657. Three Floyds Brewing – Gumballhead

Posted By kkozlen on Jan 18, 2014 | 0 comments

Our third stop on the  Tales, Taverns & Towns tour of Chicago was Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro. Our guide Liz told us a great story about this bar, a former funeral home, and what used to happen here in the days of gangsters and prohibition. This was probably the nicest place we stopped at, as it was decorated nicely and had a lot of local craft beers on tap. Since we aren’t able to get Three Floyds beers downstate, this was my first chance of the evening to get one. The keg blew when they were pouring this beer, so I scored this one for free.

Location: On tap and served in an Imperial glass at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro in Chicago, IL.

Numbers: 5.6% ABV, 35 IBUs, ~140 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: This beer is straw-gold in color and fairly hazy with a thin, bright white head on it. Even though the head was thin, it had good retention, but just a little bit of lacing. The aroma was light citruses with mostly lemon and some grapefuit.

Taste & Feel: The body is light and the mouthfeel is smooth and slightly creamy. The flavor up front is light and lemony, with some cracker-like maltiness. The citrusy flavors grow quite a bit in the middle with lemon flavors and grapefruit and orange peel in the background. These flavors carry through the finish, with a bit of lemon and grapefruit hop bitterness and hints of fruitiness along with the citrus flavors. The citrus flavors last for a little bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer primarily has lemon and citrusy flavors, making it an obvious pairing for a light fish dish with lemon and seasonings, but I think it would be an awesome pairing with some fish tacos.

Overall Impression: This is a hoppy wheat beer, that’s extremely drinkable. I enjoyed the light lemon and citrusy hop flavors, which would be perfect on a hot summer day. Even with all the hop flavors, the bitterness was pretty subdued in the finish. Overall, it’s a light, very drinkable, unique beer, that would be refreshing on a summer day while mowing the lawn. I need to see if I can get someone to bring some of this to me during the summer.

My Rating: