Beer at Farmers' Markets; Daredevil to Speedway; & more Indiana Beer News for March 3!

Hoosiers might be able to buy cold, local beer at Indiana Farmer's markets after July, although this beer may need local support. Senate Bill 0016 allows an Indiana micro-brewer to sell the brewer's beer to consumers for carryout at a farmers' market that is operated on a nonprofit basis, in a quantity of not more than 576 ounces per consumer at any one time (according to Ind. Gen'l Assembly, in.gov).

Clay Robinson of SunKing Brewery is President of the Brewers Guild of Indiana and told IndianaBeer, "The farmers market initiative is about parody with Indiana's wineries, but it is also about allowing Indiana's small brewers greater access to consumers. The majority of our members are fairly small and don't even package their beer except in growlers. Allowing them to showcase their businesses and vend their products alongside other Indiana growers and producers will offer them increased exposure to a segment of the population that has demonstrated their desire to support local, buy fresh and in most cases pay a premium to do so."

The Executive Director of BIG, Lee Smith, says many Hoosier, "May not know there is local beer where they live…." This would be a great way for Hoosiers to support other Hoosiers. Smith added, "a lot of tiny brewers, have fewer employees, some have only 2 employees and this is a way for small breweries to market their product locally.” Clay Robinson added, " ...all of the profits from the production, distribution and sale of that beer benefits our economy. In the case of Indiana Brewers, the profits, taxes and economic development implications are HUGE. Every time someone purchases a locally produced Craft Beer, they are helping to create jobs and investment in their community and economy. Craft Brewers have a tradition of giving back and participating with community and charitable organizations in order to benefit their communities and help make them better places to live and work."

The BIG sees exposure at Farmer's Markets a natural extension of local product sales. Jeff Mease, BIG board member and owner of Bloomington Brewing recently commented to us on SB 0016, "I don't see anything to be against...it is a local agricultural product." Beer is made from grain, water, and hops. The only concern voiced at an Indiana Senate hearing was from a major liquor store chain opposing the sale of chilled beer outside of liquor stores. Chilled beer is currently also available at brewery tap rooms, although some local breweries do not operate retail establishments. That retailer did not return our phone calls. Indiana legislators are open to comment from their public.

Daredevil Brewing to build a Brewery Complex in Speedway, IN! “A craft brewery on Main Street provides a new type of destination location that complements and adds to the growing diversity of local businesses and restaurants in Speedway,” said Vince Noblet, President of the Speedway Redevelopment Commission. “We are excited to welcome Daredevil Brewing Co. to Main Street and our Speedway community.”

Daredevil Brewing Co. is currently located in Shelbyville, IN. The Main Street, Speedway, location is an expansion of their growing craft beer business and will be Daredevil Brewing Co.’s first public taproom. Initial development will also include a 10,000-square-foot production brewery with additional expansion possible in the future.

Indiana City Beer released a new specialty 750 ml bottling of Mimi’s Tabernacle Bourbon Barrel Breakfast Stout with pure maple syrup, chocolate and oats infused with locally roasted coffee beans and aged in a Kentucky bourbon barrel. Available this week. They also offer Crimson Bombshell bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Amber Ale and Cratchit's Ale Winter Olde Ale both in 750ml. Indiana City is at 24 Shelby Street, Indy, just East of Downtown.

Bloomington Craft Beer Fest is Saturday, April 12, at 2200 Tapp Road 4-7PM for $35 with early bird available one hour earlier. This year you can be shuttled to the event from your room at the Fourwinds Resort with special rates of $89. Details HERE ; Bloomington Craft Beer Week will kick off the week before and we will keep you appraised of local events!

Flat12 Bierwerks celebrates Flat Tuesday with Doors open at 4pm on March 4th. There will be crawfish races, King Cake, Beads, Beads and more Beads. Plus, four wacky beer concoctions that are crawling with flavor. Beer List Here


Thursday, March 13th is the Naptown Brown Tapping Party at Sun King from 7pm to 10pm. The Naptown Roller Girls will be onsite as well as A Squared Djs, food truck, and pints will be available for $5 each.

Bloomington Brewing releases "Bomber" bottles of Rooftop IPA, the well balanced First Place winning slightly orange in color hop-forward beer with Cascade and Falconer’s flight hops in early April! Also, their Ten Speed Hoppy Wheat release this year is Bicycle Day, April 19.


