Stone Oakquinox, DarkLord Day, SweetWater 420 Fest + More!
It is an action packed month for a beer drinker, and an action packed month for us fellas at TheFullPint.com. Within the next two weeks, we plan on bringing you coverage for Stone Brewing’s Oakquinox, Three Floyds Dark Lord Day, and quite possibly the dankest of all IPA Fests at Naja’s Place in Redondo. Also, if you are in the Atlanta area, you will enjoy SweetWater’s 42o Fest. Here is a brief rundown of some of the fun going down.
Stone Oakquinox
We didn’t think Stone could raise the bar any higher when they started wooing fans with their Winter Storm, Stone Anniversary Party along with a few parties here and there. Once Dr. Bill Sysak came on board well over a year ago, businesses picked up big time. After the successful turnout for Stone Sour Fest, Dr. Bill announced earlier this year he would be hosting Stone Oakquinox.
This is possibly the largest barrel aged beer festival in the world. They have kegs and bottles of barrel aged beer that you can’t buy here in Southern California, which just shows you the pull Stone has when trying to please their fans. We will be sending our Senior (not cause he’s old but because he is OG) Writer Big Mike to cover the event, and we know he and his hot date have favorites picked out from Dr. Bill’s sick list . If I were going, I would attack 2006 Double Bastard Ale with French Oak, Green Flash Super Freak and Avery Moloch.
DarkLord Day
I have my plane ticket, I have my golden ticket, and I have been working on my tolerance level all for Three Floyds DarkLord Day. I know roughly I will be standing in line, with a childhood friend I reunited with recently, at 7am in a field in Munster Indiana, so I can purchase $15 bottles of monsterous Imperial Stout. Do I love beer? I frickin better to go through with this ordeal. I can’t wait to meet the nice and rowdy people of the midwest, and hopefully share some tasty beers with them all. I have been messaged on ratebeer.com with folks extending invitations for group tastings and in person trades. It’s all overwhelming, and I usually have a slight fear of the unknown, but this should be a blast. I need to be practical and not take out a second mortgage to A) Buy a few bottles of DarkLord and B) Get them back to Sunny CA. If you have any tips on how I can keep a few bottles safe in my suitcase, please comment below.
SweetWater 420 Fest
Something I’d like to shoot for for 2011, SweetWater is doin the damn thing April 17 and 18th in Candler Park, Atlanta. If you like music, mother earth, beer, food and fun activities that make you proud to be an Atlanta local, this two day party is for you. Check out this post for the bands listed, and even scope them out on Amazon or iTunes if you aren’t familiar with them. SweetWater makes no mention of smoking marijuana before during or after this festival. It would probably be dumb of them to so, as it is very illegalish in Georgia. If you play by your own rules like some people I know cough cough, you might sneak a toke here and there. Make sure you know the laws real good by following this link . SweetWater makes a really decent lineup of drinkable beers, but if possible, seek out beers from their Dank Tank Series. Last year, I was blown away by Donkey Punch Barleywine, BOBBB, Wet Dream and this years BSP Quad. It’s a good time to be a craft beer lover in Atlanta.
Naja’s Place 2nd Annual IPA Fest
For DarkLordDay, I need to get my alcohol tolerance up. For Naja’s Place 2nd Annual IPA Fest, I am going to need to get my tongue in shape. With over 40 of the best IPA and Double IPA offerings in the world. Yes, the list is mostly California IPAs, and that makes me a biased homer (TM Ratebeer.com), but c’mon. Pliny The Elder, Pliny The Younger, Mikkeller Single Hop Series. It’s unreal. I love IPAs, and I love Naja’s Place. Forget Disneyland, you need to come to Southern California for Naja’s Place. It is a sweet half indoor half outdoor bar overlooking Redondo Beach. They have damn near 60 taps and a great bottle selection as well. Chill, knowledgeable bartenders won’t make you feel like a dipshit, and the lines are clean. Crazy, I know. To read the entire taplist and event details, follow this link.
