Dark Lord

[Shaggy]

Has anyone had this, and how good is it? I'm trying to figure out if I should go next year to the festival.

[LStaff]

Like many of the imperial stouts fawned over by the online beer geeks, I found it too sweet and cloying after a few ozs. - especially when it warmed. These beers do well with online beer reviewers since they are usually shared, or tasted at private tastings or at beerfests in small measures - usually pretty cold - so the big flavor comes through in a small sample and by the time your palate gets tired of it or it gets warm, you are finished with it.

Smuttynose was always my favorite since it was boldly hopped and had a good balance - but it seems their last attempt has moved more in the popular direction.

[jgg13]

Not sure if you've had this year's version but it seems sweeter than typical. Although i think the one bottle of '11 I've had so far (out of my stash o' 8) was on the warmer side, from what I remember

[juantanamera]

It's a very good example of a huge, powerful and rich imperial stout, but I sure wouldn't book a ticket to Indiana to drink it, not with all the other great imperial stouts being brewed today.

[Tripeler]

I personally haven't had it, but a UK friend of mine always calls it "Dank Load" and considers himself pretty clever for saying that. Still, a lot of UK beers are not as bright and sparkling as their US microbrew counterparts. Nevertheless, I do make an exception for Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter.

[JessKidden]

Are you talking about Bateman's Dark Lord?

The OP, since he's in Chicago and mentioned a "festival", is probably asking about the Indiana brewery Three Floyd's Dark Lord Imperial Stout and it's annual release on Dark Lord Day.

[Shaggy]

Yes, 3F Dark Lord, I didn't realize there was another one.

[MOREKASHA]

Please tell about the Batemans. I love their xxxb

[Josh]

I've had it. It's probably the single most overrated beer I've ever tried. It's mind-boggling to me the cult of personality that's been built up around this beer.

[Insidious Rex]

Depends on the year but its hardly a bad beer. Its very good in my opinion. One of the best imperial stouts Ive had. Is it worth $150 on ebay and the crazy delirium it spawns every April? Probably not. But then Im not into that whole cult of personalty beer worship anymore. Too much of a hassle. Dark Lord day was a good time up until the last few years when its become so big, too big for Three Floyds (and the city of Munster) to handle. Now its over the top to say the least. But if you are talking about rating Dark Lord independent of price and independent of sickening hype Id say its a very good beer. But again each year is different. I have a few years aging. But I wont go out of my way to get them beyond a certain point.

[Josh]

I didn't say it was bad, I said it was overrated. Overrated meaning that the amount of hype built up around the beer is totally ridiculous (as ridiculous as the hype built up around any beer, pretty much).

[Insidious Rex]

Yes I agree the hype is ridiculous. But then if you are going to rank them as "overrated" simply because NO beer could live up to the hype that surrounds the Dark Lord no matter how good then you probably want to note that caveat. Is it an excellent imperial stout? I think so. Will it cure cancer and bring world peace? No. And by the way the same can be said for all those one off rare imperial beers similar to Dark Lord like Kate the Great, Surly Darkness, Foothills Sexual Chocolate, Bourbon Imperial Stout Trooper, Olde Rabbit’s Foot, etc. As Public Enemy once said, dont believe the hype!

[Josh]

It's a good imperial stout. But there are many good imperial stouts.

[shellshock24]

I agree, it's a good RIS, but way overrated. It's a bit too dry for me as well. On a blind side-by-side, I overwhelmingly preferred Stone's regular ol' RIS over DL. Go figure.