Remember the Upland third annual Sour + Wild + Funk Fest will be on sale at on Eventbrite on March 10. The event is Saturday, May 17th from 2pm-6pm at the historic Indianapolis City Market, preceded by a VIP Sour lecture and private tasting from 12:30-1:30pm. VIP tickets can be purchased for $75, and will include VIP lecture, lanyard, commemorative T-shirt, swag bag and access to the VIP lounge including food and private bathrooms. General Admission tickets are $45 and include light snacks, with the City Market's artisans open to sell heavier fare throughout the festival. An Upland Secret Barrel Society members-only party will follow from 7pm-9pm.


Dark Lord Day has been announced by 3Floyds as April 26. Check their website for release details

2013 Dark Lord Day

My negativity for Three Floyd's was abandoned Saturday, April 27.  The combination of the company, the beer, the weather, and the overall atmosphere made this one of the best beer events I have ever attended.

Three Floyd's expanded the festival grounds this year, working with the Town of Munster and their neighbors to essentially double the size of space for attendees.  The brewpub was closed, but there were plenty of tables available with food and beer, especially with Dark Lord being poured from the tap for those willing to pay $10 for a 10 ounce cup.  Yes, I was one of those people.

Two entrances allowed for traffic to be spread about and the ability of beer buyers to break away from the general admission pack during their allotted time made the flow of patrons work wonderfully.  The one drawback was the Dark Lord bottle allotment went from four to three, but price was the same.  

The name on the ticket philosophy seemed to have worked, but I will readily admit there was a loophole that was easily exploited.  I was the guest of a group A buyer and he was my guest as a group B buyer.  I did walk away with six bottles of Dark Lord, but I also sold three for face value for a guest who was unable to attend.

Personally, my friends and I had a great plan and it worked to perfection.  We arrived on the scene at 5:00am and was blessed with a relatively close parking spot.  We set up our grill and tables and cracked open a Founder's CBS at 5:15 to celebrate the day.  At that point, there were already 40-50 people lined up  at the north entrance camped out and enjoying their brews.

Our position was right in the pathway for everyone parking at Centennial Park and walking to the festival.  Let me tell you, bacon is amazing leverage that early in the morning.  We garnered a lot of attention from passersby with our tailgate and we were afforded the opportunity to meet people from across this great country and try beers we would never have the ability to buy.

Aside from the much loved April 27 sunburn, one sorry sap of a soul that maliciously stole our 2013 Barrel Aged Vanilla Bean Dark Lord, and some choice words from the love of my life about dedicating 16 hours of my weekend for beer, Dark Lord Day 2013 has made me look forward to Dark Lord Day 2014.

In Anticipation of Dark Lord Day

Tomorrow is the big day.  The weather forecast currently is looking infinitely better than the rain and cold that plagued last year's event.  Three Floyd's has published some more up to date information on darklordday.com.

This is all good and well, but the information provided really does not lend any further insight to those who may be new to the event and even seasoned veterans.  I even asked a lawyer to review the post and decipher the meaning behind the words but he also was dumbfounded.

Do not cross railroad tracks except at a designated crossing.  This is always sound advice and FFF throws it out there from the start.  I believe this is the result of patrons parking in the residential area behind the brewery and just climbing up and over the embankment.  A nice warning, but one that may go unnoticed.

The festival grounds are not well defined.  FFF tells patrons the way to line up and enter, but not conveying where the gates will be other than with directional language (for example, line up at the north, the line for sales is on the west, etc.).  If you are unfamiliar with the area it would be worthwhile to use your favorite GPS mapping program and review your compass use.

Parking is also up in the air.  Centennial Park across Calumet Avenue made $3,700 last year with patrons parking their cars and hiking over.  Always a viable option.  My understanding from the help of beeradvocate.com discussion threads is that FFF will have Indiana Ave completely closed off.  Not sure if that's true, but until I have my scout finish his drive-by I will keep this as purely speculative.

Finally, congratulations to Mike Cate who scored himself the 15 year anniversary Three Floyd's Baller Stout with this submitted story:

Craziest thing I ever did for a beer? Not sure if I would define it as crazy but it was definitely unlikely...

I'm a big St.Louis Cardinals fan and love going to Milwaukee a few times a year to catch Cards/Brewers games. The fans up there are a blast to be around. Truly professional drinkers. And what makes it even better is that they're drinking delicious New Glarus, Lakefront and Central Waters beers. Can't beat that! Anyways. I went to Brewers Opening Day last year against the Cards and befriended several people in my row. Shot the shit about beer, homebrewing and baseball. I was living the life.

