Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter

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

Large dark pour with dark tan head. Chocolate, caramel, and light coffee step out on the aroma. Full rich choco flavor with a coffee kicker. Full bodied with very good carbonation. Not the huge hop bomb I expected but damn nice.

22 oz bottle. Near heavenly aroma on this one, tons of roasted, nutty malts, dark chocolate, coffee beans, and very pronounced hop backing as well of standard yet always interesting 3Fs variety. Nice pour as well, small-medium creamy beige head, mostly dissipates, with a little lacing, and a color of dark sepia. The first thing I notice upon sipping this one is the excellent balance for a strong and very hop heavy porter. Less heavy on the body than i remembered but definitely not in bad way, it also very drinkable and can easily be drunk as a session beer. A good amount of roastiness fills the flavor profile throughout, could also be described as smokey as well. Semi sweet/ semi rich black/chocolate malt and minor sugar crystals come through, but it is not all that chocolaty nor coffee flavored either as maybe i would expect. Just a very solid combination of darker yet not overly sweet malt. Hop backing is as evident as any as i can even describe them to be slightly citrus mango and floral in style. Maybe this one wouldn’t be for anyone nor would i expect most people to enjoy it quite like i did, but i must say that alpha klaus is definitely my kind of beer. Wow, very hard to beat.

Bottle (2006) at ØLbaren (thanks Lars). Black - brown head. Coffee, borned, berries, chocolate, licorice, light smokey notes, smoothness, nice hoppy. Nice - not fantastic.

22oz bottle aged since 2007. Pours a very dark brown, almost black body with a big, creamy and frothy, two-fingerwidth, brown head that dissipates slowly and remains heavily laced. Damn good looking porter. Aroma of chalky milk chocolate, dry coffee, and a good amount of cascade-ish grapefruit hops giving it a slightly earthy quality. Slightly roasty and a touch of vanilla. A lot of nice smells, I just wish it was a little stronger in the nose. Flavor is pretty similar, but the earthy citrus hop is more evident than the standard roasty character in a normal porter. Semi sweet and lightly chocolated in the beginning before drying out in the finish with a distinct grapefruit bitterness and a touch of roast and coffee. Theres a nice soft maltiness throughout that gives off a very lightly burnt taste. Palate is light to medium bodied and slightly higher in carbonation than most porters giving it a tingly feel. Overall, I love FFF for bending the rules when it comes to style and hop additions, but I think when I’m looking for a big porter, I’m more interested in a creamy, chocolate roast taste rather than this particular one. I think the added hops make this very flavorful, but too quick on the tongue. Definitely a great porter that I would recommend to a lot of people, but I have a hard time puting this at the top of my list of favorites. Despite that, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

22 oz bottle. Pours a jet black color, but a lightweight consistency, with almost no head. Smells of malt, hops, and coffee (reminds me of Alpha King in smell, but with some coffee accents), Tastes of coffee and hops (too many hops for my liking, but the right amount of coffee). Strong mouth taste, with some tingly feeling. Easy swallow though, with a nice coffee aftertaste. Overall very good.

Thanks to STLWill for this one. I thought I had it previously but this was my first time. It is an excellent beer. Full, heavy mouthfeel. Big hop aroma for a porter. Flavor has malt and dry coffee, as well as more hops, and really a lot of them for a porter. Brown colored, fairly thick, and thick, khaki colored head.

Dark brown pour with a small dirty white head. Slightly floral aroma with dry roasted malt and some citrus. Nice balance of hops in the taste along with some coffee and chocolate. Very well done. Thanks Will!

Bottled: Transported from Indiana to North Carolina! This beer is amazingly clean and is absolutely beautiful! Pours a dark color with a full froathy tan head. Smells of sweet malts with roasted chocolate. Tastes out of this world with a clean taste of hops and malts with creamy chocolate. Amazing, really should have drank this around the holidays!