Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter

22 oz. bottle. An opaque black pour with a small mocha head. LOTS of citrusy hops in the aroma. More than any other porter I’ve had. It’s all grapefruits and pine with a hint of chocolate. The chocolate aroma becomes more pronounced as it warms. My girlfriend says it smells medicinal. Shockingly, this is very well-balanced taste-wise. Based on the aroma, I expected it to be biased towards the hops, but there are plenty of malts packed into this too. Medium-bodied and silky smooth. Lots of rich chocolate and cocoa present throughout. Lots of hops too. Roasty and earthy but absolutely no trace of burnt tastes. VERY drinkable. Definitely one of the best porters out there.

The label reads, it’s not normal, and it’s not. No porter has hops like this beer, and it works. The chocolate and toffee malt tones are delicious and finishes with a sweet bitterness.

Bottle: poured a dark brown color with a large fluffy chocolate head. The aroma of this is like an IPA with some chocolate and roasted malts... Flavor is similar with a nice pine hop presence some chocolate, roasted malts a bit of vanilla and light bitter finish.. the hoppiest Porter I have ever had. It threw me off guard but it was great!!!.

My first review! I’ve been drinking good beers for years but never really though I had the palate to give others a good description of what a beer has to offer, but I think I’ve finally nailed it down. Back to the Alpha Klaus. I’ve had the 2004 batch and also the 2005 batch that I drank last night. I’ll give my review based on the impressions I had last night. Pouring the beer into my Tulip glass I could see that this beer was a very beautiful chocolate color typical of Porters. Also typical, although not to the style guidelines, was the blast of hoppy smell that one would expect from a 3 Floyd’s brew. However, the aroma did not seem as balanced as I had remembered. It almost smelled piney, and chocolaty. The head was a very nice dark tan with great lacing. As I took a sip I was greeted with a very roasty, chocolaty flavor, followed by pungent American hops. The beer is medium bodied and very drinkable. I did notice a small hint of alcohol, which was unexpected given its ABV. It may be too young still. This 2005 batch did not seem as balanced as the 2004, but was still VERY nice.

Bottle. A very dark pout with a huge tan head. Aroma of choclate malt. It tastes like it means business. A great porter and it will keep you warm at night.

tastes like a weak stout that’s had a christmas tree air freshener soaked in it. Chistmas beer tastes like a christmas tree? And halloween beer tasting like pumpkins? Why not peppermint Valentines beer? Blood flavored easter beer? How about gunpowder flavored fourth of july beer. Seems stupid to me.

Dry chocolate, with medium roasty coffee flavor. Also a hint of pine, typical of the christmas style. More of a stout than a porter if you ask me. Very dark in color with a dark brown head. This would be much better with some age

Draft at brewpub. Pours black with a small tan head with excellant lacing. Aroma of strong roasty malts with a hint of coffee. Flavor of high roasted malts with a coffee finish. Very light on the palate. I was disappointed with this one, I really expected a bigger body and a better balance.