Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

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

Time to catch up before BCTC. Bottle at PilsnerPeter’s Spring Throwdown. Thank to everyone who brought great beer and ribs and pickles and everything! Medium dark orange. Ripe orange in wood box aroma. Toasty caramel biscuits with arangy hop bitter finish. Sticky.

Blue Wax bought at Ølbutikken. Clear orange look with a thick baige head. Lots of grape and pine in the aroma, which got me exited, since i usually dont like Barley wines withaout loads of hops. Along with the hops comes some sweet caramel/toffee notes, rye and nuts. First flavor impression was very complex yet very drinkable. Complex sweetness, good amount of hop bitterness and warming alchohol. Sticky palate. Awsome!

Bottle @ Ölbutikken. Amber color with a small white head. strong sweet hoppy aroma citrus grass pine. Taste is strong powerfull with a lot of hops citrus grapefruit earthly undertone some alcohol but very well balanced.

Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal chez Glouglouburp. Arôme: Odeur d’houblon et de caramel légèrement sucré avec une pointe de vanille. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée. Présence d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel fruité avec une pointe de pamplemousse et d’alcool. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût légèrement fruité. (Rating #2506)

Damn. Rating #667 for this beer. 666 would have been sweet. Caught 4 bottles of 07 @ $5 a pop. Had 08 on draft. Nothing in comparison. Bottle better, so rated. Deep hazy ruby amber. Thick, smooth, enduring tan head. Smell is just, wow! Overload of citrus, caramel and fruit in the nose. Taste is big. Sticky. Cherries, berries, citrus, pine, and caramel. Impressive hops year+ after bottling. Warming, but not apparently hot. Almost an oaky edge. 1299 would be reasonable. Just too pricy to indulge. Savor.

Pours dark amber with a small head. Heavy aroma of sweet hops. Tastes very much like Founder’s Devil Dancer. Great beer.

22oz blue wax 2009 bottle purchased at DLD ’09. Pours a clear, amber-orange body with a thin, white head that leaves a good amount of whispy lacing on the surface and the glass. A simple swirl arouses the head easily. Aroma is big on the floral hops with some resins and sweet pines. Lots of caramels and a soft molasses. Big citrus, mostly grapefruit and tangerines, as well as a hint of berry raisin. Extremely hoppy aroma. Flavor is no different. Starts with a soft caramel sweetness before the pines and florals grab the attention. The cool thing about this is that hops don’t attack the palate even though they are pretty intense, but rather walk proudly with their chests thrusting and their egos high. Some more sweet caramels as well as a mixture of fruit join the parade before some molasses, honey, and peppery spicing ends this one all the while being led by a high amount of pines. Finishes very dry and grassy with a slight cloy. Lots of grassy, syrupy bitterness in the aftertaste with a deeper caramel and light alcoholic warmth. Palate is medium bodied and slightly sticky with a touch of carbonation. Overall, this is an extremely hoppy barley wine. I’ve never had anything like it. Personally, I feel that the intense floral and pine flavors take away some of the stylistic qualities that I tend to like in a barley wine, but this is still damn good, especially the aroma. Props to FFF for balancing a "behemoth" like this.

Original review date 10/27/2008... Cloudy, caramel bourbon color. Dry ginger head shows for a few minutes and is off. Lacing is moderate with a few sediment lines. Wow - smells like hoppy French toast! Maple syrup, caramel, salt, vanilla - hops have some subdued citrus and maybe a little grass. Bitterness is profound even though traditional hop elements may be tempered. With warmth hop character becomes more lightly floral absent any perfume. This is a cinder block to the head. Creamy caramel - even a little buttery (diacetyl?) but not offensive. Boozy floral/grass hopy...all in abundance. Stewy and soup with even a little broccoli in there. Crazy. Tight mouth at first. With warmth of course this opens up nicely. Almost salty soup with stew over abundant malt. Boozy to an extent but oh so comfortably warming. Admittedly this is a sentimental favorite - this was the one that started it all - the first uber-hopped barleywine I ever came across, courtesy of the Floyd blokes at the 1999 GABF. Several years later it’s still boozy, heavy and hoppy as all hell...and it works! A great pleasure to savor and contemplate the rare times I get a chance to enjoy this one.