Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Munster, Indiana USA

22oz bottle, 2008 purple wax, amber-orangeish color, with a fluffy beige head, leaving laces, sweet toasty, fruity, floral hop nose of candied peaches, apricots, orange peels and marmalade, with a liquorish brandyish, Grand marnier note, with some coniferous, resinous, piney accents in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate, with a sweet toasted, caramelized malt, flowery hop fruity character, of candied peaches, apricots, orange peel, with a juicy hopped leafy, grassy, coniferous, minty accent, within a warmth liquorish Grand Marnier mouthfeel, leading towards a fruity, candied peachy, marmalade, minty, hop leafy dry bitterness finish.

2008 Bomber, purple wax. Pours a slightly hazy amber with red hues. Nice off white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of pine, citrus, resin, and some decent malt. Flavor is much the same, with a little sweet malt up front. Palate is perfectly smooth and hides the ABV very well. I can’t say that this is the type of BW that I have had often, a lot more hoppy than I am used too.

22oz bomber, purple wax, courtesy of SixPackSunday poured into a tulip. Pours a dark, slightly hazy reddish amber with a small cream-colored head that dissipated pretty quickly and left pretty good lacing. Aroma has some pretty sizable hops up front with some grapefruit and grassy hops. Plenty of caramel malts and toffee and dark fruits. The hops are a little more toned down in the taste and the sweet dark fruits and caramel malts dominate a little more. It’s really sweet throughout with some brown sugar as well. The mouthfeel is medium to full-bodied and sticky sweet with some a little soft carbonation. This is a fairly sweet barleywine with a fading hop profile that balances things our very well. For the ABV, it’s a crazy drinkable beer. Very tasty.

22 oz bottle with yellow wax (2007). Poured a small white head, that dissipated quickly. Pretty nice lacing. Smells of caramel, vanilla, with some hops and malt mixed in. Tastes of caramel and vanilla quite strongly, and maybe a little citrus. Goes down with some hop bite at the end, but quite full-bodied, and the taste stays throughout. Overall quite good though.

66 cl. bottle. [Trade with hopscotch and the Florida Crew, thanks buddy] Small fizzy off-white head that mostly diminished. Spare display of lacework. Dark amber color. Aroma was very smooth yet extremely complex with notes of rye bread, grapefruit, nuts, mild pine like, caramel, fruit. Over the palate came oak, citrus, fruit, brad and caramel. Full bodied with a soft carbonation and mild dry alcoholic texture. Heavy sweet flavor with good counter bitterness. Lingering grape and heavy bread like finish. One more please!

With the upcoming release of the 2009 Behemoth, I felt it would be nice to retaste the 2008. It has evolved beautifully. While some of the over-the-top hoppiness upon release has dropped out. The hop/malt balance is extraordinary.

2008. Pours mahogany. Some nice floral aroma with peach and cherry, some pine hoppiness, bread, caramel, and roasted malts. Slight alcohol aroma present. Lots of caramel flavor with intense citrus hops, slight earthiness, and some fruitiness. Extremely smooth, and the palate is far less sticky than I expected. Nice.

Huge body on this one. I knew I would like it the minute I poured it. 2007 bottled sample from the brewery. Can’t wait to get another bottle