It’s been a productive weekend working around the house, and today I got out and mowed the lawn for the first time this year. I thought I’d reward myself with a beer, and it’s been a while since I’ve done a review, so I grabbed the biggest IPA I could find in the front of the beer fridge. I picked up this beer a few months ago when I was up in Chicago for work. Whenever I find Three Floyd’s beers up there I always trying grab them, since they have a pretty good reputation. This bottle is marked 6/27/14, and has some pretty cool artwork. The bottle says:
“This complex double India pale ale has an intense citrus and floral hop aroma balanced by a velvety mall body which is been augmented with lactose milk sugar. With this different take on an IPA we have birthed an ale that is both pleasing to drink and, once again, not normal.”
Location: Poured into a large Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass at my home in Bloomington, IL
Numbers: 8.6% ABV, 100 IBUs, ~260 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s orange-amber in color and pretty hazy with a lot of visible settlement floating around, stirred about by a good amount of carbonation. The carbonation leaves a big, fluffy, cream-colored head with great retention and leaves great lacing on the glass. The aroma is a bold citrusy hoppiness.
Taste & Feel: The body is full and the mouthfeel is smooth, almost oily. The flavor up front is sweet and citrusy, almost like a mix of grapefruit and juicy fruit. In the middle, the citrusy flavors grow, but instead of sweet, the hoppy bitterness hits your tastebuds. In the finish, the bitterness balances with the citrusy flavor letting both the flavor and bitterness stand. Both the citrusy flavor and bitterness last a few minutes in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This beer has big, bold citrusy flavor and bitterness and would overtake almost any food it encounters. I love pairing big bold double IPAs like this with a big juicy cheeseburger that balances it and allows the cheese flavors to interact with the beer.
Overall Impression: I thought this was a good beer, and I should not have let it age this long. The somewhat unappealing chunky sediment revealed that. However, I really appreciated the citrusy hop flavors and bitterness, which reminded me of other Three Floyd’s beers. I would not have guessed there was lactose in it, but I think it did a great job of adding some sweetness, smoothness, and balance to the bitterness of the hops. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good double IPA and one I definitely order if I found it on the craft beer list out of the bar. I don’t know that it was super complex, but the addition of lactose was unique, and I may try that with some of my homebrewed double IPAs.
My Rating: 
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