Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

Sampled at Hellbilly’s Hellraiser II. Bottles courtesy of Rustychiles. Pours a cloudy amber with smallish beige head. Nose is sweet malts and hops. Palate is caramel malt upfront with a mild hop bite in the end. Medium mouth feel. A bit too sweet for me but after sampling several beers, Ms. Behemoth is looking pretty hot.

2008 Bottle. Man, wax tips are cool to look at, but it’s really a pain in the butt to open. Anyway, the pour is a very viscous clear copper with a velvety off-white head. The lacing this produces is just amazing; it’s beautiful. The aroma is packed with hops. Pine is a dominant smell along with lots of kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and passion fruit. The citrus is very tropical. The palate is very creamy. The carbonation is perfect, very light. The initial flavour is of sweet caramel with tart kiwi and grapefruit. As the brew begins the pass the tongue, the hops begin to become a little more apparent. Pine and some light bitterness starts to kick in. But the intense maltiness of this beer holds back the massive amount of hops, balancing the usually abrasive qualities. Pineapple begins to appear as well. Levels of bitterness perfectly matches the caramelly sweetness. The finish is smooth, very smooth. Wow, this is just amazing. (And mind you, I am not a big fan of Barleywines.)

Bottle courtesy of MrBendo and shared at Hellbillys Hellraiser II. Pours a reddish brown with a nice head. Aroma of malt, hops, citrus, caramel. Flavor is malty, hops, citrus, grapefruit, and very good.

Draft. 2008. Aroma is sweet, malty, and citrusy hops. A sweet full bodied sipper that is well balanced with a citrus hop finish. An awesome barleywine.

I’ll readily admit that I’m no conniseur when it comes to barley wines. I’ve tried a few others (Lagunitas most recently) and certainly enjoyed the 3F Behemoth. As usually with 3F, the citrus flavors are very strong from a taste perspective and the floral is most noticeable in the aroma. Definitely hoppy with some IPA characteristics but not so much with the palate, which is thicker and very nice. Most impressive is how smooth and tasty it is while carrying such a high ABV. You could drink quite a few of these and not realize what you’ve done.

2007 (yellow wax bottle) - Nice looking darker color with a pretty head (hard to descrble, beautiful beer). Aroma is enchanting - citrusy hops, borwn sugar, dark, springish, and tripical fruits - taste has all of this and is a wonderful honey/citrus hop mix. Sugary, bitter, bold, and delicious. Mouthfeel that is sticky and satisfying. Along with Doggie Claws, this ties for first among non-BA barleywines. Wonderful - exactly what this style of beer should be.

2008. Aroma is hoppy-citrus (orange). Nice sweet malt, almond. Taste: moderately sweet, yet pretty dry. Very nicely balanced. Got some a bit of unexpected pizazz.

2008 vintage. It pours a nice dark amber with a smallish head that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is a kick of citrus hops, but it’s not just some hop monster! It’s got some beautiful caramel malt. The flavor is out of this world though. I expected something one dimensional and overly hoppy, but the hop hits you immediately, but then there are these mild fruity flavors. Maybe plums? Not sure, but it’s nice. It finishes sweet and a little dry. Very nice. Clean and lightly carbonated. Quite tasty brew.