Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Munster, Indiana USA

Pitch black beer with a little grey-ochre rim for head. Coffee, cigarette ash, chocolate - but nowhere bitter smelling !! Quite surprising. Finish with faraway moccha or coffee cream, and - really sorry! - vomit. Surprising hops initially in the taste, going over in coffee bean sweets, with a dry, but hardly stout-like dark malts background. Very well bodied, slick but pleasing, coffee/cigarette aromas to the very last end. I’d be hypocritical pretending not to like this, but it is unsettling in some ways, not at all what the name would suggest.

Huge tan head, very dark color. Overly hoppy with carbonated mouthfeel. Flavor of coffee and grapefruit. "Like eating the forest." Coffee aroma.

Very intersting nose, huge coffee aromas but yet big notes of fresh piney hops, some nice underlying sweetness with notes of vanilla, dark fruits, light pepper and bitter dark chocolate. Completely black with a beautiful thick and creamy tan head on top. Big roasty flavor which turns into a sort of burnt hoppyness, very delicious. Notes of ground coffee, bitter dark chocolate and dark fruits, ends on a lasting bitter note. Velvet smooth texture. Extremely delicious brew and very drinkable.

22 oz. Bottle: Pours black with a light brown head that is fully lasting. Before I could even hold my glass up I immediately smelled the roasty aroma with hints of coffee and chocolate. Initial and finishing flavor is a bitter coffee and dark chocolate flavor. A delicious brew that I’ve been saving for Super Bowl Sunday.

22 oz. bottle. Dark black body with good sized brown head. Aroma of coffee, vanilla, some hops. Flavor is very hoppy with notes of grapefruit, coffee and vanilla. I found it had a bit overcarbonated mouthfeel. I thought it was good but not great.

Pours nearly black with a dark tan, two-finger head. Aroma is piney and peppery, with a good deal of smoky dark malts. Bitter chocolate, coffee, and piney hops in the flavor. Prickly mouthfeel; a little less carbonation would be better. Still, a damn fine beer.

There ain’t any light coming through this baby! Jjet black with a creamy brown head that really sticks to the glass, just beautiful. Roasted malt aromas and a big piney hop presence. Lusciously smooth and full mouthfeel supports flavors of bittersweet chocolate, strong coffee, and roasted malt. Hop flavors of pine, pepper, and grapefruit lead into a wonderfully bitter finish. What a glorious porter.

Alpha Klaus pours to a boot polish black color, with a thick and creamy tan head, and a soft to moderate amount of carbonation. The nose on this beer just smacks you in the face with very pungent and vibrant citrus and piney hops, paired with aromas of dark chocolate and sweet malt. The palate on this beer is rich and full, with huge dark malt, dark chocolate, caramel, coffee, and fruity/plummy estery flavors. Alpha Klaus finishes with more intense dark chocolate and malt flavors up front, then ends with a huge smack of intense, citrus/piney hop bitterness that lingers for quite some time. Wow. This beer is just packed with huge hop aromas, big chocolate flavors, and mouth puckering bitterness. FFF fans will love this over the top version of Christmas Porter, and Alpha Klaus is a must have Christmas beer, for any beer geek. Retailing for $8-$9 a 22 oz bomber bottle, this beer is well worth the price for those interested in a Christmas porter that breaks all the rules. Normal beer drinkers need not apply for this one. The label on this one is the Alpha King wearing a Santa Claus hat, and Alpha Klaus is most generous with the hops. This beer is high on the IBU scale, I’m guessing close to 100 IBU’s, and "its not normal" for a porter, to be such a hop blast of a beer. I loved this one, and will be getting more for the Christmas season. Enjoy this one as a great beer to drink during the Christmas season.