Three Floyds Red Tendon Baltic Porter

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Baltic Porter
Munster, Indiana USA

On tap (nitro): Pours a deep brown hue with ruby highlights topped by an initial creamy tan head which faded and only had okay lace. The nose is quite intense for a nitro pour with heavy vapors of plum, prune, fig, walnut, anise, sassafras, non-aromatic pipe tobacco, light chocolate and coffees, and very earthy yeast esters. The flavor profile is equally intense with a twangy rich fruit character and liquorice before developing a nice burnt and bittersweet chocolate note. Quite rustic yeast notes also grabs for some attention before a quick subdued dash of resin hops and acidic bite at the finish, quite yummy indeed! The mouth feel is heavy but not sticky nor syrupy, smooth and comforting. Unless most of FFF offerings, this is not a hopped up version of the stout and porter styles for one I am thankful, very traditional. This really needs to be bottled!

Nitro-tap at the brewpub. Aroma: Sweet roasted malt with notes of coffe and chocolate. Light molasses. Dark fruits come out as it warms, mostly raisins and currants. Appearance: Dark black with a creamy white head. Nice lacing. Flavor: Rich and sweet roasted malt, coffee and cocoa, gingerbread, grape jelly, and light smoke. Hops are really kept in check for a 3F brew, but a little pine is detected before the finish. Palate: Full bodied, smooth and velvety. Moderate carbonation. Overall: Really good beer. Wish I could have sat there all day and drank it.

On nitro at brewpub - classic nitro pour with a tight, sparkling head above a clear, ruby/black body. Medium bodied with well defined notes of cookie, molasses, caramel and nuts. Lightly hopped (appropriate) with a soft carbonation and slick mouthfeel. Deeper notes of raisin, plums, dates, wet wood and smoke emerge as it warms. A really nice example of the style - why not bottle this guys??

On nitro at 3F brewpub. This is one interesting Baltic Porter. It displays all the characteristics of a classic baltic porter — the roasted malts, espresso, milk chocolate, caramel, sweet malts. Yet, it was in the way all these aromas and flavors presented themselves that made this such an enjoyable beer — like biting into a beer bar with a caramel, fruit center (hint of sweet plum) surrounded by roasted malts, bitter mocha and milk chocolate. The pour was an inviting black with a fading tan head. A medium body with a somewhat watery texture does not diminish this well-crafted porter. Comfortable, dry and slightly bitter finish. Excellent.

Pouts dark with ruby rim around the edge of the glass. Aroma is chocolate and sweet malt. Taste is much of the same. Hints of sweet fruit and roasted malt throughout. Nice slightly bitter finish. Great brew.

Tap. Dark chocolate malt aroma with raspberry notes. Dark reddish brown color with small smooth head. A perfectly roasted coffee flavor initial with a nice smooth chocolate flavor lasting long after swallowing. No harshness at all with this. A spectacular beer - cannot rave enough about this one.

Nitro, at 3 Floyds. Pours brown (clear dark red when held up to light) with a white head. Grassy hops and light roastiness in the nose. Surprisingly, the nitro didn’t dull the flavor - notes of heavy caramel, burnt toffee, plum/raisin, chocolate, plenty of resiny piney hops on the back end. Smooth and creamy with subtle carbonation. Good stuff.

On nitro tap at 3F: I’ll get this out of the way first. 5 bucks for 9.5 oz. out of nitro! ok on to the beer. A creamy tan head on a dark black body. Through the nitro, the head is creamy smooth, very silky and full bodied. Nice rounded flavors of licorice, molasses, chocolate, coffee, and a hell of a lot of sweetness. At first rate I loved the sweet chocolate flavors, on the second the sugar sweetness is way too overbearing, and I’m begging this tiny glass for some bitterness. More bitterness, no nitro and this could be a really good beer.