So my brother Cartwright was in town last weekend. It's a bit of a special occasion these days as he's been living out on the east coast and is on his way out to San Diego. We were both hankering for a beer and both share a predilection for the hops so I decided to break out this bad boy to share: Three Floyds Dreadnaught. A big imperial IPA clocking in at 9.5% ABV and 99 IBUs. I'm a bit surprised that this is the first Three Floyds beer I've done for the blog. But if I'm going to do it no better than a big IPA shared with my brother. To the beer!
Dreadnaught pours a vibrant burnished brass in color, very very pretty. The clarity is obscured by quite a bit of hop haze. The beer is capped by a layer of thick, resilient, white head.
Tons of hop aromas going on here. Big citrus notes hit you first with aromas of orange and lemon rind. There are also some floral, resinous, and even some piney scents in there as well. It's all backed by a nice underlying sweetness. This is one of those beers I could just keep my nose above for hours.
Here we go. This is what I love about a big IPA. Big and creamy. The bitter hop punch hits the tip of your tongue right from the start. Oily resinous hop character throughout gives way to flavors of lemon and grapefruit on the finish. All of this huge hop flavor is laid over a caramel malt body that does is job but doesn't really stand a chance against all of the hops. Dreadnaught finishes with a nice lingering bitterness.
As big and bitter as this beer is it's awfully drinkable. The rather large ABV never manifests as boozy flavors and the bitterness bold but never too intense. Dreadnaught is one hell of a tasty hop beast. Check it out.
HD
No comments:
Post a Comment