Three Floyds Black Sun Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Dry Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Rerate22oz bottle, though I can’t remember if this is my Dec. ’05 or ’07 bottle that I picked up at the brewery. Cracking the bottle I still get a lot of piney hops, so let’s go with the ’07. Black with just a smidge of ruby on the edges and a small tan head. Aroma of piney hops, roasted malts, a hint of ash, anise, and light toffee. Flavor is piney and roasty up front with moderate piney sweetness and caramel sweetness (the hops and malts meld thatwell). Roasty ashy bitter finish. Carbonation is almost nil, though the body is still smooth. I could drink quite a bit of this stuff, though it’s too damn expensive--my problem with most 3F brews--though this isn’t strong enough to warrant the high price tag like their other brews. Old rating follows.22oz. bomber, no date. Pours a dark brown with a mod-sized tan head. Aroma of 3F’s hops, consisting of pine and grapefruit and grass--not that that’s a bad thing. Can also pick up some coffee and bitter chocolate. Seems to be almost too hoppy for a stout--not true to style, but still good. The hops pretty take over the whole taste until the finish, which is dry, as expected. Pretty good, reminds me of Alpha Klaus, though not as in-your-face. 8-4-8-3-13--3.6

Not my style of stout. Hops out of balance, body is thin. Flavor is dry and roasted -just not round or lively. Adding some caramel woud really help here.

Bomber bottle, enjoyed on <font color=green>St. Pat’s Day.</font> Ah, Floyds’ usual big grassy fresh hops smell is the first thing I get when I pop ’er open. Deep black body in my shaker glass, with a half inch of brown foam the dwindles to a ring of lace. Now there’s a roasty coffee aroma, with a bit of cocoa. Taste is very stoutish: dry, and roasty-astringent. Goes a little overboard for me, without a balancing smoothneess. Very nice, but $8 a bottle? I’m not sure.

Ok, so can 3F make a beer that isn’t loaded with beautiful citrusy hops? I mean come on, this stout pours deep brown with a mocha head and screams stout from the get go. I give the glass a slight swirl and the hops just punch you in the nose. Orange, grapefuit, mango are combined with lesser notes of grass and lemon. The strong hop presence actually makes that nice malt profile hard to notice in the aroma. The hops continue in the body, almost acting out of balance with the nice, roasty profile. More citrus, more perfume and more floral notes cover the nice mocha body. Maybe some time would help mellow this, but as is it seems out of whack for me. Of course, I love 3F hops, so I can’t rate this too low. Give me Alpha Klaus everyday and thrice on Sunday over this.

Bottle shared with tupalev, jerc, blankboy & HogTownHarry - courtesy of HogTownHarry. Deep brown colour with a quick tan head. Aroma - holy crap, those are some HUGE hops off the top, didn’t expect that! Good notes of roast and coffee lurking behind. The body is thinner than I expected, a bit disappointing, but the flavour makes up for it - a great combination of coffee, hops, roast malt and smoke. Mmmmm.

Light beige head covers the very deep brown colored body. Strong malt-strangling hops come across very piney, green, foresty and playing around the chocolate powdered malts. Hop focused Three Floyds without the greatness of Alpha Klaus, but packing as much dry-hopping as legitimacy allows in a really drinkable, low-gravity stout. Miraculously avoids astringency. Supporting malt is supple, not really flavour contributing at all besides the roastiness, but at least keeping things in order and perspective. Obviously not designed for me, but doing what Three Floyds are renowned for and as clean as it gets. Do you like American hops or not?

Any first impressions?
-A faint ring haloes the opaque blackness.
-Intricate roastiness and silky vanilla zigzag around the portentous citrusy hoppiness.
-Multifarious citrusy hops blend admirably with the chocolatey sweetness and roasty firmness.
-A luscious mouthfeel for the style remains drinkable while exposing its malty wealth.

What if you dig deeper?
-Finishes with a calculated dose of malt roastiness and hop bitterness.
-The dark chocolate continues into the finish to make sure you’re not taken advantage of.
-Very intense, but somehow near equilibrium in that intensity; there is enough malt to back up all the hops.
-Stunningly cohesive and very flavorful, while never going overboard. Another 3Floyd’s success in my book.

Bottle; no date.

Thanks to JPDIPSO for trading. Pitch black. Modest, creamy, khaki carbonation. Smells like poison. Burnt licorice and grapefruit, roasty malt, and a touch of smoke. Flavors are big, resinous, citrus hops up front followed by bittersweet chocolate and licorice and burnt malt. Everything crams together for one hell of an aftertaste. Medium body, just to the smoother side of balanced. Oily afterpalate. One of the hoppiest dark brews I’ve had, well done.