![]() Like the larger enterprise, it is wildly successful. In 2005, the Floyd family established a brewpub nestled against their now-sizable production facility. Today, the brewery operates a gleaming, custom-made, 35-barrel brew rig that produces 10,000 barrels of premium beer a year-enough to make Three Floyds Indiana’s largest brewer, though well short of those like Samuel Adams that do about two million barrels annually. Their neighbors include wholesale distributors and the local school corporation’s service building, where yellow school buses sometimes park. Located in an old brick building across from the fire department, the brewery produced its early batches in a rig that was basic to the point of rusticity: a five-barrel system made of used Swiss-cheese tanks with a wok-burner underneath.Įmboldened by the enthusiastic acceptance of their brews, Three Floyds purchased a large warehouse building in nearby Munster in 2000. Just three more hours until the doors open.įounded by brothers Nick and Simon Floyd,along with their father, Michael, Three Floyds opened in Hammond in 1996. As the line grows to nearly half a mile long, even the most patient check their watches. Many of them are already drinking beer, mostly stouts similar to the Dark Lord. Chilly as it is, the crowd continues to wait. Already, hundreds of locked bikes tangle in vivid kinetic sculptures.Ī posse of tent-rental people tries to erect a canopy, but the gale snatches it from their hands. Traffic around the brewery grinds to a halt with cars displaying license plates from dozens of states-Alabama, California, New York, and Washington among them. “Of course, the beer is fantastic.” And after a pause, he admits, “Then there’s the ‘cha-ching.’” While the brew sells for $15 a bottle at the event, gray-marketers can make big money reselling their stash-often for $50 or more.īy 8 a.m., the temperature has only climbed to 43 degrees. “I think people come for the atmosphere,” says Terre Haute resident Clint Puckett, standing first in line with his parents, who drove from Nevada. Usually held the last Saturday of April, Dark Lord Day attracts thousands. Repeatedly ranked among the world’s best beers by, a leading indicator of such things, Dark Lord is sold only one day a year. Beer-traders arrange tables of their bottled wares to pass the time, and a lively swap meet begins. Hoods up and hunkered against the wind in blankets, the red-nosed fans await their moment. As the cold, blustery day dawns, a queue of beer-lovers snakes down the street of the industrial park in Munster. Around 5 a.m., the first of the faithful form a line outside Three Floyds Brewing Company, intent on securing their four-bottle allotment of the legendary Dark Lord Russian Imperial stout.
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