Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

This is clear, as in there is nothing in the beer, however it’s thick and dark enough that you cant see through it. The colour is a deep red and there was a medium head of just off white on top. Aroma isn’t too strong, but has hints of hops and sweet malts. The flavour is where this shines, lots of hops - but it’s not too bitter. The hops add a ton of grapefruit and citrus flavour. in addition, there is some caramel like flavours and just overall sweetness from the malts. The generous hops are well balanced by the sweet malts, but the hops are certainly the star of this show. This is pretty damn good. Easy to drink for a big beer.

22 oz yellow wax top bomber. Pours a cloudy orange amber color with a medium white head that quickly disappears. Aroma is classic 3 Floyds- Pine Extreme. Lots of piney hops present. Taste is very hoppy with strong piney overtones. Kind of sweet and syrupy with tangerine,sunkist,apricot and mango hints. Not the best barleywine Ive had, but pretty darn good. Very similar to the Dreadnaught yet seems a bit lighter although the alcohol content is higher.

12 oz bottle via Mystery swap (thanks FlacoAlto & Mibromeo!). Removed from 56 degree winter cellar and sat outside in the Oregon nighttime winter at 35 for 20 minutes..so what do we have? I guess served at about 50 degrees? Been saving this for a few months. Now is the time. Pours a semi-clear dark reddish amber with a large foamy beige head. Nose is very alcoholic and lots of fruity esters-apricot pops out. Taste is very fruity as well. Lots of berries, apricots, raisins, as well as some resiny piney hops in the finish. Syrupy mouthfeel. Low carbonation. Full body. I sense the alcohol present in the finish but little burn. A world class barleywine? I don’t know...this is one of my least favorite styles. DFH Immort is the only one i have ever got excited about. But still, this is not bad, and of all the Barleywines i have tried this one is at least one of the drinkable ones....plus i gotta give a point for the nasty funky label ;)

Poured an orange cloudly orange color. Average lacing. Aroma was SUPER strong grapefruit. and pine. Flavor was grapefruit grapefruit, and honey to it, very very well hidden alcohol. As it warmed it didn’t get a better balance as the malts came out. Good beer.

On tap at the Maproom, Chicago. Orange red color, white head, looks great for a big beer. Malty aroma, carmel, red fruits, and those 3F hops grapefruits and pine. Creamy texture, smooth not harsh or raw like young barleywines often are. Sweet syruppy flavors red fruits, carmel, hoppy floral, grapefruit and piney bitterness. Its not overly bitter but it does have lots of hops like they love to do, and I love to drink. This is like a really big double ipa taking it to another level. Espeically with the same hop profile I can almost follow the 3F line up, same hop profile just fewer malts from this to dreadnaught, to Alpha King, to Pride and Joy. Not that I’m complaining, I love them all, but when I tasted it I did think if you had this blind and had never had it before you’d definitely say to yourself ... this has to be one of Three Floyd’s.

Re-rate, 7/08: Same vintage as my original rating just aged another 1.5yrs, and this thing was very smooth and nice, hops still present and assertive, yet all the alcohol hotness that highly offended me before was gone. A little more sticky and the hops not over the top, but still there to keep this thing drinking so nice. Bumping the numbers a little bit. Original Rating: Poured an orangey color, slightly hazy, not cloudy/murky, no sedimentation. The head was decent initially, retention of only a thin covering, although decent. The lacing was ok. Aroma was strong citrus and grapefruits, resinous pine for sure, and a can’t place sweet malt. The flavor was strong grapefruits right up front and in the aftertaste, bitter grapefruit rinds, pine, light caramel, grapes, and honey. Alcohol is completely absent from the flavor, very nicely hidden by 3F for sure. The malts seemed to have more depth and complexity to offer, but the hops over-ran this thing (no, I wasn’t surprised by that). Mouthfeel was very clean, moderately bodied, dry finish, very unsticky and unsweet take on a barleywine. Somewhat like a dIPA, but not malty rich (dryer and more bitter, perhaps?). Very drinkable if there is such thing within the barleywinesI need to do this side by side a Dreadnaught one day.

