Three Floyds De Muerte

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

I had this at FoBAB 2009 where it was listed as Conquistador de Muerte, which makes more sense as a name when you think about it. It poured nearly black into the glass, quite opaque, with a light tan head. The aroma had dark milk chocolate, roasty malts, a touch of roasted peppers, and just a mild hint of Bourbon. The flavor had a tasty balance between the roasty, chocolatey malt sweetness and the peppers, smoothly done with becoming (Surprize!) too extreme. A very nice brew.

FoBAB. Pours black. Aroma is slight bourbon, noticeable chile, and then the usually chocolate, etc of the Moloko. The bourbon didn’t really come through in this beer, which was actually just find for me. You could taste the chiles, which left a little bit of spice. It was very interesting and very good. One of my favorites of the day. Glad I was able to have it there, but I couldn’t imagine taking down a bomber of this beer.

FoBAB. Pour is black with thin tan head. Aroma is mostly Moloko and bourbon; I did not really smell any peppers in there. maybe a subtle fruitiness. Flavor is sweet malt with a nice toasted malt background up front. The interesting part of this beer is the finish. That’s when the chili kicks in. Its subtle at first, but the burn builds in the back of your throat. It’s a pleasant burn, not over powering or harsh, but certainly noticeable. That being said, this beer was not all I had hoped. The mouth was very thin and everything but the chili part was unimpressive. I thought it was pretty one-dimensional. If they could do the same with Dark Lord, I bet it would be ridiculous.

Sampled at FoBAB 2009, this was really good and the best chile infused beer i’ve had. Aroma is sweet dark chocolate with a hint of coffee and the noticeable toasted chile aroma. Barrel flavor is not dominant giving way to coffee and dark chocolate body that leads nicely in to a roast/smoked chile finish that really melds well with the general earthy toasty characgter of this beer. Quite good. Spice typically turns me off to a beer but this one is mild enough and so well married to the character of the beer it propels it to another level.

FoBAB tasting. PEPPERS!!! ohh man this was a kick in the mouth. Poured as usual. Aroma of spices and malts. Tasting is smokey, chocolatey, earthy, spicy, and bourbony. Its an interesting beer that leave a lingering spice to it.

FoBAB 09. First of all, I really respect a good spice beer, b/c most are terrible. This one pours a thick dark brown black with a tan head. Dark fruits, roasted dark peppers burnt roast, and some chocolate to smooth it over. Spice on the tongue, definitely the ancho comes through with the thick chocolate and roasted malts. The spice isn’t over done but roasted and well rounded. The spice and sweet chocolate blend well. Long spicy finish with some of the sweet chocolate lingering on. Really tasty brew, bottle this sucker!

Tap at 3F pub: Deep, deep, brown pour, impenetrable even in direct sunlight. Moderate tan head...releasing a very intense bourbon nasal slap. Chocolate, nuts, dark fruits, prunes, plums, etc. abound in the flavor...almost, but not quite keeping up with the barrel notes. Very mild pepper heat in the finish...so much so, that if I hadn’t been told they were there...might damn well have missed them altogether. And that is partially attributable to the reserve they used in the pepper flavoring, but more so to just how played out my senses have become in my dotage!

Tap: Oily jet black with a fine tan head and okay lace. The aroma has initial hit of banana pepper and clove, some anise and tobacco, milk lacto twang and pineapple, burnt and chocolate malts, and a overall earthy vanilla bourbon vapour. The taste is indeed spicy at first but the base beer does it’s best to smooth out any heat with vanilla, chocolate and smoky malts. What I do not detect is the classic FFF hop character but then there is a coffee and rye snap which makes up for it. The body is far less crude oil than Dark Lord making this much more drinkable. Interesting and something I would love to try outta a bottle at a more casual setting.