Three Floyds Gumballhead

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Wheat Ale
Munster, Indiana USA

Bottle @ Kookfest. Piney apricoty hops. Wheat apparent in the light body. Good hop finish. Tasty.

Bottled from the growler sent to slikwily. Pours a beautiful clear amber/orange with a thick diminishing white head. Nice floral aroma with grapefruit and a hint of pine. Medium palate. Amazing flavor of grapefruit, pine, malt and wheat, although the wheat is somewhat hidden. This is an interesting american wheat to say the least. Very tasty and very drinkable with a nice hop bite. Big thanks to slikwily (and bunkypop) for this one.

22 bomber. Slightly dark copper pour, clear with no sediment and a thin eggshell white head. Some bubblegum in the aroma (I got it right away), mingled with citrusy hops. Mildly efferescent mouthfeel. Very smooth and you can feel the wheat tingling with the hops in the middle. Honestly, not a lot of wheat in this one, but I can see why it’s rated so high. Has all the good easy drinking characteristics of a hefe, and has such a light and crisp hopping throughout that it almost hits upon APA territory. Better than Oberon. Not crazy good. Hell, this stuff is impressive.

Pours gold with a white soapy head. Hopped aroma with notes of leaves, pine, and lemony sweet candy. Softly bitter with loads of lemon drop candy. Wheat and grassy malts. Clean, soft, and mild. A bit of brewers caramel and yeast in the acidic finish.

This is a very light, clear, clean straw color with golden hues. The carbonation helps to maintain the head for some time. It has a great floral hop aroma similar to other FFF beers. There is a perfumy floral taste that pervails but doesn't dominate. Also some citrus hops are present and a bit of sweetness. This is a great tasting beer and tastes more like an IPA than a wheat, but I like it just the same.

(22 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with bkelley68, thanks Brian!) First off, an important point: I obtained this in a trade, and let it age for 13 months. Not only has this beer held up well, it’s absolutely delicious! A wheat beer, huh? Uhm, okay, whatever you crazy dudes at Three Floyds say. Technically, it may be a wheat beer, but it tastes much more like a lightly hoppy and very fruity American Pale Ale to me, with wheat being the underlying malt base. Very fruity (apricot and pear), sweet, lemony, mildly hoppy tasting, moderately bitter, did I say fruity yet? Wow, extremely fruity. It was probably hoppier when fresh, but frankly, I wouldn’t want this to be any hoppier, so I think aging has helped that aspect for me. Certain elements of this beer, mostly the fruits, are reminding me of a dessert wine (specifically, Raymond Eloquence), but obviously with considerably less sweetness and viscosity. The nose is also very fruity, again reminding me of a fine dessert wine. Body is medium, with a balanced and long-lasting palate. Very easy to drink, but don’t confuse that with being light on flavor. Very hazy, dark golden color, with a medium size white head that settles to a broken film. However, lacing is solid, with large patches of foam covering the glass. I’m no Three Floyds shill, but goddamn, this is really a delicious beer. But to call this an American Wheat is rather misleading. Or, I guess there’s a different perspective -- perhaps brewers of American Wheats should use this as their benchmark.

Sampled on tap at Brewtopia ’04. Golden color with very little head. Aroma of citrus and hops. Hops and lemon are the predominate flavors. Not like any wheat beer I’ve ever had. Extremely refreshing. I wish FFF were available on the East coast.

Bottle. Very hoppy nose. Lemonade like body with no head. Very hoppy, zesty, citrusy beer. Slightly acidic. Other flavors that come out are honey, candy, and bubblegum. I was very, very impressed by this beer. Thanks to Nuffield for sharing this one. Excellent, excellent beer!