If you ask a beer geek to name his or her favorite holiday, you're not likely to hear them name Christmas, Halloween or even St. Patrick's Day. Instead, most Midwest beer fans spend the year anticipating Dark Lord Day, the annual celebration at the Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana. What makes this day so special? Well, it's the only time to buy a bottle of the Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout, a rich, boozy beer brewed with Dark Matter's Unicorn Blood espresso. It's the kind of beer that drives people to pay for the opportunity to stand in a parking lot all day and wait for their turn to buy it.
This year's Dark Lord Day occurs on April 25, but $40 tickets for the event go on sale at noon CDT on Saturday, March 14. If you're interested in going, you'll need to camp out in front of your computer—tickets usually sell out within minutes of going on sale. If you do manage to snag one, you'll be able to go hang out in the Three Floyds parking lot, trade samples of rare brews with fellow beer snobs and listen to some live music (usually metal). Just don't be the asshole who immediately tries to flip your bottles on eBay.