Brewed By: Three Floyds Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana
Purchased: 22oz bottle (650ml - ORANGE WAX) purchased at Evolution Wine and Spirits in Chicago, IL; 2013
Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: 80
I can't escape Barlyewines, even though they are far from being my favorite or even preferred style of beer. Tonight's beer is considered by many to be one of the absolute best American Barleywines, but we can only hope. About Three Floyds:
Purchased: 22oz bottle (650ml - ORANGE WAX) purchased at Evolution Wine and Spirits in Chicago, IL; 2013
Style/ABV: American Barleywine, 10.5%
Reported IBUs: 80
I can't escape Barlyewines, even though they are far from being my favorite or even preferred style of beer. Tonight's beer is considered by many to be one of the absolute best American Barleywines, but we can only hope. About Three Floyds:
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 Behemoth is a beast. The bottle states: "A huge, sweet Barley Wine with complex caramel malt notes, balanced by generous hopping and a high alcohol content. This fruity and malty beer is best enjoyed while keeping warm in the brutal winter months. 10.5% ABV." This beer is a January release, Winter seasonal.
I did strip the wax off this, because it is easier to open. And Three Floyds should get credit for their quality wax jobs. They always get nice coverage on their bottles, so you can peel the wax off with ease. Or relative ease....
The beer pours into a murky, swampy, nondescript raisin/amber/swamp body, and kicks up two to three fingers of lightly tan head. As the head falls off, you are left with splotchy lacing and some glossy residuals. In bright light, the beer takes on a classic reddish-orange color, and you can see some streams of carbonation between the hazy body. There's some yeast suspended in the mix, and this beer is both unfiltered and conditioned.
I'm jumping on this beer at a weird time...but what else is new with me and Barleywines. This beer is in transition between new and old, but right now I'm getting a lot of pine on the nose. I'm getting pleasant/mild pine, pine sap, light maple syrup and raisin/brown sugar, and lots of earthy hop notes. I'm getting iced tea, tea, and wet leaves. After nearly a year, there is still quite a bit of resinous hop punch on the aroma, with resinous tea and hints of earthy citrus. I have no idea how this will taste.
The taste actually follows through with the aroma pretty much to a tee...you get big, caramel/brown sugar-driven hops up front, and the hops are JUICY and DENSE. The hops feature notes of pine, pine sap, maple, maple syrup, big iced tea, wet leaves...there's some resinous hop punch in the middle, with some resinous pine, lemon, citrus, and more iced tea and wet leaves...there's also some nice booze in the mix, with some warming, and hints of brown sugar and raisins.
What makes this beer special is that at 10.5% ABV, this beer is never cloying or overly sweet. The hop punch is juicy and pleasantly resinous, and the malts are big and complex but restrained at the same time. For a Barleywine this is on the lighter side of things, but the beer is still full-bodied with sticky sweetness. It does drink well, especially for the ABV, and piney/resinous hops and good carbonation help move things along. Palate depth is good and so is complexity. I'm...impressed to say the least. Up front is malt-driven pine and iced tea hops; that rolls into resinous pine, iced tea, some brown sugar and more sugars; the back end is lingering hops, booze, raisins, brown sugar, malts, and some sticky dryness. I don't even anything near 80 IBUs in this.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)
I suppose this is a Light Divine Brew, based on drinkability alone. So often Barleywines are cloyingly sweet, but this beer manage to pack a lot of flavor and alcohol into a nice, drinkable package. This is a hop-forward Barleywine, at least at the moment, but there are some underlying complex sugars and malts that will probably continue to improve with age. I'm about to pair this beer with a Monte Cristo type sandwich, but you could also pair this with a dry dessert cake, or a burger, or anything that works well with strong hops. Personally, I'd let this warm up and just sip on it.
Random Thought: I hate you, GRE. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
I did strip the wax off this, because it is easier to open. And Three Floyds should get credit for their quality wax jobs. They always get nice coverage on their bottles, so you can peel the wax off with ease. Or relative ease....
 |
| Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine |
The beer pours into a murky, swampy, nondescript raisin/amber/swamp body, and kicks up two to three fingers of lightly tan head. As the head falls off, you are left with splotchy lacing and some glossy residuals. In bright light, the beer takes on a classic reddish-orange color, and you can see some streams of carbonation between the hazy body. There's some yeast suspended in the mix, and this beer is both unfiltered and conditioned.
I'm jumping on this beer at a weird time...but what else is new with me and Barleywines. This beer is in transition between new and old, but right now I'm getting a lot of pine on the nose. I'm getting pleasant/mild pine, pine sap, light maple syrup and raisin/brown sugar, and lots of earthy hop notes. I'm getting iced tea, tea, and wet leaves. After nearly a year, there is still quite a bit of resinous hop punch on the aroma, with resinous tea and hints of earthy citrus. I have no idea how this will taste.
The taste actually follows through with the aroma pretty much to a tee...you get big, caramel/brown sugar-driven hops up front, and the hops are JUICY and DENSE. The hops feature notes of pine, pine sap, maple, maple syrup, big iced tea, wet leaves...there's some resinous hop punch in the middle, with some resinous pine, lemon, citrus, and more iced tea and wet leaves...there's also some nice booze in the mix, with some warming, and hints of brown sugar and raisins.
What makes this beer special is that at 10.5% ABV, this beer is never cloying or overly sweet. The hop punch is juicy and pleasantly resinous, and the malts are big and complex but restrained at the same time. For a Barleywine this is on the lighter side of things, but the beer is still full-bodied with sticky sweetness. It does drink well, especially for the ABV, and piney/resinous hops and good carbonation help move things along. Palate depth is good and so is complexity. I'm...impressed to say the least. Up front is malt-driven pine and iced tea hops; that rolls into resinous pine, iced tea, some brown sugar and more sugars; the back end is lingering hops, booze, raisins, brown sugar, malts, and some sticky dryness. I don't even anything near 80 IBUs in this.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)
I suppose this is a Light Divine Brew, based on drinkability alone. So often Barleywines are cloyingly sweet, but this beer manage to pack a lot of flavor and alcohol into a nice, drinkable package. This is a hop-forward Barleywine, at least at the moment, but there are some underlying complex sugars and malts that will probably continue to improve with age. I'm about to pair this beer with a Monte Cristo type sandwich, but you could also pair this with a dry dessert cake, or a burger, or anything that works well with strong hops. Personally, I'd let this warm up and just sip on it.
Random Thought: I hate you, GRE. Seriously, go fuck yourself.
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