Three Floyds Admiral Lord Nelson

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Premium Bitter/ESB
Munster, Indiana USA

Tap at Spuyten Duyvil. Deep amber with a thick off-white head that lasts and lasts. Great fresh tangerine citrus notes right away but there is also a lovely earthy, crackery UK-type maltiness in back. Bread crust and light caramel. While the hops are the first thing that you notice with this beer, the attention to the malts really sell it. There is lots of hop aroma and flavour, but the bitterness is quite restrained. Soft caramel integrates nicely with the sweet malts. Earthy hop finish in spite of all of the citrus up front. One of the first US-style bitters I’ve had that really lives up the character of the style.

It has a copper/amber body with a bubbly white head. Nice malt aroma with a floral/herbal hopping. A bit thin, but had decent enough malty flavors with a suggestion of fruit. What I liked was the hops (Hops? From 3F?) that grew in the flavor and left a refreshingly bitter finish. Decent enough.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve of the Living Ales III, Goose Island - Wrigleyville, Chicago, IL, 3/3/2007.<font size=-1>

Tap at brewery: Rich coppery hue with golden highlight, small lasting head and okay lace. The aroma has notes of pale and biscuity malt, floral grassy and slightly piney hops, light citric notes, and an earthy quality to the nose. The taste starts mildly malty before a rush of hop bitterness comes forth. Sort of a hybrid with equal part classic hop and an Americanized piney overtone. Even a bit nutty at some point. Finished with some metallic notes and mostly dry on the aftertaste. An easy drinker but larger than a normal session brew. Not your standard ESB, more akin to an APA, tasty never the less.

On tap at 3F. Poured a clear, deeper amber with 1" of creamy off-white head.. sticky lacing followed it down. The aroma found soft caramel with heavy floral hoppage.. some pineapple too.. sweet and alluring. Flavor was of a hella-hopped bitter... soft caramel, toffee, and light fruity sweetness (peach, pineapple, and mango) base with a juicy bitterness surrounding... lingering floral and fruity bitterness at the finish. Medium-bodied.. smooth, sweeter base was well-balanced with all the bitterness around it. Good stuff!

Draught. At the brewpub. Dropped in on my way to Chicago. Poured hazy amber with a decent head. Aroma is a little up-front hoppy for an ESB, but green and nicely pungent - a little sweet, nicely herbal - had fresh euro pils character. Nice malt/light funk fresh hop flavour, nice, reminds me a lot of their "mild" ale - very drinkable. Average body, good carbonation, lightly bitter - very good!

Chicago trip. Saturday 15:45. On tap at the brewery. Ordered because I like the style. 3/4" head in a pint glass. Very dark amber/light copper. Hop nose with backing caramel. Grapefruit hops and toffee flavours. Hoppy but not a Fullers ESB. Hops push back the malts.

On tap at the brewpub. Slightly hazy copper body with a large creamy off-white head. Strong sweet citrus hops aroma with a tea-like maltiness in the background. Sweet citrus and grassy hops flavor with some light caramel. Very easy to drink.

on tap at the brewery. pours coppery with off white head. nose is hoppy with biscuit. flavor is wonderfully well balanced with hops and malt, biscuit. extremely sessionable. body is thin to medium. i could drink this all day.