Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

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

Poured into a snifter, appears a deep thick coppery color. Fine carbonation slowly fights through the thick body and forms a creamy head that dissipates more quickly than it forms, leaving wispy film and bubbles. Smells of rich deep malt, full of caramel and roastiness, topped by some hoppy brighter fruit scents. Overall characterized by the toasted bready, lightly sweetened malt. Hints of clover, honey, and alcohol. Taste brims with full on malt characteristics of caramel and roasted grains. Slight nutty and floral notes emerge and pause momentarily with a thin sugary stickiness, then dissolve into clearly defined hop character stacked with pine, resin, and crisp grapefruit, cresting with a pointed bitterness that rises from the tongue and floods the mouth. Final notes of resinous hops, juicy fruits, and yeasty toasted bread soften slowly into a slightly smoky grainy aftertaste. Palate is a struggle between the thick body and tight carbonation, yielding a full feel with flavors released slowly by the escaping bubbles. Smooth, sticky, and resinous are all excellent descriptors, with the feel progressing parallel to flavor with each sip. With a notable Three Floyds flavor profile, this full bodied barleywine is a journey of hop and malt flavors. Overall character is abstruse, with a great individuality of style offset by a heavy body and ever present 12.5%abv. I struggled with this review, finally deciding that this beer is simply a dichotomy of all that makes beer what it is. Tensions emerge between hop/malt, body/carbonation, and flavor/consumption. Try it. You may not love it, but you won’t be disappointed.

2007 Bottle:
Deep ruby tinted amber with a nice sized tan head that fades, but leaves a nice residue in the glass. Aroma of strong oak, vanilla, yeast, malt, toffee, raisins, cherries and even a tiny bit of chocolate...oh yeah, and tons of alcohol too! Full-bodied; Strong spicey pit fruits up front dance around the hops and malt, but leave plenty of sweetness behind. Aftertaste shows mainly of some piney hops along with the ever-present alcohol and a good dose of caster sugar on top of the other fruits. Overall, a very good and complex barleywine that develops well in the mouth, yet shows some subtle fruits near the end. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from West LakeView Liquors in Chicago, Illinois on 16-February-2008.

Yellow Wax Bottle from ebay, Sampled with Dennis Bell(My brew master) . Poured a hazy thick amber/orange color. Strong aroma of caramel, Dark fruits(possibly plum) amd citrus hops. Taste was a mirror image of the aroma. My toes tingled when I drank it. Dennis and I both said this was the best Barley wine we ever drank. RE RATE Sampled the Pink wax with Stegosaurus, I originally gave it a 5.0 but after having The Oak age Angel Share, I drop this down a little.

Courtesy of acknud. Bottle. Pours a cloudy, murky, syrupy caramel color. Very little head on this one. A thin white ring of lacing persists around the top of the beer. Aroma is fantastic. Candied caramel, raisins, soft nougat, milk chocolate, brown sugar. Flavor is just as action-packed, with caramel, sweet raisins, brown sugar, nougat, all overlain with a coating of floral hops. Creamy mouthfeel, soft bitter bite on the end. Very good barley wine.

Appears a cloudy reddish mahogany with creamy cream-colored head and fine bubbles that leave nice sticky lace. Smells sweet and malty, toffee with a quick sharp citrus hop impression, some subdued alcohol. Malty caramel sweetness dominating with an orangey citrus flavor playing its part. Almost completely dry finish. Very smooth and soft. Very drinkable barleywine, would’nt have guessed the alcohol content.

barleywines usually miss me, the permeating alcohol notes of beers like sierra’s bigfoot are just too much. tastes of honey, gardenias, and caramel malt. so well balanced its amazing. job well done knobbies! purchased at the keg, clarksville, indiana.

Bottle@Dr. Bills Poured brown/red with thin head. Citrus sweet aroma...but then you take a sip, and the hops sneak up on you.

2-3-08 bottle shared at tasting.
Ruby amber color with little head and lacing. Smell is decent - caramel sweetness and very little alcohol. Flavor is sweet and balanced but not very outspoken. Alcohol is very well hidden in smell and flavor. Overall, surprisingly drinkable and enjoyable and easy.