12 oz single. Had this a couple of times before, just getting around to reviewing it now. Color is a beautiful garnet pour with a real, red appearance and plenty of mahogany highlights. Body is great, BUT unfortunately the head is poor and consequently there is little retention or lace. That's a shame. Malt based is an understatement of course, but the beer also imparts a little hop bite in the finish and some alcohol presence. Finish has a touch more alcohol mixed in with the warm malts and...
Notes on beers brewed by
Three Floyds Brewing Co. / Brewery & Pub
Moloko
22 oz bottle, thanks to Micah (DogBrick) for the chance to try this beer. Jet black body with a lovely looking mocha colored head. Small, fine bubbles with nice density. Very compact and tight with a degree of orange color that seems to match the label. (Perhaps my imagination!) A super beer that captures a lovely combination of the lactose sugar and mild sweetness that come together in the way that a sweet stout should, i.e. as a welcome, refreshing antidote to the incessant onslaught of a...
Brian Boru Old Irish Red
A little concerned about FFF brewing a subtle Irish Red, but I was ultimately happier than I thought I might be. Nice red color that produces a decent head but the lacing and retention are a little weaker than one would expect from the style and the initial pour. Aroma is strong and yileds a fresher hop note than I was expecting - really quite floral and fresh. "Green" comes to mind. The initial waft soon subsides to yield a slightly more "normal" effect. Tastes are pretty authentic for the...
Alpha Kong
22 oz bomber, thanks to BA sprinkle for giving me the opportunity to get up to speed with this MONSTER! I may be mistaken, but I thought this beer used to be classified on BA as a tripel AND I have never paid any attention to the ABV - now I'm regretting that I didn't get a chance to share this one rather than drink it all myself! Oh well.... The pour surprised me at first because it comes down as an orange, slightly viscous body with Barleywine appearance and a lack of head and lace to match....
Rabbid Rabbit
I've been on the look out for this for some time, and on a recent trip to Indianapolis, IN, USA I picked it up at Kahn's. I want to say $10.99 for the bomber but not positive on that. I was a little bit wary because I thought that FFF might go a bit overboard on a style that, IMO, needs to be handled carfeully. Let's find out. Quite a dark orange pour in the Duvel tulip, this beer forms a large head wirh some lace but not great retention. Spotty, white film forms on the surface of the brew as...
Alpha King Pale Ale
12 oz bottle from Bloomington, IN by way of Penney - many thanks! Nice clarity in the dark orange body that has a good head initially and a decent head. However, the head fades quite quickly and leaves very little lace. OK, it's called Alpha King for a reason, and there is not much subtlety in the nose or the tastes in this beer. Because of the enormous hop presence, this beer does drink MUCH more like an IPA than a "Pale Ale". Outside of the hop presence there is very little else EXCEPT the...
Black Sun Stout
Thanks go out to Brian for sharing this at The Brick Store on a recent Friday afternoon. 22oz bomber. Several of us tried the contents with mixed reviews. Great looking pour which offered much temptation. Jet black body with a decent milk chocolate colored head. Looks good. Tastes are very typical for the style, and to be honest I thought it hit all the spots pretty well. The only problem we had was that this was a year old bottle. The effect of the aging seemed to see it taper-off quite badly...
Behemoth Blonde Barleywine
Behemoth Blonde – Thanks go out to nlmartin as part of my 2007 Secret Santa. 22oz bomber. Dark orange pour from the typically, colorful FFF artwork festooned and yellow-wax dipped bottle. Pretty cloudy with a viscous (as expected) body, with some bubbly head (after the aggressive pour), but (as expected) little or no lace. Sweet and malty alcoholic nose. Very sweet initial tastes accompanied by a syrupy mouthfeel. Alcohol is apparent upfront too. Then the finish cuts in with the typical...
Dark Lord Imperial Stout
Review #1000, December 24th 2006. 22 oz bomber, 2006 vintage, gold wax dipped neck. Poured into the Duvel Goblet. Thanks to Beerinator for the trade as part of Xtreme BIF 39. Pours jet black with a wonderful expresso like head that becomes a simple film fairly quickly. Milk chocolate color to the head and the spotty film. Perhaps the "blackest" beer I have encountered, but definitely not the most viscous. Nose is all sweet alcohol and the initial tastes match that aroma. Actually a lot more...
Dreadnaught IPA
Thanks to BigLove for the chance to try this as part of BCG BIF. Well, the problem here is that the reputation goes before it. Here's my take. Lovely deep orange color, small head and some lacing but not quite as good as I was expecting, nor as I had been led to believe. Aroma is very, very heavy on the floral hops - it's almost like a bathroom cleaner - it teeters on the edge of great and very "iffy". I didn't like it much. Taste is predominantly sweet. I was surprised because I was expecting...
Pride & Joy Mild Ale
I'm very, very confused. All my experience of drinking English Milds has revolved around beers that look like Porters - dark, smooth, fairly thin but malty. This beer looks and drinks like a cross between an APA and a IPA. It's OK, but I can't imagine why this is classified as an English mild, it doesn't match ANY of my expectations for the style at all. *(Subsequently changed in the BA database to an APA - I was RIGHT!) To summarize this beer, simply think of a weak IPA. Copper color, low...
Gumballhead
=== Updated Review 08/08 === 12 oz bottle thanks to Penney for bringing this back from Bloomington. As before the hop based IPA character comes through and no way in the world would I guess that this is a APWA. High head, golden body that looks like a macro lager or Pilsner. Aroma is a strong hop based one but the packaged is supported and held up wth the strong malts. Very nice beer, but a bit odd in terms of its styling. === Original Review 01/06 === 22 oz bomber. This was really, really...
Alpha Klaus Christmas (Xmas) Porter
Well, another beer where the reputation has gone before it on BA, and the actual experience is somewhat different. This is much more like a stout than a porter to me. It's thinner and less creamy than a porter should be in my book, and there is a distinct bitter finish that lets the beer down. Simple, dark brown/black pour with nothing else to report. Some head, but no lacing. The smell is low key, with very little clout and the tastes are mainly bitter with some hops. Very stout like, weak...