Pours a wonderful brown/orange with aa nice orangy yellow head that is about as dense and solid looking as foam can be. Aroma makes you think this is gonna be a complete hop-bomb! Yikes. Tones of pine and grapefruit and if you don’t swirl the glass, you might catch some of that caramel and brown sugar. Thankfully the taste is balanced. Incredibly well-balanced too, to the point where am I asking how is that possible with a beer so not-yet-aged? There’s a lot of caramel flavor, toffee, nuts, a very very light roast, and a wonderful hop flavor. The hop flavor isn’t all that bitter either. Instead, it has more of a citrus and grassy taste. As I swallow there’s a little more roast, some cherry, and pine. The beer finishes woody, a bit dry, and the sweet, buttery, grassy taste of the hops lingers forever. Wonderful! That part reminds me of Great Divide’s Fresh Hop. Possibly other fresh hop ales as well, but that’s the only one I’ve had. The texture of this beer was very creamy, the carbonation was light, but there, and the flavors were so wonderfully blended, I don’t see why this beer would need to age, based on the flavor now. Perhaps aging would change the aroma and make it less IIPA-like, but I’m pretty stunned by how good this was. Worth the price of admission, despite being mostly unaffordable in the first place. Stunned....

Tried some ’05 Behemoth, thanks to Lumpy, I believe. This was a lot different than the fresh beer. Aroma of some molasses, old almost stale hoppiness, wood, and cheese. Some caramel, syrup, leaves, chocolate and toffee to the taste, but it didn’t feel as full-bodied as the fresh beer. There’s a nice earthy hop flavor to the finish, and some butter. Not bitter at all. Mouthfeel was not as creamy, and a bit too slick. Taste had weakened compared to the fresh beer. A good beer, but aging this one would appeal to someone else as I thought it was worlds better when fresh. 7/4/7/4/14

on tap at maproom, amber with big white head, PNW dominate aroma, grapefruit, mango, peach, reminds me of dreadnaught. taste is extremely hoppy with caramel, butterscotch, red fruits, great fruity hoppy notes. no alcohol in flavor more a IIPA than barleywine. but as is this is easily the king of American Barleywines. I think i could drink a dangerous amount of this. 8/5/8/5/17 is equal to 4.3

2005 vintage (almost 2 years aged). pours deep ruby with big off white head. nose is sweet with cotton candy, caramel, sweet plums, tobacco, and slight alcohol. flavor is pretty sweet but not cloying, delicate balance of tobacco, ripe plums, cherry pits, caramel, tar, and a hint of smoke. hops have faded out. very complex and aged well but still needs a few more years. alc is well hidden. mouth feel a tad thin. after 30 minutes the nose is really alcoholy. this is more of a fine liquor than a beer, aging well, 7/5/8/4/17 is equal to 4.1.

11/17/07, 2007 vintaged brewed 11/06 (12 months ago). 22oz bottle, yellow wax. pours a murky reddish brown with creamy white head. nose is strong with aged notes, tobacco, some vegetable, and plum. flavor is a lot less hoppier than i was expecting, the hops have almost all be fallen off with some faint citrus and grapefruit notes, mostly aged malts of tobacco, plum, and caramel. no alcohol is noticed at all body is a tad thin. this has aged really fast, not sure why, it is clear that this much aging this fast has not allowed the malts to age and integrate gracefully, instead it is sort of a mix a roughly aged malt notes. it is still tasty but it was much better fresh. with how fast this has aged i can’t see this getting better but i guess anything is possible. 7/4/7/4/15 is equal to 3.7.

11/21/07, 05 vintage (aged 2 years), this is pretty oxidized and the hops have really fallen off now. lots of tobacco, plums, and tar. no alcohol noticed at all. the nose is pretty bad and mostly vegetables. i’m enjoying this despite the fact that it hasn’t aged gracefully. this may have another year left in it. 4/4/7/4/14 is equal to 3.3.

2/26/08, 2008 vintage, bottled a few weeks ago. pretty much the same impressions as notes at the top of the 07 tap rating. lively, hoppy as hell and juicy. wonderful and fun to drink. but my beer experience has convinced me that this is a IIPA not a barleywine. oh well, its awesome and now surpasses that struggling recent vintages of dreadnaught.4.3.

6/22/08, 2008 vintage, aged 6 months. on tap at Piece. I guess FFF likes Behemoth with some age on it because they are finally letting some kegs go to Chicago. I prefer it fresh as possible, but aged a bit it seems more barleywine and super fresh it is just a really big IIPA. I was surprised how 6months keg aging has toned the hops down a notch and the malt has already started to take on some aged notes. I can’t believe how fast this beer ages. not that it tastes 10 years old or something but quite a bit different than when fresh. 7/4/7/5/16 is equal to 3.9.