3 Floyds ROCK!!

[le qwak]

Finding myself holed up in a motel room north of Baltimore for a couple days I did what every respectable beer swilling wanker would do.Find a place with a good beer selection & do a little quaffing. I found an excellent place called Wells Disc. Liquors(it
can be found on the beer travel part of this site).Anyhow one beer I had was the Three Floyds Dreadnaught I.I.P.A..what good stuff!!.. being a hophead & partial to pale ales & IPA's I was not disappointed. Obviously hops played a prominent role up front.
Strong but not overpowering with complex hop flavors (fruity,citrusy,woody) balanced with an "imperial sized" warming malt finish. It will get my vote in the final. Though the Dogfishhead 90" IPA is no dog either I give the Three Floyds
the nod. Though not a big fan of fruit beers(I think most should be shot!!) I have to say the Unibroue product Ephemere ale is the one exception it's an apple
flavored Belgian-style wit? It was awesome!!

[hopjack13]

Three Floyds is a great brewery!!! i just tried the dark lord on thursday! outstanding beer! huge! HUGE!!!! the speedway stouts big brother!

[Beaver]

I wish I could get Three Floyd's out here. :(

[chazwicke]

Three Floyds Dreadnaught and Alpha King are both wonderful beers in my estimation.

[BluesHarp]

..one of these days I may have to open that bottle of Alpha Klaus!

I found this years DarkLord to be in great need of aging; in fact, the stuff was still cloudy, the yeast hadn't even settled out yet.

There was a very prevalent flavor of worchestershire and soy sauce which I found tended to overpower all the other wonderful things that were there...my other bottle will definitely be cellared until next year.

BTW...Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale and Behemoth Barleywine are nothing to sneeze at either!

[Caffinehog]

While I love Dreadnaught and Alpha King, I have to give a nod to Pride and Joy Mild. Lovers of English beer will appreciate it. Personally, I have a great love of American incarnations of English ales. In fact, my recent attempt at an ESB resulted in something closely resembling the Pride and Joy mild.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Caffinehog
While I love Dreadnaught and Alpha King, I have to give a nod to Pride and Joy Mild. Lovers of English beer will appreciate it. Personally, I have a great love of American incarnations of English ales.

I'll enthusiastically second that. I discovered the Pride and Joy on tap at a great beer bar in Chicago and was immediately taken. I've also had the opportunity to enjoy it cask conditioned and would highly recommend seeking it out.

S.

[chazwicke]

Have not had that one. Do they bottle it or is it only Draught?

[steveh]

I've seen the P&J in six-pack bottles.

S.

[chazwicke]

Sounds yummy! Like an English Mild....mmmmm. :)

[Stodbrew]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Three Floyds Dreadnaught and Alpha King are both wonderful beers in my estimation.


So I've heard.... :D

[davesarman]

Originally posted by Caffinehog
While I love Dreadnaught and Alpha King, I have to give a nod to Pride and Joy Mild. Lovers of English beer will appreciate it. Personally, I have a great love of American incarnations of English ales. In fact, my recent attempt at an ESB resulted in something closely resembling the Pride and Joy mild.

I'll enthusiastically third that! :p I love 3 Floyds beer, especially the Pride and Joy. However over the last year or so, they have become hard to come by in the Minneapolis area. I understand that Schell's used to contract brew their beers, but that arrangement ended a year or two ago. Now they are hard to find around here. Don't know if they made an arrangement with someone else or if they are brewing it all themselves now? Anyway, that's the story I was told by the guy at my local paint store. Can anyone corroborate?

[steveh]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Sounds yummy! Like an English Mild....mmmmm. :)

Not like, it is an English Mild (in style): http://www.threefloyds.com/3floydbeers.html (gotta mouse through to find the P&J - dirty thankless job...)

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by davesarman
...I understand that Schell's used to contract brew their beers, but that arrangement ended a year or two ago...Can anyone corroborate?

Never heard that (though that doesn't mean it ain't true), but I never thought 3-Fs was ever really big enough to be contracting out. Maybe Schell's brewed the 3-Fs before they set up their own brewery?

S.

PS - I don't know if anyone has asked before - but who 'dat on your avatar?

