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Drink Mon Apr 26 2010
Dark Lord Day 2010
For the fourth year running, we made a spring pilgrimage to Munster, Indiana to wait in line with thousands of other beer enthusiasts to buy bottles of Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout at the 3 Floyds brewery.
Every year the crowd grows substantially and the process of securing a limited number of bottles become slightly more complicated. Ticketing servers crash, legal parking is nearly impossible to come by, and finding the end of the mammoth line becomes surprisingly difficult. To be sure, 3 Floyds has created demand for an unnecessarily exclusive product and elicited plenty of complaints along the way, but at the end of the day 3 Floyds makes a damn good beer and throws a damn good party.
We arrived at 9:30 to find the industrial park already packed. Three different lines had formed and no one seemed confident that their line was the correct line. We joined the shortest and hoped for the best. At this point, one can either decide to be agitated about waiting in line to buy beer or decide to enjoy what is truly a fun event. Dark Lord Day is a great opportunity to meet other serious beer fans. We always bring homebrew, interesting microbrew bottles, and big bags of pretzels to share. We met people from New Jersey, Tennessee and Wisconsin, shared stories about our first Dark Lord Days, and made suggestions for bars and brewpubs to visit in the Chicago area.
The guest tap list this year was phenomenal. Of the beers we sampled, our favorites included the Stone Brewing Old Guardian aged in Red Wine Barrels, the Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree, and the Surly Tea Bagged Furious Firkin. 3 Floyds also offers pours (with a punch of your ticket) of their Oak Aged Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout.
We managed to get our beers before noon. A 22 ounce bottle cost $15 and when we purchased the limit was four per ticket, though we did hear that the limit was reduced to three bottles per ticket later in the day. We hung out in the brewhouse for a little while to listen to the first band, eat tacos and catch up with a few friends.
Every year is a bit more hectic than the last, but we always have a great time at Dark Lord Day. 3 Floyds makes great beers and they know how to throw a good party. Chicagoans are certainly fortunate to have them nearby.