Turns out this old man who can barely get around is a huuuuge beer fan. As in he goes to all the big beer festivals across the county (Hunaphu Day in Tampa, KBS release, GABF, etc..). We got to talking about Dark Lord and he said that's the one he's never had (tickets selling out so quickly and all). I told him I go virtually every year and could help him out next time I'm up. He liked the sound of that.

To make a long story short, his son called me a few months back out of the blue and said his dad wanted me to go ice fishing with the 2 of them. I guess his dad wasn't doing real good and held trying a Dark Lord pretty high on his bucket list. So after a few days of trying to explain to my wife the unlikely scenario of driving up to Wisconsin to go ice fishing with an old man and his son whom I met 9 months before (and only hung out with for the duration of a 6-0 Brewers victory), I went up and had a blast. I went ahead and brought all the vintages of Dark Lord I had, shared some beers, caught some fish and had a good time.

I didn't leave empty-handed either. The old man gave me several vintages of Surly Darkness which I've always wanted to try (but the trading pricetag is always too unreasonable) as well as a Goose Island King Henry.

Another Dark Lord Day?

Oh yeah, I volunteered for it.  I didn't volunteer, I set up my laptop right next to my desktop and loaded the ticket site for Dark Lord Day on both at approximately 11:45am Central Daylight Time.  I frantically hit refresh on both as the minutes approached: 11:56, refresh; 11:57, refresh; 11:59, refresh. 12:00, here we go!

The Facebook brigade was in full force today.  First, Three Floyd's didn't post the ticket sales link in their status until 11:57am.  Honestly, if you were on Facebook waiting for that to appear you were not going to secure tickets.  The bevy of comments that ensued spanned from, "I got mine" to "FTS!"  But this is what Three Floyd's does, this is what it has been doing as of late.

At 12:49pm the Facebook status indicated tickets finally sold out.  Of course, after I secured a pair on the laptop I tried for a pair on the desktop and not a single group had a ticket available.  This was at 12:03pm.  Server problems? Sure.  However, if you didn't time that refresh just right, you were screwed.

The ticket sales medium that Three Floyd's has chosen does have issues, but I can't think of a fairer process, especially now that they are trying to affix the purchaser's name to the ticket and will be checking identifications at the door.  But the major flaw in this year's ticket sales was the missing Group A.

Upon entering the screen to buy tickets, any chance at selecting Group A was gone.  I know there are people who bought these tickets online, but the option was never presented to me.  I really didn't think of it at the time because the brewery does a very good job treating their ownership and VIPs so I just assumed that these tickets were reserved for them.

The ticket distribution system is set up like you're going to see a concert.  I complain a lot about Three Floyd's, but in this regard there is no suitable alternative.  If you insulate yourself and just sell tickets to the local patrons you isolate your brand and it might not have become the global phenomenon that it is.  But if you open the availability to the masses, the surest way is selling the tickets like any band performing in concert.  Here's your chance, good luck!  So you've been to 9 DLDs in a row but now your screwed.  Get over yourself.  Heaven forbid you share in your good fortune for nine years and let someone else try a beer that is one of the best in the country.

The one downfall is admittance onto the grounds.  Although I was lucky to get Group B tickets, I know I will be resting on the pavement in the early A.M. that morning because getting into the brewpub is half the battle.  All ticket holders are welcome at 10am, regardless of group.  Last year I had Group A and by the time we made it into the festivities and in line to purchase the beer, we had a half hour left in our buying window.  So this year, more of the same.

I am a seasoned veteran by now and am prepared for all Dark Lord Day entails.  My friends secured their tickets with little hassle as well so it should make for a good post in the future.  I promise I'll try to be more positive this time around.

If you are reading this, please leave a comment.  I want to know the most outrageous thing you've done for a beer (could be dollars spent, distance traveled, etc.).  You must leave a comment with your full first and last name with a valid email address.  The week before DLD (April 21st) I will consult with IndianaBeer staff and we will pick a winner.  The winner will receive their choice of Baller Stout, 2012 Dark Lord, or 2013 Dark Lord.  I know they might not be the rarest beers, but they are the ones I have at my disposal.

A Tale of Two Beer Releases

So it has been over two months since Dark Lord Day 2012 and neither Indianabeer.com reporter present at the festivities has anything to say about it yet.  Maybe it is the fear of the Three Floyd's torch bearers amassing an angry mob and setting out to destroy any human being on the planet who mouths a bad word about the assumed god of beer; maybe it has taken this long to shake the hangover of the festivities as it is a marathon of drinking; or maybe, just maybe, there was not anything really worth writing about it.