[beer editor]

Originally posted by steveh
Maybe Schell's brewed the 3-Fs before they set up their own brewery?


When Three Floyds was brewing on the tiny (Hammond Squares system) for draft accounts, they contracted the Alpha King for bottle distribution. First at Dubuque Brewing, then at Schell.

Prosit,
Stan

[davesarman]

Originally posted by steveh
PS - I don't know if anyone has asked before - but who 'dat on your avatar?

That would be the incomparable Johnny Cash, circa late 50's or early 60's.

they contracted the Alpha King for bottle distribution.

Just the Alpha King? I used to be able to find almost all their beers around here, now I can't find any! :( That's been a frustration of mine for awhile now: I can go to my paint store anf find many great Belgian beers from little tiny farmhouse breweries, but I can't get beers from New Glarus (Wisconsin) and 3 Floyds (Indiana), which I would consider local, if not regional to where I live.

[ontap78]

I also can't get (or find) any Three floyds beers. I've asked everywhere I have stopped for beer in my area. I live In New Ulm,MN home of Schell's beer and they used to contract the Alpha King but I didn't know it at the time. Had I known I would have at least gotten ahold of some of that as I know a bunch of guys (including the president himself) at the brewery. Anybody out there know where I can pick some up in MN?

[steveh]

Originally posted by beer editor
First at Dubuque Brewing,

Aaah - good old Dubuque Brewing! I wish I had a Rhomberg in my mit right now!

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by davesarman
That would be the incomparable Johnny Cash, circa late 50's or early 60's.

Really? I thought sure it was the actor Jeremy Irons!

I can go to my paint store anf find many great Belgian beers from little tiny farmhouse breweries, but I can't get beers from New Glarus (Wisconsin) and 3 Floyds (Indiana), which I would consider local, if not regional to where I live.

It's all in the distribution. I know that NG stopped distributing in Illinois altogether, in order to focus on Wisconsin - but I'm not sure if they're in WI exclusively. It's possible they are and Minnesota has also suffered the loss.

Fortunately for me, I live about 7 miles from the IL/WI border, and another 5 miles to a good beer depot that carries NG!

S.

[chazwicke]

Got to hand it to Dubuque Brewing for surviving. I never was fond of the Dubuque Star beer back in the 70s or wait a minute maybe that was Joseph Pickett Brewing. Am I getting mixed up on this. Isn't Dubuque Brewing a regional that survived the acquisition mania back in the 70s by contract brewing and was even featured in the movie "Take This Job and Shove It" based on that crappy Johnny Paycheck song?

[chazwicke]

Or were they the brewers of Amana Beer and Gemeinde Brau for the Amana Colonies? I'm so confused.

[danno]

Originally posted by ontap78
I also can't get (or find) any Three floyds beers. I've asked everywhere I have stopped for beer in my area. I live In New Ulm,MN home of Schell's beer and they used to contract the Alpha King but I didn't know it at the time. Had I known I would have at least gotten ahold of some of that as I know a bunch of guys (including the president himself) at the brewery. Anybody out there know where I can pick some up in MN?

this (http://www.threefloyds.com/minnesota.html) is from three floyd's website, but we can't get them around Mpls/St. Paul since All Saints went out of business...

[steveh]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Isn't Dubuque Brewing a regional that survived the acquisition mania back in the 70s by contract brewing and was even featured in the movie "Take This Job and Shove It" based on that crappy Johnny Paycheck song?

It was, indeed, a "star" of that movie - as well as the backdrop for Stallone's F*I*S*T, about labor unions of the 20s.

And yes, it did survive the 70s give-and-take - for the most part. I became aware of their brew in the mid-eighties when some friends moved to Dubuque. At that time they'd been acquired by new owners and were trying to revive their reputation and fight off the bad one left by the last owners.

They'd turned the recipe for Dubuque Star into all-barley and it was really decent - but its bad reputation kept it down. They started making 2 Rhomberg brews that were great, old fashioned malty lagers. Then they re-acquired the rights to another beer (the name is escaping me now) from floundering Stroh's (who had acquired it in a buy-out of Schlitz).

Every trip to visit I would stop at a big liquor store in East Dubuque and buy 3 cases of returnable bottles of the 2 Rhombergs and Star - then exchange the bottles on the next trip.

