One of the best-loved breweries in the craft-beer community sits nestled in the northwest Indiana town of Munster. The acclaimed Three Floyds has cracked the top five best beers in the United States on both Rate Beer and Beer Advocate.  Three Floyds Brewing Company was founded in 1996 by brothers Nick and Simon Floyd and their father, Mike. Their beers were designed to be a departure from the relatively minimal craft-brewing scene at the time, and the result was intense, balanced beers unlike any other. Known for their extremely hopped characters and complexity, Three Floyds’ offerings are arguably some of the most original beers on the market today. Though the brewery was initially contract brewed and bottled, Three Floyds later expanded to offer 12- and 22-ounce bottles of their gloriously hoppy beers in 2002, thanks to a reconditioned Italian bottling line at the Munster facility. In November of 2005, Three Floyds opened its very own brewpub. Sadly for residents of Ohio, Three Floyds has been absent from the state for the past four years, only recently making a limited return late last year. Buzzbin recently talked with Three Floyds sales manager Lincoln Anderson about their re-emergence in the Buckeye State. In order to cater to their home markets of Indiana and Chicago, Three Floyds were forced to bring the brewery’s focus of distribution back to their own turf. “We were making about 5,000 barrels at the time, and it was stretching us a bit thin,” Anderson said. When he came on board as the new sales manager, he wanted to give the state another shot. “About two years ago, I made the decision to re-enter Ohio just with our specialty beers,” he said. “We don’t have enough volume to sell all our year-round beers, but I figured we were making enough of those select limited beers.” After a year-long legal battle, Three Floyds was finally able to distribute back in Ohio. “I think it is a great market, and I really think the people in Ohio really get craft beer,” Anderson said. “There is a lot of stuff right now with craft beer in Ohio, and I wanted to be a part of it.” Though the Ohio craft-brew market is well-stocked, Anderson sees the uniqueness of Three Floyds creating a niche for itself. “Ohio has plenty of fantastic beers to choose from. You need a little bonus to mix it up, and I think that is how people should see us right now,” he said. One of the brewery’s most celebrated and highly sought beers is an imperial stout titled Dark Lord. Three Floyds first brewed five barrels of the beer in 2002, and it was an immediate success. By 2004, the demand for the beer had reached the point where the brewery decided to make a day of celebration out of it. Dark Lord Day, which takes place the last Saturday in April each year, is the only time beer aficionados can get their hands on the brew. While the demand is incredibly high for the beer, with some vintage bottles fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay, Anderson believes that it has not overshadowed the rest of the beers available year-round. “I think that every time a consumer picks up a beer and drinks it, then that beer is getting a share of the limelight,” he said. “If people want to focus on Dark Lord, then they can focus on that and that’s OK.” Anderson estimates that the company has expanded nearly 25 percent each year and believes it will continue to grow. “We do everything from traditional lagers and pale ales to Dark Lord and everything in between,” he said. “I think we have one of the broadest ranges in styles than any other brewery out there right now.”