Three Floyds Backmasking Review

Name: Three Floyds Backmasking
Style: Oatmeal Stout
ABV: 5.9%

Backmasking (n) - A recording technique in which a sound or message is deliberately recorded backwards in a track that is meant to be played forwards.

Backmasking, one of the very reasons Snopes is in existence today. Several major bands have been accused of using backmasking to subliminally manipulate the unaware music lovers. From Judas Priest to Led Zeppelin; From Pink Floyd to Weird Al Yankovic; These are just a few bands that have either been accused of backmasking or have partaken in it.

So leave it to Three Floyds Brewing to create a beer that pokes fun at this cultural phenomenon that, only 30 years ago, had parental advocacy groups convinced that the musicians were trying to corrupt the youth of the nation. With this in mind, you have to admit that the beer label is hilarious.

Backmasking pours a pitch black color with a brown head that has a thin creamy appearance. It's hard to tell if there's any carbonation in here but the lacing is very abundant.

The aroma starts things off with a very strong chocolate malt scent and some robust oatmeal notes. There's also a fair amount of roastiness on the back end of the nose along with some light dry hop notes. What I like about this beer is that you can actually smell the individual oats, something which I always look for in any oatmeal stout I have.

The flavor is fairly representative of the nose. For starters, you have a strong chocolate malt and oatmeal foundation but there's also a fair amount of lactose  in the middle of the palate. As for the aftertaste, it's primarily a bitter hop and roasted barley finish.

The body is fairly heavy in terms of weight and has some fairly mild carbonation. It also has a very smooth creamy texture, which helps add to the drinking experience as well as making it a bit easier to handle.

Backmasking may look intimidating, but this is actually a very smooth, flavorful, and well put together oatmeal stout and it's probably one of the best oatmeal stouts I've ever had. If you happen to see this, I would very highly recommend checking this out.

Three Floyds Backmasking - 9.25/10

Three Floyds Calumet Queen Review

Name: Three Floyds Calumet Queen
Style: Kolsch
ABV: 5%

Next up on my Three Floyds care package that I'm finally getting around to reviewing is more of an off-beat offering, at least in my opinion. The beer in question is Calumet Queen, the brewery's kolsch style ale. Up until getting this, I had only seen this beer on Beer Advocate and was always curious to see what it tasted like.

The name originates from the "Calumet Region" which is synonymous with Northwestern Indiana. Munster, which is where Three Floyds is located, is in Northwestern Indiana.

Calumet Queen pours a very pale yellow color with a mild haze to it, but otherwise fairly clear. Visible carbonation is pretty mild with a very thin white head.

The nose is fairly pale malt forward, a fruity grape (not grapefruits) scent with some barley notes and some light yeasty notes.

The flavor has some pale malts and some hop bitterness upfront. There's also some grape notes and some pilsener malts on the back of the palate.

The body is very light but the carbonation is a bit more on the moderate side. Nonetheless, it does feel very crisp and fits the overall flavor profile quite well.

In short, Calumet Queen is a nice offering from the brewery that proves to be reasonably flavorful yet sessionable beer. It's a good nice summer seasonal that's worth checking out should you get the chance.

Three Floyds Calumet Queen - 8/10

Three Floyds Alpha King Review

Name: Three Floyds Alpha King
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.66%

Recently I received a beer mail from Jared in Indiana, who was kind enough to send me a Three Floyds Brewing care package, along with a couple of extra goodies which I will get to later. The first beer I'm going cover is Alpha King, their American Pale Ale which is considered by the brewery and many others to be their flagship beer. It is also considered by many beer lovers to be the best APA (American Pale Ale) in the country, ranking right up there with the ranks of Zombie Dust (another Three Floyds beer) and Toppling Goliath's Pseudo Sue.

Now in terms of the brewery's APAs, I've never had Alpha King before I have had their Zombie Dust before which I have mentioned in a few previous posts that I regard Zombie Dust as my all-time favorite APA. Let's see if Alpha King can claim that title.

Alpha King pours a very hazy orange color with a low amount of visible carbonation. It possesses a very foamy head but pretty soapy lacing.