I don't know whatever happened to the Rhomberg line, fell the way of many micros I imagine. But DS remained a contract brewer for a long time. A local Chicago pizza chain, Leona's, used to get a house beer brewed by them and I remember it tasting very much like Rhomberg.

S.

[chazwicke]

Thanks for the update. I was always glad when a regional survived even when they did not make the best beers. (Many of them still don't.) If nothing else it gave one more choice and kept them out of the big boys hands. Some like Leinenkugel (even though Miller has ownership), Yuengling, FX Matts and Schells do make an occasional decent beer. I even still like Straub on a hot summer day. Others like Genesee, Iron City and Rolling Rock make macro swill. I think I vaguely recall the Rhomberg beers or reading about them at some point. I have never minded contract brews as long as they are real beer and are flavorful. Many are made to the recipes of the contractee other are "put your name here" beers that are usually almost the same as the brewers regular beers. Old Dominion in Ashburn does a lot of private label beers and several like Tupper's Beers are made to specific recipes formulated by the contractee. There are others that taste amazingly like regular Dominion products which are good.

[steveh]

71% to 29%, DFH over 3-F right now? It should be much closer than that - c'mon all you midwest fans, let's get out the vote and back your ale!

S.

I haven't voted in the other bracket because I can't remember trying the Rogue, don't know whether I'd pick it over Ol' Rasputin.

[chazwicke]

I just voted for 3F. That was a tough choice though. Especially since DFH is a Mid Atlantic beer stones through from my new beach place. Both are wonderful beers and the winner of this contest will surely take home the final trophy.

[studentofbeer]

yeah i dont know how 3-F is getting their but kicked so bad. DFH's email alert must be persuading lots of people to vote. oh well, they are both awesome brews. i wish you could still get the 90 min in a bomber or 750 or whatever tho. i voted for the dread to support the midwest brewers, but oh well.

[freddiefreelanc]

Originally posted by studentofbeer
yeah i dont know how 3-F is getting their but kicked so bad. DFH's email alert must be persuading lots of people to vote. oh well, they are both awesome brews. i wish you could still get the 90 min in a bomber or 750 or whatever tho. i voted for the dread to support the midwest brewers, but oh well.
Maybe it's because Sam Calagione's on the cover of AAB, with a feature on East Coast brewing?

[le qwak]

Being an avowed hop head. My second favorite style behind the American pale/Ipa's are English ales. ESB's,IPA's & Pales my favs. I've found few American made products that to me that compare to the English "originals" (even when many european imports sufferfrom "freshness" issues you can tell there is a good beer underneath). Fullers is one of my favs & I also like Broughton breweries products (from Scotland?). These are the only two UK
brews I can find with any regularity & I'm sure there are many excellent brews I haven't been able to try. I haven't found too many American made brews that are on par with these. Sometimes they claim to be "English Style" but are not. Wild Goose products are pretty good but not quite there. I've only had
Middle-ages products a couple times & they were excellent & in my opinion right on style wise. Unfortunately they are not available in Western PA. Any reccomendations for a good English
or American made English style style brew in my neck of the woods???

PS:if any one from Middle-Ages Brewing is reading this.COME ON DOWN TO WESTERN PA!!!

[chazwicke]

I agree with you about English beer. In general I prefer cask ales when I can get them. You ought to be able to get several different English beers in your area. I am assuming you are near Pittsburgh. I would just check around different distributers or even make some phone calls asking what they carry. It may be difficult for the distributers in PA to carry the same varieties other states do because of fact that beer must be sold by the case at the distributer and storage space may be an issue when it comes to what they can carry.

[Caffinehog]

Hmmm... I love english ales. There's a good chance you could find a bluebird bitter somewhere. I don't know about western PA, but there's some nice places in northeast ohio. Some of PA's beers are too strong to be legal here, but you can buy our beer in the grocery store. If you are ever heading towards the Akron/Cleveland area, I can direct you to a couple really good places to find beer. The buckeye brewing company has even had a couple casks of Adnams! http://www.buckeyebrewing.com/
The best source of beer I know is in an Acme grocery store, on rt. 18 in Montrose (western Akron.)