Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

22oz Bomber $15.00 Three Floyds Brewery Review #200 2007 Bottling Yellow Wax Thought I’d go with something I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now. I must say I’m pretty excited. Behemoth Blonde pours decent looking mahogany red but when held to the light it glows ruby. Small lines of carbonation bubbles crawl to the surface. A one finger ivory head formed on the pour that slowly fell and left sheet lacing as it did. Excellent looking beer. This barleywine is packed to the gills with big aromas. One thing that actually is a little subdued is the hoppiness. A little strange coming from Three Floyds, especially in a barleywine. There are hops but I expected a hop bomb. There is a lot of brown sugar and caramel. Maybe even some raisins. Doughy with a squeeze of grapefruit juice and spicy alcohol. Wonderfully complex. Definately more hops on the tongue than in the nose. This could actually be more complex in the flavor than the aroma. Brown sugar right up front fades into the doughiness of dark bread and caramel. Theres a very smooth and enjoyable nuttiness that I can’t identify. On the finish those hops take hold and the stomping begins. Grapefruit and sticky resiny hops beat all over your mouth and just linger and linger. Holding on as long as possible. Very complex and big. Just my style. As I get down to the subject of mouthfeel my lips are completely numb. It’s been awhile since a beer has done that to me and I love it. For such a heavy big brew this barleywine is in no way sticky or overly sweet. Thick body that becomes airy as it hits the back of the tongue. Silky smooth with that lingering hop kick. Great drinkability for such a big complex beer. It will easily burn out your tastebuds but that wouldn’t stop me. If I had a steady supply I would tip them back regularly. I decided to try this for my 200th review and I’m glad I did. A barleywine that’s hard to reckon with. This is the best barleywine I’ve sampled in recent memory. Another superb beer from Three Floyds. 7/7/07

Bottle, thanks to fordest and toncatcher for sharing. Nice sweet flavors, some very intense warming on the way down.

bomber. guess i couldn’t wait till fall. actually i didn’t read that until now. attractive orange brown color looks like sherry with a shit ton of haze. sweet malty aroma reminds me of cotton candy and overall candy sugar and brown sugar also has a mountain of piney hops and a nice herbal and hop resin presence. lots of sweet caramel malt comes in layers that gets cut by thick sprucy hops with a return to the luxurious sweet caramel malt. as it warms the balance becomes more even and the taste improves.

Bottle. Pours copper with a creamy off withe head. Aroma of hops, malts, and dark fruits. Flavors much the same with a bit of alcohol presence and spices. A great brew again from FFF.

Thanks Winston for picking me this up. Dirty brown orange pour. Thin off white head. Aroma of caramel, vanilla, dark fruit, and citrus hops. Enticing. Yeah, this is very good. However, the flavor reminds me of Third Coast Old Ale or Old Ruffian, both of which are much cheaper and accessible.

This bottle needed to mature a little longer. I should of listened to Matt. Poured amber with off white head. Aroma of sweet malt, hops, and alcohol. Flavors of caramel, fruit, and sweet malt present with alcohol slightly overpowering. It definately needed to mellow out a bit.

2005 bottle shared by tjthresh at the csbosox tasting 7/3. Pours copper with a thin, creamy, off-white head. Sweet perfumy hops and plums on the nose. Medium-bodied, slick and lip sticking with a light alcohol on the exhale. The flavor is of sweet roasted malts, nuts, caramel, citrus and flowers. This was the only barley wine of the evening, and it was a good one. Thanks again, Tom!

++++ RE-RATE 2-May-09 ++++
22 oz bottle purcahsed mail order about a year ago from Archer in Chicago. Purple wax, 2008 Vintage. Pour is hazy cloudy orange golden, pretty settling builds up a one inch off white head that falls with nice splotchy lacing. A bunch of carbonation streaking to the surface. Aroma of soft caramel, dense, layered resiney hops. Some tangerine citrus bitterness in there as well. Really inviting and full nose. Some yeast grassiness too. Taste is initially pretty sharp pine and citrus bitterness. Behind that is the sweet caramel and fruit, though the sweetness cloys a bit. Honey and grassy, some alcohol heat behind that. I was expecting this to be a bit softer and more melded based on the nose. Palate is medium, fair carbonation - alcohol present in the long dry finish. Overall, really nice, but highlight was the nose. 9,5,7,3,16 (4.0)

++++ ORIGINAL RATING 6-Jul-07 ++++
Enjoyed at the csbosox tasting 7/3 courtesy of tjthresh. 2005 Vintage. Pour is reddish orange with pretty much no head. Aroma is deep sweet maltiness with a little bit of hop presence. Taste is more of the same, nice and sweet malt with hoppiness throughout. Very tasty, and very well structured. Alcohol was present, though didn’t overpower me. Thanks for breaking this one out Tom. 8,5,8,3,16 (4.0)