The aroma is very piney hop forward with some light grapefruit notes and an emphasis on the caramel maltiness. There is also some mild but noticeable hints of citrus and floral hops in here as well.

The flavor flips it around as it's very citrus and floral hop forward with some grapefruits, yeastiness and some solid caramel maltiness; All of which are very vibrant in their own way. The aftertaste is a resin piney hop bitterness, which was most prominent in the nose.

The palate has a very moderate weight to it but with some mild thickness to it and some light carbonation. It goes without saying that this is a very easy drinker.

You know, after having Alpha King, I'm strongly considering making this my new favorite American Pale Ale. It's flavor is rich, extremely vibrant yet the palate makes it very drinkable all at once. Having this beer makes me wish that I had the same availability right now, just like back when I lived in Chicago. Any beer lover absolutely owes it to themselves to try this out!

Three Floyds Alpha King - 9.5/10

Three Floyds Dreadnaught Review

Name: Three Floyds Dreadnaught 
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.5%

The name Three Floyds brings back memories of when I lived in Chicago. I remember clearly going to Binny's Beverage Depot in the Lakeview neighborhood for the first time ever, and needlessly scourging for some Dogfish Head and mulling over what to throw into my Mix-A-Six. While talking with an associate working there, a woman approached us and asked for Three Floyds Zombie Dust, to which he said he was going to grab some from the back and asked me if I wanted some, to which I said  "Yes."

When he came back, he had with him two 6-packs of Zombie Dust and the woman left with hers while we talked about beer again. Then 3 more people showed up, apparently seeing the Zombie Dust in my right hand and asked for it as well, to which the associate gave away the final ones. Before leaving, he told me "Beer geeks across America would kill their firstborn child over that beer." Puzzled, I made my purchase, went back to my apartment and did some research on Zombie Dust and found out that it was one of the most highly sought after beers in America and I had a 6-pack of it sitting on the table next to me. Was it good? It was one of the best Pale Ales I've ever had and cannot wait for the day where I can try it again. In fact, I remember right before moving to Chicago I was visiting Haskell's and a store associate told me that the equivalent of Surly in the Chicago area was Three Floyds.

When I moved back to Minnesota, I was happy to have my Surly and other local MN Beers again, but not having access to Dogfish Head and Three Floyds left an empty void in my life. Then last Friday, I decided to goto Hudson, WI and visit Casanova Liquors since it's only 20 minutes from where I work and I was craving some New Glarus and Ale Asylum (Those reviews will be coming in the near future.) As I was about to check out, I noticed a display with the trademark Three Floyds skull and below it were bombers of their Dreadnaught Imperial IPA, a Three Floyds offering that I had never had before. The rush of having a Three Floyds beer in my hand came right back to me and I snagged up 2 bombers to bring back home with me. I found a way to get Three Floyds again, and it is only a hop and a skip from where I work.

Dreadnaught pours a moderately hazy orange-yellow color with a moderate carbonation level and a very high amount of lacing along the sides of the glass.

The nose has a very sweet aroma of Peaches, Oranges, Citra-Hops and....Apricot? Quite fruity in the aroma, which is unusual for many Imperial IPAs I've had in the past which tend to smell way more hoppy as opposed to fruity.

The flavor is rich with a very nice and balanced blend of Peaches, Caramel, Citrus Hops, Toffee, and Yeasts. The aftertaste starts out very piney resin-like but ends on a Mango Sweetness note. You can definitely taste the hops but this is also very sweet tasting at the same time and its thankfully not boozy either.

The body is rather heavy in weight but that carbonation is quite mild, which helps add a bit of flavor. I would even go as far as to say that this is quite drinkable. At the same time, I would classify this as a sipper because the flavor is extremely rich and worth savoring

If you have never had Three Floyds before in your life and you happen to stumble across Dreadnaught,  grab it before someone else does! It's rich, robust, and very well balanced and quite easy to drink. I'm glad that I'm able to get access to Three Floyds and the best part is that I don't have to travel all the way to Chicago to get it. I hope that one day I'll be able to get access to their full line-up once more.

Three Floyds Dreadnaught - 9.5/10