Rather than relay the tales of my adventure, I thought it would be better to lend more of a perspective on the run up to the release of Dark Lord in comparison to the release of another Three Floyd's beer.  This is not a criticism or critique of the brewery, but an observation that I find rather interesting that made the topic click in my head today.

On January 10, 2012, Three Floyd's offered a blog post simply offering the public the following information, "We're working on Dark Lord Day details."  This post on their Dark Lord Day website elicited 19 comments from readers.  I'm not sure an Indianabeer post has ever received that many (but I'm fairly new here so I'm sure I could be wrong).  The aura of Dark Lord is so powerful that radio silence was freaking out people because they hadn't heard information about an event more than three months away.

On February 13, 2012, www.darklordday.com finally informed the public that the date was set for Dark Lord Day and 59 comments followed.  So we were about two and a half months from the event and some ground rules were offered for those who would be fortunate enough to attend.  March 8 announced ticket sales for St. Patrick's Day, March 18 announced some brewery ticket sales, March 26 was the band announcement, and April 26 were final ground rules.

This is a beer that has been dubbed by more than one prominent person the best beer in the United States and/or world, so there would be a certain level of pomp and circumstance surrounding its release.  The interesting fact is that this beer is released every year at the same time of year and people have gone to this event every year of its existence.  The odds of procuring a Dark Lord are fairly good.  Even though secondary ticket sales were ridiculously priced and the amount of Dark Lord that flooded eBay and craigslist immediately after the event (and in some cases before the event) were gouging those unable to attend, it is not out of the realm of possibility of obtaining this beer.  Even if you attended Dark Lord Day you were given an allotment of four bottles and could even walk away with a barrel aged specialty beer.

Let's juxtapose this beer release with another Three Floyd's release today: Battle Priest. 
"The first all Brett beer from 3 Floyd's, named Battle Priest, which has been fermented in Pinot Noir barrels is available in 750 mL bottles for purchase today. Limited release today with one bottle per person allotment."

Dark Lord is a known quantity, Battle Priest is an experiment, a rarity unlike any other, the first release of a beer that may or may not get famous.  This matters not, as Three Floyd's has already established itself as a brewery that excels in providing beer that is decidedly, "not normal."  Even if you were a fan of brett beers you would have to expect this wouldn't taste anything like them.  And if you didn't like brett beers you would have to expect this wouldn't taste anything like them. 

Battle Priest's release was announced over social media at 2:00pm CDT.  By 4:00pm CDT it was sold out.  The rumor is that the amount produced was 480 bottles (or the amount set for release today).  Sight unseen, taste untouched to the tongue, this beer sold out in two hours at the brewery itself to 480 different people.  Can any other brewery pull that off?

I was at work, unable to get close to the brewery and my local guy was out of town and couldn't snag a bottle for me.  With such a rare gem, and with Three Floyd's beer notoriously present on the secondary market, I went to eBay and craigslist to find the fetching price.  Nothing.  I got nothing.

Dark Lord is a phenomenon that has grown rapidly and its release takes an enormous amount of effort on the part of the brewery and creates a buzz outside of the beer community that puts Northwest Indiana on the map and brings renowned brewers and chefs into Munster, IN to see a little warehouse tucked in an industrial park that produces wonderful beer.  However, it seems that the cult following of this beer will force any new beer that Three Floyd's could possibly develop into the hands of only an inner circle of people who follow their every move and flock to the brewery every time there is a hint of anything brewing (pun intended).  My hope is that Battle Priest is a successful brett so that more people will get to enjoy it.  My fear is that people gobble up Three Floyd's beer just because of who makes it and refuses to share it with anyone they deem unworthy.

Indiana Beer News – April 26

It is now T-minus 2 days and counting until a certain little event unleashes insanity on an industrial park in Munster. If you’re headed out to the event, the official rules from Three Floyds to help you plan your day were just posted here. Have a great time and stay safe - we’d love to hear some stories next week from the survivors. Please keep an eye out for our friend Wilk and make sure his glass isn’t empty.

To whet your appetite for all things Floyd, the Chicago Tribune has a great article on the appropriately-termed Cult of Three Floyds where you can find insights on Nick’s marketing philosophies, a possible brew pub location in Chicago, plans to buy a larger brewing system to triple their output, and how Dark Lord Day is their most stressful day of the year. Nick even managed to elicit a quick response from a Northwest blogger with some choice comments about Portland.

