Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

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

Bottle, 2007. Heavy malt aromas of cereal and caramel, moderate orange for the hops, and dough for the yeast, with date, apple, brown sugar and slight hint of anise. Head is small, frothy, slightly off white, with good lacing, and is mostly diminishing. Color is muddy tan. Flavor starts moderately to heavily sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly acidc, moderately bittersweet and a touch sour. Palate is medium to full, between creamy and syrupy, with a soft carbonation. Rich in aromas and an excellent balance in flavors.

Another big tip of the hat to General Gao for this 650 ml, 2007 yellow wax bottle. Translucent, dark copper-brown with a small but enduring head that leaves a cream on the glass. Earth-spicy caramel and chocolate bar aroma also has some hints of citrus. Flavor starts similarly but is nearly taken away by orange-aspirin, pepper and resin hop flavors. Some oak and slight alcohol are also present. Medium-heavy body is smoothly carbonated and dryish, but almost too sticky.

22 oz 2007 bottle. Very complex and strong aroma, much more pronounced hop that most barely wines with a good citrus/grapefruit, along with a sweet red berry, very minor alcohol, and a distinct molasses. Small clean white head on the pour, minimal lacing, but a beautiful look otherwise with solid ruby red color. For such a strong sipping beer, the flavor and feel are quite smooth, yet highly complex and sweet, tart raspberries right at the beginning, grapefruit and citrus hop also prominent throughout, with a caramel/molasses/brown sugar malt flavor that blends in with everything else, the finish and linger are also very satisfying. Honestly, this beer is outstanding and highly complex, hats off to 3fs again.

22 oz. bottle. 2008 vintage. Clear amber pour with a thin, white head. Aroma of grapefruit, caramel, and warming alcohol. Sweet, sticky mouthfeel. Flavor is malty, with dark fruits, earthy hops. Finish is slightly bitter. What a treat.

22oz bottle from 2007. Pours a hazy, copper brown with no head. Tons of sweet caramel and malt in the nose. Flavor was big, sweet and boozy. A very full bodied brew with a sweet and sticky finish.

Had a 2007. Was a bit too mellow for me, but that might be due to having it after a Darklord. A bit of citrus, but no hop spice. Not much of a head, big sugary malt flavors and the signature 3F buttery silky smoothness.

22oz bottle. Purple wax, 2008. Dark copper color, white head. Very malty aroma, nice dark fruits, very rich. Sweet flavor, very nice, hides the alcohol very well. Great beer.

(22 oz. bottle (pink wax) via trade with BBB63, thanks Mike!, cellared for 8 mos. after trade) This is a big bad beer....Pours cloudy, murky darkish amber with a little less than a finger of lightly yellowish biege head. Aroma of sweaty hops, pine, grapefruit, malty rock candy, caramel, raisins and licorice. Big, full, sticky mouthfeel. Texture features some chunkiness. Low carbonation. Flavor is big and malty, big and hoppy. Big murky, lightly smoky candy-malt sweetness and caramelized sugar overlain by a healthy dose of pine and grapefruit bitterness. Raisins and licorice as well as chocolate as it warms. Quite hot, even at three years of age, but that really doesn’t detract. Very warming. A big satisfying beer experience.