Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Munster, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter

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Dark red-brown color with a light haze - expectedly small head and light carbonation (appropriate to style). Rich malt aroma with caramel and fruit (pear and fig), but mainly caramel, with peppery hops. Full round sweetness and lip smacking lingering toffee like flavors. Resiny and peppery hop flavors with a lingering mild bitterness. Alcoholic strength is definitely apparent with a chest warming buzz, but generally speaking its well masked for an 11+% beer. Beer becomes sticky and sweet, almost syrupy, towards the end - a bit unattractive in a barleywine, and indicative IMO of under-attenuation, perhaps the yeast pooped out in all that alcohol.

UPDATED: APR 1, 2003 Holy sweet malty hops! The signature 3Floyds Hop pops in and out of this thick and candied mouthfeel reigning in any potential syrupiness. The alcohol warms and gives this dessert beer a mature, port-like sensation. A great beer to drink while pondering life. Eddie G- thanks again!

Good red color along with a malty smell and underlying hop aroma. Alcohol evident but still hidden pretty well for 11%. Good sweet flavor that is still balanced with trademark 3 Floyds hop character. I don't really consider myself a barley-wine fan but WOW, 3 Floyds has done a good job with this brew. A must try. Thanks again EddieG.

Super grapefruit aroma with a bit of cedar, resin, and salty malt. Vinous notes (concord grapes) alcohol, brown sugar, toffee come out on warm up. Sweet yams and brown sugar on the taste that finishes bitter and warm. Beautiful brew. Thank you hopsrus...

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2007 This beer MUST be allowed to warm to thouroughly enjoy what it has to offer. Deep red with a cascading head as you pour. Not shy with the hops but balanced superbly by a massive malt presence. Toffee, pears and spruce come through in the flavor that stays with you for what seems to a whole day. Great offering!!!

UPDATED: AUG 10, 2004 Mmmmm, let this one roll around in your mouth for awhile: so velvety smooth, warm hops along the sides of your tongue, thick sweetness down the middle. When you finally swallow, feel the warmth travel slowly down your throat. Finish is dry with some peppery hops. This is #800 for me, on my first anniversary of rating here, I hope that I can find more beers of this quality in the future.

UPDATED: NOV 9, 2005 (Hand-bottled from tap):
Vibrant hop vitality in this Bigfoot-like biosphere...Bounteous port-wine lagoons and blackberry groves garnish this pillowy resinous bedrock...A sweet cough syrup memento heralds youthful overexuberance...A wilderness adventure so rich and balanced that for the moment of the rendezvous, you might actually believe that hops can taste like berries...Many thanks once again to hopsrus...4.5/5

2005 bottle:
Voluminous raspberries and cranberries are candied to sweeten this fruity hop wine...Malt is slender (hope it doesn’t hinder its aging potential), and carbonation is low even for the style...Alcohol burning fits with the resinous hops flavor and bitterness, but the rather thin mouthfeel makes the heat a little too obvious...A splendid effort, full of charisma, but maybe still too immature to yield masterpiece sagacity...4.1/5

Malty sweet aroma. Body is slightly sweet, with a fair amount of hops, but balances the alcohol quite nicely. Another great brew from 3 Floyds.

Burnt amber and crimson with a super tight head that apperated about 5 seconds after the pour and dissapeared....but still some how left laceing. After swirling it a bit, the tan head reamerged in thick gloppy swaths reminicant of the condesed milk at the top of a Thai Ice tea. The nose is something of beauty. Upon opening this gem I was kicked in the nose with fresh hops. As it warmed more malt started to haze over the greenery with a winey nearly salty charactor evolving furthur into caramel, burnt sugar, and toffee. The mouthfeel remains improbably thick and creamy, almost like fine grade maple syrup. Stong nots of malt viniouness, citic hops (grapefruit) cadi sugar, black peppar, toffee, light alcohol, caramel. Finish ligers for ever and cascades from wine to floral hops, to bread ending with more hops. Comes across sweet and dry at the same time (not sure how). Throughout all of this it still remains unbelievably smooth. Absolutly stunning. Thank you Psychprof.

What can I say other than this is the BEST BEER I have ever had. Now let me say that I drove an hour from Chicago to the brewrey to pick up some of 3 Floyds for the Super Bowl. I bought a growler of this barleywine and I feel in love (no I did not take it to the party, I am selfish). Now back to the beer; there may be better beers but I have never tried it. this one may get a boost from the fact that it did not sit on a boat from Europe for the last few months. Like a bouquet of flowers, fresh, sweet, intense. This beer is divine. Dark red/copper color. Almost no head but leaves a thick coating of lace in the glass neverless. This beer is not a thirst quencher by any means. Perfect for after dinner, late night. Unbelievebly smooth but intensely complex.Hard to find any faults. This is my second pint tonight (10.5%) so it has a real kick. I will definitely heading back to Munster, IN soon. By the way check my thoughts on Alpha King and Dreadnaught Ales - AMESOME.