Earlier this year, Sheryl and I started writing a blog together. We had tried to find a subject for ages, and went back and forth with a travel blog for the longest time. I travel a ton for work, and she has been traveling a lot with school and with me on various weekend getaways and vacations. From the time we leave to for the airport, we are always together. We are on the same flights, and staying in the same hotels… eating and drinking at the same places. But the blog went nowhere. One day, while surfing the web I found a book called 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die. Challenge accepted and the blog was born! We titled it 1001 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. You know… take one down, pass it around.
We have still not looked through the entire book. We don’t want to. We want to make our way through the book one bottle (some of the beers are only available in cans) and learn about each beer as we proceed through the book. The blog is teaching us SO much about beer, and the beer making process. We have even made our own beer since we started this project. We are well aware that it will take years to get through this, but we are not sure anyone else has even tried. We just hope that we can finish before these beers become obsolete. That… or before our livers give out!
There is one beer that has eluded us. It’s actually made here in the state of Indiana, and is one of the world’s most famous beers. It’s called Dark Lord and is a Russian imperial stout. Three Floyds Brewing makes this beer, and they only sell one day a year on Dark Lord Day. People travel from all over the world for Dark Lord Day, and if you are lucky enough to get a ticket to buy the beer, you can only buy a couple of bottles. We have not purchased our bottle yet, but we have been able to connect with a guy here in the Hoosier state that has a bottle. He is willing to sell it to us for $50. Considering the chances of us ever going to Dark Lord Day, and the price of the beer… that’s a great deal. We just need to pull the trigger because he is not here in the Circle City, but lives in Muncie.
“A demonic Russian Style Imperial Stout, brewed with Intelligensia coffee Mexican vanilla, and Indian sugar this beer defies description, available one day a year in April at the brewery, Dark Lord Day.”
Sheryl and I have been to the brewery before. It’s pretty cool. It’s in Munster, Indiana and sits back in an industrial park. It’s actually in a really weird place, but once you are there you are like family. The people that work there are nice, and the atmosphere is incredible. They are always pumping out random beers, and I have had quite a few. I am not sure I have ever had a bad beer from them. You can get their beer in pretty much any liquor store, especially in the Midwest. If you ever get the chance to visit the brewery, they are always doing brewery tours too. It’s a small operation, so chances of catching a tour are good. You can also request a tour online if you know when you will be in the area. We are usually passing through on our way home from Chicago. Trust me… it’s worth the trip.
Since I have not tried this beer, yet, I can’t really tell you what it tastes like. Some have said it’s the “best beer in the world”. I’m not sure about that, but I bet it’s good. They make such a limited supply, that I would be hard pressed to find this beer anything but amazing. Folks on BeerAdvocate seem to be pretty happy with it giving it an “A” rating among user reviews. But the taste of the beer isn’t the only thing that draws me to this brew. It’s the history of the beer. I mean, how many other beers have an entire day… a holiday really, dedicated to it? That’s just sick!
There is more to the bottle than just a good glass of beer. Each year they dip the bottles in a different color wax. Over the years, they have dipped in red, yellow, even olive green. Below is a list of the years and the corresponding wax colors:
- 2004 – Red
- 2005 – Orange
- 2006 – Gold
- 2007 – Silver
- 2008 – Black
- 2009 – White
- 2010 – Olive Green
- 2011 – Yellow
I have a feeling this is a “love it or hate it” sort of thing. I hope that when we finally get our hands on a bottle we can enjoy it together and find this beer to be everything we want it to be. I won’t be going to Dark Lord Day anytime soon, so I hope my buddy in Muncie can pull through. As I always say on the 1001 Bottles blog… bottoms up people!
Dark Lord Beer Stats
The book that we are basing our blog on is really cool. Each beer is pictured and offers an expert’s insight on the beer and the style of beer. They even offer tasting notes for the beer to give the reader an idea of what the beer is going to taste like. I personally like the beer facts that discuss the ABV (alcohol by volume), the year first brewed, even the suggested serving temperature. This can make or break your beer drinking experience. Some of the beer stats for the Dark Lord are below.
- First Brewed – 2002
- Style – Russian Imperial Stout
- City & State – Munster, Indiana
- ABV – 15.oo%
Tasting Notes
These tasting notes are found in the book 1001 Bottles of Beer You Must Try Before You Die. Each beer has a brief history and description of the beer all from an expert in that style of beer. There were nearly fifty people brought together to formulate this massive and impressive list of bottled beer.
“Dark and foreboding with the aroma of sweet, boozy dried fruits. A tentative sip fills the mouth with an explosion of roasted malt flavors: coffee, burned toast, raisin, and chocolate. Its strong alcohol is somewhat tempered by vanilla, light honey, and a surprising tart finish.”
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Click here to rate Dark Lord on BeerAdvocate.
