03 May Dark Lord Day 2014 – One Man’s Look Back One long Week Later
Five adults stuffed into a Nissan Sentra pull onto a side street in Munster, Indiana, just minutes from the Illinois border. Four of them pile out onto the sidewalk to unload a trunk full of soft-sided coolers and backpacks bursting at the seams with beers that they are excited to try, share, or in some cases, simply get rid of. They thank their designated driver (hi, mom!) and turn their attention to the task at hand.
The sun and anticipation give them a false sense of warmth that sends jackets into backpacks as they make our way toward ‘The Line.’ The Line is a serpent made of human bodies snaking its way lazily through parking lots and cul-de-sacs on its way to Three Floyds Brewery. It is wider at some points than others, with groups large and small clumping together, discussing the merits of dry-hopping, or the Blackhawks’ playoff chances, or how far they drove simply to wait in line for beer. It is an amalgam of characters, from frat boys to beer geeks, soccer moms to metalheads, and anything and everything else in between. But most importantly, it is long. Thousands of people in front of them, and thousands more falling in behind are here to meet the fabled Dark Lord.
The realization eventually sets in that it’s going to be a long day, and none of them have had any breakfast, so one of them excuse his self from The Line in hopes of finding the breakfast tacos that are rumored to be available. Along the way the rumors of The Line are abundant and true. Tradition and good beerfest etiquette dictate that any emptied bottles be displayed curbside for those who come after you. These so-called bottle graveyards enshrine rare sours, novelty ales, barrel-aged you-name-its, and even previous years’ Dark Lord’s themselves. Some people, it seems, have gotten an early start.
Breakfast tacos have been acquired and he makes his way back to the group to deliver and crack open a session IPA. He reflects on how far they are from where we started in The Line and how far, symbolically at least, Dark Lord Day has come from its humble beginnings.
The brewery’s location in an industrial park paired with the astronomical demand for the beer was putting pressure on Three Floyds to get the event under control. Their early attempts to do so left many a Dark Lord enthusiast feeling underwhelmed with the process. Groans of “I have to have a ticket?” and “Why do I have to be in line at a specific time?” were said by many. This was partly because no one knew how to navigate the new system, and partly because it was utterly disorganized. Despite the hemming and hawing and lack of structure, the allure of Dark Lord Day was still too powerful to ignore, and so those Dark Lord faithful continued to come with hopes that things would improve.
In short, Three Floyds has hit their stride with the unruly beast that is Dark Lord Day and made it a truly enjoyable experience. You will meet people from all over the world and get the chance to try beers you probably wouldn’t otherwise. You will, on certain years, manage to get frostbitten and sunburnt on the same day. You will also probably drink more than you realize, so plan on organizing safe transportation. And finally, you might drop your bottles of Dark Lord, so bring something to carry it in rather than the cardboard 4-pack you get from the brewery.
Finally, there’s The beer. Many people, gawking at the throngs waiting in The Line, wonder if Dark Lord lives up to the hype. Can a beer really be so good that it warrants all of this? The answer is no. That is not to say that Dark Lord is not a phenomenal beer — it is. As far as Russian Imperials go, it very well may be the best. But if Dark Lord Day was ever about the beer, that time has come and gone. Surely, the event owes its success to its namesake, but its gravity is now generated by the people who have lived to tell its story. But don’t take my word for it, you should really experience it for yourself.
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