Three Floyds Arctic Panzer Wolf

Brewed By: Three Floyds Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana 
Purchased: 22oz bottle purchased at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013
Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 9.5%
Reported IBUs: 100

Three Floyds knows a thing or two about making an IPA, as evidenced by their fantastic Dreadnaught IPA. Tonight's beer is like the Dreadnaught, only with a little insanity thrown into the mix. About Three Floyds:

Oh, you. 

Today we go to Munster, Indiana, where Three Floyds has been brewing beer since 1996. The brewery was founded by brothers Nick and Simon, and their father Mike Floyd - hence, the name, Three Floyds. The first brewery was originally located in Hammond, Indiana. Eventually Three Floyds outgrew their original location, and moved to Munster, Indiana. After moving to Munster, and seeing an increased demand for their beer, Three Floyds began to bottle their beer. Since 2000, the brewery has continued to grow. And in 2005, the brewery opened its first brewpub. The brewery is probably most famous for their Dark Lord Stout. If you haven't heard of it, Google "Dark Lord Day." And then weep at the beer you probably will never be able to drink.

The Arctic Panzer Wolf is everything I want on a beer label. The bottle art strikes the perfect balance of serious and three wolf moon. And what a name. Forget the dull hop puns, this beer is here to howl at your moon, baby (speaking of: monster moons are epic; what a view). The Arctic Panzer is brewed with all sorts of unknown ingredients (presumably: malts, hops, and yeast), and punches in at 9.5% and 100 IBUs. That's a whole 1 IBU more potent than the Dreadnaught. That's the insanity, homie.

The beer pours a hazy orange color, with two fingers of thinly soapy, orange-tinted head. It's insanity. Insanity how orange this beer is. The beer looks like carbonated orange drank [sic] in bright light, with a finger of off-white/orange-

Three Floyds Arctic Panzer Wolf

tinted head hanging around, and streams of tiny-bubbled carbonation rising upwards with enthusiasm. If this beer was Zach Galifianakis offering you an unknown drink on the roof of the Caesar Palace, you would take off your pants and say yes.

I kind of wish I had a bottle of Dreadnaught right now to do a side-by-side, but maybe at another point in time. There's a lot of bright, sweet citrus on the nose: grapefruit and orange, namely, with hints of tropical fruits. There's also a bit of honey, and some nice bready caramel malt. There's some underlying resin, pine, and wood as well.

For all the malt in the aroma, this skews things in the direction of big hop kick, with hints of sweet biscuit/cracker/caramel, and a dash of honey in the background. There's big citrus, pineapple, and grapefruit up front, followed by bitter pine, grass, bitter greens, hints of onion, and woody resin. The back end revives a blast of refreshing strawberry/peach, and then finishes bitter and dry. The malts hit the back of your tongue, and provide a solid backbone to what is obviously supposed to be a display of hops.

Probably not an insane idea. Right?

The 9.5% is completely hidden, and this drinks like a refreshing medium-bodied beer with perfect carbonation, and a lovely dry finish. The 100 IBUs don't overwhelm the big hop flavors, and the malts provide a calculated balance on the back end. The palate depth is perfect, and this has complexity that just falls a bit short of some of the West Coast wonders. The front palate is bready/caramel malts, big sweet citrus, tropical fruits, and burgeoning resin; the mid palate transitions into some grass, greens, onion, resin; you get a kick of peach/strawberry, and then it's all woody, bitter, and dry. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

Yup, this is about on par with the Dreadnaught, so a Light Divine Brew it is. I've been having good luck with IPAs, and there are more coming down the pipeline, so here's to hoping for good drinking ahead. This is fantastically drinkable, with a great display of bright, bold hops. This would pair well with lighter Mexican food, lightly spiced wings, burgers, strong cheeses, pizza...your typical IPA pairings. At around 10 dollars a bomber, this beer is a steal and definitely one of the better Midwest Imperial IPAs.

Random Thought: Let me tell you something, when I'm president of the US of A, I'm going to implement a mandatory bar act that puts bars in hospitals, schools, etc. You will never suffer through a delivery or PTA meeting again.