providing the means. I was definitely one lucky dude.
Dark Lord is made(from what I've gathered searching the net) with Black Cat espresso from Intelligensia, vanilla, sugar/honey and molasses in addition to malt and hops. I've never noticed hop bitterness from Dark Lord. If there were to be any bitterness to me, it would be from the espresso. But the sweetness, probably from the sugar/honey and molasses, totally balances the bitter that could be from the espresso. A great example that kind of bitterness could be sampled in Old Rasputin, but to me D.L. has none of that. It definitely has the espresso flavor, but is so complex I never focus solely upon any one of it's manifest flavors. But they include that espresso, dark fruit, vanilla, molasses, a kind savory raisiny fig-like quality, licorice and dark chocolate are few I noticed.
The difference, it was a few things as I seen it. It's fullness of flavor was a bit more rounded out compared to the 10, but yet still had a bit of 'pop' to grab your attention. The 08 had the most sweetness, mostly in the front as you sipped it. The 07, by far had the most rounded flavors which were amazing, but lacked the 'pop' and forwardness I prefer out of Dark Lord. The 10 was great, but I noticed only a little difference from when it was released.
To add to Rich's comment,
Dark Lord is made(from what I've gathered searching the net) with Black Cat espresso from Intelligensia, vanilla, sugar/honey and molasses in addition to malt and hops. I've never noticed hop bitterness from Dark Lord. If there were to be any bitterness to me, it would be from the espresso. But the sweetness, probably from the sugar/honey and molasses, totally balances the bitter that could be from the espresso. A great example that kind of bitterness could be sampled in Old Rasputin, but to me D.L. has none of that. It definitely has the espresso flavor, but is so complex I never focus solely upon any one of it's manifest flavors. But they include that espresso, dark fruit, vanilla, molasses, a kind savory raisiny fig-like quality, licorice and dark chocolate are few I noticed.
The difference, it was a few things as I seen it. It's fullness of flavor was a bit more rounded out compared to the 10, but yet still had a bit of 'pop' to grab your attention. The 08 had the most sweetness, mostly in the front as you sipped it. The 07, by far had the most rounded flavors which were amazing, but lacked the 'pop' and forwardness I prefer out of Dark Lord. The 10 was great, but I noticed only a little difference from when it was released.
Nice pics, rich!
