Drinking 2011 Dark Lord

I drank the first of my bottles of 2011 Dark Lord yesterday. Wow!

I love great beer, but hadn't had the pleasure of trying Dark Lord before this. I was lucky enough to snag two tickets to DLD and dragged along a non-beer drinking friend, so I'm the proud owner of 8 bottles.

Impressions: Coffee (of course), chocolate, not a huge head, thick and dark as could be. It went down smooth and then I could feel the alcohol start to warm me from the stomach. We were drinking it before dinner, but I could happily drink it in place of dessert.

I'm visiting a friend this summer who loves a great beer, so I expect to open my second bottle within the next two months. I'll then probably wait until late fall/early winter to open the next one. I'll report back as I drink the others.

I'd love to hear from others who can chime in as they drink & age their 2011 DL.

I opened a bottle a few weeks ago.

Way sweeter and more one-note than I remember previous years being while still this young. Nothing unpleasant about it though, and I think the flavors are there, it just needs some seasoning. I believe that this one will definitely be better with some age on it. I recommend sitting on it at least the 6 months you mentioned, if not a full year.

I recently acquired a 2007 Dark Lord in a trade and I think we'll be doing a 2007-11 vertical late in the fall. Hopefully this newest "vintage" comes across better at that point. I certainly won't be opening another before then. I know some other LTHers who will be doing the same vertical in the late summer though. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angling for an invite

I really want to echo Jim -- I opened a bottle over the weekend and it was very good, but also very fresh. Very carbonated, something I just don't expect anymore from Dark Lord (if only because I tend to drink bottles with 1-2+ years on them). It also tasted really, really sweet -- if there's a single reason to let it age a while, it's to let that sweetness mellow out.

I'd be willing to contribute to a DL vertical but all I've got is the '09