Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA

Bottle: A highly anticipated beer, which I finally have, and it doesn’t live up to the hype. (Though I’ve heard you must have it extremely fresh, and this bottle wasn’t) Deep orange/cooper pour with a strong off white film. Lots of sweet/sticky resinous hop leaf in the aroma with light catty suggestions, honey, light mango and a touch of vegetal. Slick warming body. Big bodied, with a lot of honey and crystal malt sweetness. Underneath is some vegetal and resiny hops with a touch of lychee. I expected more, as it’s just very sweet with no subtlety. Still a decent IIPA. Now I need a fresh one, perhaps it will live up to the hype.

All hail the Dreadnaught!!! This is like a hop exlosion on your tongue...and I like it!!! Pours a golden orange with a light head with decent lacing. Head didnt last too long. The aroma is hops...pine, sweet peaches and maybe a little tropical fruit. The flavor is a hop bomb...orange, peach and caramel malts to balance this one. Every sip unleashes more and more hops across your tongue. It really gets better and better. Long finish...spicy and bitter will stay with you for awhile. This is one awesome DIPA.This is for the hop-heads

rating #100! *updated with a fresh bomber from DLD ’09* bomber from Archer liquors. pours a perfectly clean copper/orange with a very thin, bubbly white head that clings to the glass around the edges. aroma jumps out of the bottle with huge fruit forward, floral, and spicy hops. scents of grapefruit and apricot come across first with tropical notes of mango and pineapple adding sweetness to the nose. as it warmed i picked up some very clean piney and grassy notes with a touch of alcohol and toasty malt. the flavor of this brew is what sets if apart from other DIPAs. simply a magnificent balance of huge, citrusy and spicy hops up front countered by sweet malt on the back end. i picked up flavors of white grapefruit, pear, orange peel, and fresh pine. as the beer warmed, the hop bite was calmed by the sweet malts that were almost ginger snap in flavor. finish was initially spicy, citrus hops that left a huge, lingering bitterness. mouthfeel is juicy, medium bodied and oily on the tongue with perfect carbonation and just a touch of booze. truly the epitome of a big, perfectly balanced DIPA and truly perfect when fresh.

Bottle: Light orange pour with a white frothy head. Sweet grapefruit and citrus rind in the aroma, a hint of booziness, and yet really smooth for an IPA. The spicy bitterness of the finish stays with you for an impressive length of time. Yum.

Bottle..A nice amber haze when poured with little to no head and no lacing...a sweet grapefruit in aroma. though as it warms a definate alcohol notes do appear.. I was surprised in the smoothness in this beer..it had a nice crisp finish..enjoy

Bottle via trade. Not sure what a Dreadnaught is but man do I like it. Pours a golden brown colour with a small white head. Aroma is mostly pink grapefruit hops with a little candy sugar. Honestly could not believe this rang in at 100 IBU. Super smooth for something that bitter. A great easy drinking IIPA that does not overpower you. Pretty simple to drink the entire bomber without much notice.

Color was a nice cloudy orange, aroma was hoppy citrusy, and slightly sweet. Unfortunately I tried this beer a little too cold, and at first it didn’t seem much like a double ipa to me. When, cold, the hops dominate, with citrus up front, subsiding to a piney dry aftertaste. Still, it is remarkably well balanced, and smooth. Again, it did not seem much like a double ipa, because it was lacking a strong malt sweetness to it. Then I let it warm up. This beer probably had the biggest change of any I’ve had when it came to temperature. After it had warmed, the hops seemed to intermingle with a nice warm sweetness from the malts. It became more balanced. The flavor became much sweeter and a mango-hop flavor appeared. Overall: a nicely balanced iipa, with wonderfull complexity that appears as it warms.

Aroma: Clean, balanced hop aroma with some alcoholic aroma. The aroma was strong full when I initially open poured my beer, but it quickly dissipated. Appearance: Golden amber with orange glow. Nice off white head with some lacing on the glass Flavor: Pleasant hop bitterness with mild maltiness. The maltiness was there, but it did not offset or balance the hoppyness. Mouth feel: Medium-light body, mild carbonations Overall Impression: I would like to have a more balanced approach with malt flavor, have the alcohol aroma decreased and a stronger hop present in the aroma. As I approach the end on the bomber it becomes more drinkable. I would not want to drink more than one bomber in sitting.