Three Floyds Bourbon Behemoth

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

Aroma full of bourbon- had it at the fobab 06. looked like a beaut, liqour golden. Flavor was really swell too, even though I kinda missed that hop explosion I associate with fresh behemoth. A little hot, but the combo of a great barley wine with some of that bourbon realy makes for a nice match.

On tap at 3F’s the day before DLD. An almost black pour with no head or lace. An aroma of bourbon flavored raisins with a light hint of abv. A flavor large in fruit and a hint of choclate a little sour fruit flavor as well. The BA comes through more in the flavor than the nose. As it warmed the abv really comes through. Excellent mouthfeel and carbonation. A full flavor and palate make this beer complete. A damn fine offering.

June 3, 2007 DLD 2007 rating: Wow. Amazing. A dark amber with almost no head. The aroma is dominated by skunky hops and bourbon. This is a good beer. The bourbon tries to dominate, but the original flavors of the behemoth are there paired alongside vanilla and oak. The hops are still present, but more subdued due to aging. Not extremely complex, but well crafted and well layered.

Date: 4/28/2007
Event: DarkLord Day 2007
Location: Three Floyds Brewing Co. Parking Lot
Serving: Draught sample shared by NachlamSie and tronraner. Thanks guys!

Tasting Notes
Aroma: Lots of bourbon and a healthy amount of sweet caramel malt underneath and some citrus hoppiness peaking around the edges (but it’s mostly sweet bourbon).
Appearance: Dark amber with a small ivory head.
Flavor: Lots of deep malt and citrus hops. Quite intense with a subtle complexity as well. Lots of flavors can be found throughout: orange, pine, and lemon hops; caramel, brown sugar, and toasted malts; some vanilla and even a bit of trailing char/smoky quality... The alcohol content is definitely noticeable, but it isn’t offensive or astringent. It tastes more like a well-blended bourbon and beer composition rather than being a harsh alcoholic flavor.
Palate: Nearly full and somewhat sticky. Quite nice and works well for this beer.
Overall: Another unbelievable Three Floyds brew! Unfortunately, like the Barrel-Aged Dark Lord, this one is only available at the brewpub, but the line to get it isn’t quite as long!

So yeah, this is bourbony. Aroma was filled with it, some brown sugar or molasses in the nose as well. The flavour is again bourbony. Almost overpowering but the other flavour do make an appearance. Still some hops in there but not much, lots of body on this one and it’s sticky as all hell. Super sweet with some roast notes in there.

On tap at 3 Floyd’s - Pours dark reddish-brown with no head. The oak is readily apparent in the bourbon infused nose with some sweet malt and hops in the background. The flavor has lots of bourbon, ample hops, roast malt, oak, and a little dark fruit. Full bodied and intense, it still goes down pretty smoothly, especially for 12.5% abv. This is a very enjoyable barley wine, but I think it could be even better if the bourbon wasn’t quite so overwhelming.

On tap at the brewpub the night before Dark Lord. Upon entering FFF for the first time ever, I was pleased to learn that this was on tap. I enjoyed this alongside of a very nice pizza that some of the C-bus crew shared. Heaven... The aroma was mostly bourbon, but had definite amounts of brown sugar and roasted malt. The body was as deep brown as brown can be with some red highlights when held to light. Very little head. Full and clean palate-- I was suprised that this wasn’t more "syrupy". Lots of bourbon, brown sugar, and malt in the flavor--lots of depth and character.Most impressive was the fact that it wasn’t nearly as hot as expected. This is much more tame that regular behemoth. Very nicely done.

Draught split with Tronraner during my Dark Lord excursion. Pours a dark cola brown/red and is only slightly heady. I know that 3F is famous for their use of intense hops, but this is still hoppier than I was expecting given the fact that it’s a barley wine and it is also barrel aged. It is a bright aroma indeed, but not intense and with a tasteful level of vanilla. Full pineapple and pine tickle my olfactory sense with hints of lemon, caramel. Yes, the oak presence is delicate. Palate is thick with a cornucopia of caramel, lemon, green tea, pine. This is one of the most tastefully subtle uses of barrel aging, maybe the original beer being so intense helped that fact. I was a huge fan of this one, moreso than anyone else around me that was drinking it, but it’s a fantastic brew IMHO.