If you can’t make it to Dark Lord Day but still want to point and laugh at “bloggers”, look for Jason Cook and me at the TAP at TAF event in Lafayette. You won’t need a ticket broker to squeeze into this one.

To keep the beer festival events rolling, we now have the Indianapolis Monthly Beer Fest at City Market in Indianapolis on May 16th. This event celebrates central Indiana breweries and features tastings from 15 of them within the range of Lafayette to Bloomington. Admission is limited to 500 tickets at $25 with designated driver tickets available for $10.

OK, let’s get this out of the way – Indianapolis did not make the final ballot for BeerCity USA 2012 voting. And yes, Cincinnati inexplicably did. You can still vote for the ultimate winner between May 1st and 13th leading into American Craft Beer Week……might I suggest Grand Rapids?

Apparently reservations for Upland Lambics sold out in a matter of minutes yesterday. I’ll go out on a limb and predict some trading of Lambics and Dark Lord will be commencing in the near future.

If you’re the sad type of person (like me) who plans vacations around beer selection or lack thereof, it’s worth noting that Royal Caribbean cruises is adding selections from Chimay, Redhook, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, and Widmer Brothers to their shipboard pubs. A gluten-free beer from Dogfish Head will also debut in the near future. RC’s assertion that they are defining “what is world class” could be debated, but it’s nice to see they are recognizing the evolving tastes of their customers.

Which is more bizarre – a world where giant corporations trademark fictional beer, or a world where brewers sue for the right to capitalize on the popularity of that fictional beer? If a German brewer has their way, the public will be able to drink real Duff Beer in pursuit of Homer Simpson’s legendary physique.

Here’s some free legal advice in case you ever get the urge to steal a truck, drive it into Alaska Brewing Co., and steal $350 worth of beer. First, you’ll probably be caught. Second, it would be wise not to yell “Shut the f--- up” at the judge while they explain your sentencing considerations. I mean, the Smoked Porter is pretty darn good, but not worth 8 years in the slammer.

Cheers, Nathan

Indiana Beer News – March 22

If you’ve missed out on Upland’s Gilgamesh Flanders Red, or are just longing for another taste, there will be complimentary samples available at Goose the Market in Indy in their Enoteca room this Friday from 5:30-7:30pm. Get there early to make sure you get in on this epic event.

Looking to clear out your stockpile of cheap plastic beads this weekend? You may want to try Muncie Gras! on Saturday in downtown….uh, Muncie. Upland will be giving out samples at the Heorot as part of the festivities. One word of caution – I’m guessing Muncie police are not as tolerant of flashing as their counterparts in New Orleans.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the brave new world of beer event scalping brokering! As Wilk pointed out with the glut on eBay, tickets for Dark Lord Day that retailed for $15 are also being offered on Stub Hub for $175-200. That makes me a sad panda. But after the recent shortage at the KBS release, Founder’s will be following the same pre-sale ticket strategy for their event next year. Better start saving your money now.

A recent tweet from Founder’s indicated their barrel aging program will reach about 1100 barrels by the end of this week. We like to classify things like this in the category of news that doesn’t suck.

In additional Founder’s news (I promise this will be the last), the powers that be in Alabama are not real down with the “objectionable” beer titles of Dirty Bastard and Backwoods Bastard. Don’t expect Stone Brewing to pay ‘Bama a visit any time in the near future.

The age of <relatively> cheap Barleywine may be sadly coming to an end. Yes, Sierra Nevada has finally realized that nobody else in their right mind is selling the style in affordable six-packs and will be shrinking next year's offering to four-packs. Hit your Dislike button now.

In addition to the videos Bob shared yesterday, the Spill-Proof Beer clip from Hahn Australia is developing quite the following. It kind of left me just scratching my head….but hey, don’t say we didn’t jump right on the bandwagon.

If you haven’t taken the plunge yet to follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter, glance over to the sidebar on the left to find an easy way to rectify this problem and bring sanity to your life. While you’re there, scroll down and check out some of the other quality beer blogs Indiana has to offer.

OK, so this has nothing to do with Indiana or much of anything really, but I’ve become aware of a fledgling brewing establishment in Tennessee going by the name of Turtle Anarchy. Turtle Anarchy!!! Love it, wish I could say they stole the title to my hypothetical brewpub, but the folks at Against the Grain Brewery in Louisville already took care of that. Sigh….

Cheers, Nathan