Three Floyds Alpha Naught (2004)

Formerly brewed at Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Munster, Indiana USA

FOBAB 2004: (It was spelled Alphanaut in the program.) Tasted much like the great Dreadnaught, but the oak aging seemed to blunt the bitterness, but not the flavor, of the hops somewhat. Plenty of piney hopping, a bit of grapefruit and a small reminder that there’s some malt in there. This drank real smoothly... so I sampled it a couple of times.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago, IL 11/06/2004<font size=-1>

This one looks like a brown ale and a strong ale had a ticked off love child. Typical appealing Floyds aroma and a thin to no head. About 200 IBUs I hear and it does seem like it. Hard bite that is enjoyable for hops lovers. Strong alcohol taste as well. Great if you like the strong stuff.

Festival tap: Holy cow, the roof of my mouth has been torn off! 180IBU??? What the hell is Glacier hops??? Rough going in, rough going down. Some amazingly strong hops here, but somehow some caramelly malt flavors are trying to get through. Very Piney and woody, sappy.

Barrel Aged Festival 04 at Goose Island: Dreadnaught aged in oak barrels. The wood cask mellowed out the ol’ bitter ’Naught, but did not tame it. I loved this stuff and hope to run into it at this years fest.

2004 GTM. Wonderful flavor. Handheld voice recorder issues preventing a more thorough analysis. Definite will seek out to try again.

Hazy bright red with a thin white ring of bubbles. Piney, lightly sweet citrus, warm alcohol, light oak, a little bit of sweet caramel and a hint of vanilla. The body is pretty full with a nice mouthfeel. The flavor continues to show the strength of the insane hop character. Initially, things are pretty mellow on the hop front, allowing the sweet caramel and light grainy malt equal opportunity to play along. Bits of smooth, mellow wood also contribute at this point. Eventually, as one might expect from these hop-happy brewers, the emmensity of the hops take over. The finish is long, piney and very, very bitter. The alcohol contributes a warmth to let one know of its presence. While probably not my favorite Floyds offering, it was damn tasty either way. Well done.

Growler from brewery (~1 month old): taupe, cake-like head that grows violently and has super retention…bronzed redwood, slightly cloudy. Caramelized hop cone aroma with some sweet strawberry flesh and green bitterness…strong hop flavour with only subtle hints of the large amount of alcohol. Surprisingly drinkable, almost dangerous. Very piney and sugary…bitter vanilla-oak finish, very solid.

FOBAB 2004: Spicey nose. Some vegetable flavors as well. Mostly dominated by the ever present hops. Slight alcohol burn at the end. Really sticks to the palate. Crazy hop flavors. What you’d expect from FFF.