Wicker Park Fest last weekend was, as you would expect, awash with dirty hipsters and tattooed, stroller-pushers struggling to hold on to their youth. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I popped by on Sunday to grab a bite and a beer and catch A.M. Taxi, a local pop/punk band that should be more popular than they are. They're the best thing since Dave Hoekstra to ever come out of Napervillle.

While munching on a tasty pork belly taco from Salud, I spotted a crowd of folks screaming toward the top of a building. "I'll take one," a guy in a yellow shirt yelled.

Then, an orange five-gallon bucket tethered to a rope descended to the Milwaukee Avenue sidewalk. The guy in the yellow shirt tossed some cash in the bucket, signaled to the man on the roof, who was holding an empty Gatorade bottle that acted as a pulley. Then, the bucket quickly rose to the rooftop.

A few seconds later, the bucket gently returned to the sidewalk. Inside was a tiny pile of ice and a cold can of PBR. The man in the yellow shirt lifted the beer skyward in celebration.

The very site of this awesome example of hipster entrepreneurialism, of course, made me thirsty. I approached the bucket, which had a sign advertising $2 beers and a six-pack for 10 bucks. I waved the universal sign for "I'll take one" and pulled two dollars from my wallet.

But the darn bucket headed skyward before I could toss in my cash. I quickly craned my neck and spotted a woman on the roof signally that beer sales were over.

I'm not sure if they ran out of PBR, or if they didn't want to sell beer to a square who might rat them out. (Is it wrong to tell you about it? Am I a snitch?)

Before I walked away a Wicker Park native on the street told me not to worry, the beer bucket sale would most certainly return.

"It's not just for the festival," he said. "They do it all the time on the weekends."

Or at least they did ... until some square ratted 'em out.

Ol' Sam Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern chain, is dangling the future of the famed Billy Goat Curse in his latest marketing ploy to make more cash -- Billy Goat gift cards.

Here's a sign for the promotion at Billy Goat in the Merchandise Mart.

Here's a look at the scene from last year's Dark Lord Day at Three Floyd's Brewery in Munster Ind, courtesy of The Happy Hour Guys via YouTube.
Three Floyd's Dark Lord, a Russian-style imperial stout, is regularly ranked as one of the best beers in the world and is only available once year. Thousands of beer geeks show up every year for the unveiling. This year Dark Lord Day is April 24.
Read all about it in today's Sun-Times.