Three Floyds Barrel Aged Alpha Klaus

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

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Black viscous pour with tan head that exhudes bourbon fumes. Sweet vinous flavors of burnt caramel malt and dark smokey notes, dark fruit, and alcohol. Barrel adds strong (too strong?) vanilla and bourbon, and sort of extinguishes the base beer’s intense hop bite...and I really miss that. Really good, but not as good as the non BA version.

Draft on tap at the brewpub (Munster, IN). Pours a pitch black opaque pour, a moderate lighter brown head that stays around creamy, laces well enough. Aromas are a decent dosage of barrel, bourbon, vanilla, and wet oak, mixed with roasted malts and a touch of booziness, a bit sweet on the nose, with some cocoa coming in. Nice. Initial is medium bodied, not as heavy on the palate as expected, pretty good dryness and hop in the taste, moving to bourbon, warming alcohol, vanilla, and roast. The wet wood gives it a deeper element, not as sweet as the nose would suggest. Light cocoa, caramel, and some fant roasted coffee towards the backend. Not as boozy as anticipated, coats ok enough. My only knock might be that this thinned out a little more than I would have liked, although the bitterness is pretty nice. Cheers!

On tap at Three Floyds 4/28/09, served in a tulip. Oak-Aged Alpha Klaus w/ Blackberries. Dark brown pour with some faint ruby highlights and a thin, lasting tan film of a head. Some slippery lacing was left behind. The aroma included fruity blackberries, chocolate, light roast, and a hint of vanilla. The flavor featured upfront blackberries, smooth roast, and chocolate. Not much noticable oak. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied and had a light amount of prickly carbonation. A bit thinner than regular Alpha Klaus. The blackberries really transformed this into a totally different beer. Pretty tasty.

I love the Klaus so when this was oaked i was happy to try and it did not dissappoint.This is one of my favorite FFF beers and to have it like this was a delight,poured a black as night with a dark brown head with hints of bourbon and and chocolate.CHEERS!

Tap at 2009 DLD: Deep cola brown with a solid almost creamy head, very good lace upon the glass. The aroma is quite interesting with a sugary component that seems based a vanilla beans and Crème brûlée. There are some notes of oak and pine needles, slight peaty smoked ester too. The taste is very much barrel influenced, the hops are driven to the back by sweet malts and bourbon characters. Chocolate and vanilla notes throughout. Moderate charred and smoky notes around the edges. The mouth feel is much heavier than than normal Alpha Klaus with was unexpected considering most BA porters actually seem thinner than their non BA brothers. Part of me loves this and then part of me is dying for some hops. I honestly dunno.

Source: Tap at DLD.
Glass: Tulip.
Appearance: Dark brown color with a one finger beige head.
Aroma: Caramel and vanilla. Hints of bourbon and chocolate are present, with a hint of roast.
Flavor: Bourbon and vanilla prominent. Oak and roast are present as well.
Palate: Full body with soft carbonation.
Overall: Love me some oak aging.

Date: April 25, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, DLD
Appearance: muddy dark brown, frothy beige head
Aroma: sweet caramel and vanilla aroma with lots of bourbon, sweet chocolate
Flavor: rich sweet chocolate and bourbon flavor, lots of drying earthyness and oak, sweet vanilla brings it back
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 14/20
Rating: 3.5/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **4

Sampled at DLD ’09. Dark dark brown with a big off-white head. Roasty malt aroma with some oaky vanilla. Not as hoppy as a fresh bottle of the original, and I consider that to be a good thing. Roasty chocolate flavor with vanilla, oak and some hop in the finish. I really like what barrel aging did for this beer.

this was on tap the weekend after dlday and labeled as barrel aged alpha klaus (with blackberries).... pours a dark close to black pour with a thin milky light tan head... bourbon rich notes dominate the nose with a light fruit component to it...smooth, rich, and creamy chocolate malt with an assertive barrel flavor and a light bitter fruitiness to it. somewhat of a boozy bite in the finish. hops were lost in the creation of this brew.

Awesome, glad to try this, shared with dalekliz. Pours blackish with a tan head. Nose is sweet, sugary, oaky and strange. Taste is sweet and hoppy and sugary and chocolaty really weird beer.