Three Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Munster, Indiana USA

Bottle 22oz bomber - I had the 3 kids tonight and after running around from 4:00 to 8:00 taking them here and there I knew I needed a good brew to relax... This one did not disappoint me! Pours deep amber with a nice half inch fluffy offwhite head that laces very well. An absolutely beautiful pour. Aroma is big pine and citrus hops that I could sniff for hours. Flavor is a beautiful blend of caramel malts and mindblowingly bitter hops that blend together in perfect harmony. On the palate this is very smooth yet full bodied. It has a good dose of both malts and hops. It starts out with some sweet caramel malts that soon get blasted off of the tongue by a great grapefruit hop flavor. I really think that this was hoppier than Ruination, but it is so well backed up by the malts that by the end of the bottle you hardly remember them. The alcohol is covered very well and this is a fantastic brew. I really enjoyed this!

RateBeer Summer 2003: Huge grapefruit attack. Smells like raw hop juice. Clear orange color with a decent head. Very bitter from start to finish. Leaves a thick coating on the tongue. This beer will make the inside of your mouth sweat.

Sampled February 2004
Pours a hazy copper-orange color and is topped by a beige head that is middle of the road in thickness & creaminess. Gawd-damn, intense aromas of citrus fruit waft from my glass. Lychee, grapefruit, orange, tropical fruit, hop nectar, a sweetness all are here in the nose of this beer. The aroma is just amazing on this beer, I really don't think that the smell could get much better than this. This beer is quite sweet in taste. The lychee taste from the hops is quite intense & very impressive. If there was such thing as honey made from hop nectar this beer is what that would taste like. This beer does not seem nearly as bitter as the Alpha King from 3-Floyds, though this is probably because this beer has the body & malt backbone to back up the intense onslaught of fresh hop flavor & bitterness.

This beer is certainly a sipping beer, the combination of the hop intensity and the body/ mouth feel of this beer require quite contemplation of each sip. The fruitiness in this beer is what really sets it apart. It is so intensely fruity & tropical that it makes me wonder if the fruitiness is not from the hops alone, and is in fact part of the yeast character. In the end I think that 3-Floyds has just packed this puppy with fruity-citrusy hops until it is ready to burst. This is just confirmation that my first opinion of this beer was just.

Sampled August, 2003
Smells strongly fruity, comes at you with a right hook of lychee and grapefruit aromas. Nice amber gold color (with golden highlights). This beer is a very well balanced attack of American hops that hangs on a modest malt backbone. There is lots of hop flavor in this one, with lots of fruity hoppy notes. The taste is lightly sweet as well with a good amount of body to it. Overall this is a very well put together beer with a wonderful balance.

Bottle from a store in Crystal Lake, IL. I wonder what happened to the two teenagers having sex behind the counter... Pours a deep, mysterious and seductive amber. A slow forming head appears as the liquid enters the drinking receptacle. Aroma is a pine forest with an orange grove intertwined among the plants. Nice harmony of bitter and sour aromas. Flavor is a thick, sugary yet bitter pine with just enough grapefruit and orange to keep things flowing toward the sour side. There is a strawberry or two in here, maybe even a bit of peach. Palate is about as coating as it gets, and it leaves the flavors to stir on the taste buds. I’ve been wanting this one for awhile, and it certainly was worth the wait. Must... have... more!

Dark Yellow/Brown Tinted Coloring with Good Head. Big Hop Notes on the Nose, with a Harvest Wheat Aroma As Well. On the Tongue as Expected a Big Beer Hop HIt With Some Swirls of Citrus in the Background. Solidly Great IPA for a Heavy Hitter, but Nothing Uniquely Characteristic About it.

2005 Vintage. Tasted on 06.30.2007: Yellow hazy color. DOUBLE IPA!!! malt flavors. very hoppy aroma lots of fruit. sweet sweet malt. Heavy malt / citrus, bitterness. nice balance

Ah -nice treat pivo :-) Nice orange brown colored brew with a big rocky head, leaving small laces on the glass. Perfect hops and orange nose - sweet and pleasant. Soft carbonation. Hops and orange a go go but not pockering. Thick body. Intense grape taste which flirts in your mouth. Long lasting aftertaste. Must be unbevelieveable on tap!

Bottle courtesy of CaptainCougar. Thanks! Aged bottle... 01/05 handwritten on the bottle. Hazy orange-red pour with a small quickly disappearing head. Citrus and floral hop aroma with a big malt background. Big citrus hop taste w/ caramel, grain and grassy notes. 7/4/8/3/15

Fresh bottle courtesy Alraomon, Thanks! Clear apple juice color with a small head and decent lacing. Big citrus hop aroma with a sweet caramel malt background, Very sweet taste with a resiny background. Very nice. 8/4/8/5/16