Three Floyds a-Brewing

[durwoodx]

Almost completely unavailable here unless you have a friend with access, Three Floyds is one of my 3 or 4 favorite breweries in the country. I was lucky enough to have my wife go through Indiana for work recently and she brought back a fairly large selection of their stuff, including:

Dreadnaught Imperial I.P.A. - I think this has been mentioned in a couple of hoppy beer threads. A magnificent example of what an Imperial can be. While intensely hoppy it displays some of floral quality of hops that are rarely seen in a beer this big. Impeccably balanced. Warning: the fresher the better. If not stored quite cold the hops will fade very quickly.

Alpha King American Pale Ale - The flagship beer. A great example of what brewers in this country have been working toward for the past 15-20 years. While I may still prefer Bell's Two Hearted Ale still a very solid beer. Very hop forward and crisp.

Robert the Bruce Scottish Style - Malty goodness with a great hop balance layered with yummy yummy caramel flavors.

Gumballhead Wheat Ale - one of the most unique beers I have ever found (that doesn't have something wacky or exotic in it like fossilized yeast or defecated coffee beans anyway.) The usual tang of a wheat beer is nicely matched by just a bit of hops. Really eliminates some of the over-citrusy or occasionally boozy taste you can find in some Wheat Beers.

Dark Lord: the MOTHER of Russian Imperial Stouts. I have tried every year so far since 2004, and it is amazing the variance they got from year to year. Available only one day a year at the brewery - if you ever get the chance to taste this exceedingly rare beer, jump on it.

Broodoo Wet-hopped Ale - I was not as fond of this one. I personally think Founder's does a much MUCH better job of this with their Harvest Ale.

Others that are still in my beer cellar/fridge thing that I haven't sampled yet:

Black Sun Stout

Black Heart English Style IPA

Behemoth Barleywine

[SeanMike]

Alpha King American Pale Ale - The flagship beer. A great example of what brewers in this country have been working toward for the past 15-20 years. While I may still prefer Bell's Two Hearted Ale still a very solid beer. Very hop forward and crisp.

Robert the Bruce Scottish Style - Malty goodness with a great hop balance layered with yummy yummy caramel flavors.

I know that I've seen those for sale a few times. I'm going hunting.

I'm betting either Total Wine or Westover Market...

[theakston]

They no longer have a distributor in VA (they did a couple of years back when you could get their beers at Wholefoods among other places). The DC distributor is (or was) on the staff at the Georgetown Birreria Paradiso. They have some of their offerings on their beer list. They pop up around DC occassionally too. The guy at Birrerria used to drive a truck back from Indiana every few months with as much as he could load.

They have been known to host an occasional 3 Floyds beer dinner. I wish I could find some Gumballhead, - great Summer beer.

Did you know the current brewer (Barnaby) was the brewer at Rock Bottom Arlington about 7 years ago?

[durwoodx]

Did you know the current brewer (Barnaby) was the brewer at Rock Bottom Arlington about 7 years ago?

Wow that's wacky. I really don't dig RB beer at all.

There is going to be a Three Floyds dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso on Thursday, June 3rd for anyone that's interested. Not sure if it's even been officially announced yet.

[leleboo]

There is going to be a Three Floyds dinner at Pizzeria Paradiso on Thursday, June 3rd for anyone that's interested. Not sure if it's even been officially announced yet.

It was listed on the chalkboard last night, if that counts as "official."

[durwoodx]

That's official enough.

[durwoodx]

Went to the Pizzaria Paradiso Three Floyds dinner last night and Holy. Cow. Six courses very well paired with six different Three Floyds beers - some inspiringly inventive (the pairings as well as the beers.)

Gumballhead wheat beer with a very refreshing and thin (in a good way) cold cucumber soup.

Dreadnaught (one of the best beers in the world IMHO) and an inspiring beet/Ewe's Blue cheese salad concoction. The tanginess of the beets really brought out some of the citrusy grapefruit overtones in the beer.

Drunk Monk (a very traditional hefe-weizen and one of the best American made versions of this style) with a goat cheese lemon tart. The lemony tart served as the traditional lemon wedge you would get with a serving of this bavarian offering.

Two courses of pies - the Atomic (spicy!) with Pride and Joy (an english mild) - spicy and mild made a very nice balance - and Blackheart English IPA on cask (yummy malty hoppy goodness) with a new pie made just for the evening consisting of (among other things - my memory is a bit fuzzy on all the ingredients) duck, corn, and sunchokes. One of the best pies I have ever had here. It is supposedly going to be offered as a special next week and I highly recommend it for anyone who will be here during that time.

Finally the most inspired pairing - A red velvet cake with chocolate espresso grapefruit grenache (what the?!? That shouldn't work but it does!) with their flagship Alpha King American Pale Ale. Most breweries would automatically jump on some kind of big Porter or Imperial Stout to pair with a dessert but this was delicate enough to allow individual flavors to emerge (particularly the grapefruit) while still allowing the beer to shine.

And at long last, with the check, a snifter of the Vanilla Bean Aged Dark Lord. One of the best (and hardest to find) beers in the world - it is currently ranked at #3 on ratebeer.com and at #5 on beeradvocate. Usually only available at the brewery on Dark Lord Day once a year this Imperial Stout was a flavor revelation. Anyone who is any kind of beer lover GET THEE TO PIZZARIA PARADISO NOW before they run out.

[DaRiv18]

Could anyone share the current availability of 3 Floyds in DC, please? I stopped by Churchkey but they don't carry it. I don't see it on Pizza Paradiso's website either . . .

[durwoodx]

It is basically only available when a proprietor of one of those fine establishments makes a special trip to the brewery to get some. They don't officially ship here. I have seen some of their stuff on tap at PP on occasion, but it is sporadic at best. I have also (every now and then) seen a bottle or two for sale at Connecticut Wine and Liquor just off of Dupont Circle, but again, very rarely and usually for an INSANE mark-up.

[mtpleasanteater]

Google will find liquor stores willing to ship it to you, which isn't cheap. I can tell you where to get old bottles in NY.