Three Floyds Brewery

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I visited my brother in Chicago and Saturday we ventured into Indiana to visit the Three Floyds Brewery. I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance. Nice people, simply amazing beer, and a great vision. Many breweries make good beer -- but 3F's beers are across the board top notch. Every beer that I tried was consistently excellent, and did something unique with the style. That said, my favorite was the Lord Admiral Nelson, a hoppified ESB.

I briefly chatted with their general manager, Dan, who was both inspiring in his communication of the brewery's vision, and generous with his time in answering my questions. He led the brewery tour, which was -- although meant for a general audience -- quite enjoyable in terms of understanding the brewery's niche and why they do what they do.

Cheers to 3F! If you get a chance check them out, or find a friend who can get their hands on a bottle and have them send it your way -- you will not be disappointed.



Plus they have sweet (and shiny) labels:


Edit: And I meant to say, their brewpub's food is quite tasty. I recommend the schnitzel, but I also hear that their sandwiches are delicious.

MMMMMMMMMM Darklord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought Dark Lord was a LOT ovverrated. I've had so many better imperial stout type beers that I don't get the hype at all. It is too hot, has an odd soy sauce flavor (not as bad as Sam Adams Triple Bock, but noticeable) and really, not very well balanced or tasty.

I did have their fresh hop beer, gumballhead, and alpha king, and I thought those were nice. I also had a fresh bottle off Alpha Klaus that was good, but didn't blow me away. My take is that they're pretty good, but their following is a bit much.

3F's is great, if i could only drink one commercial beer for the rest of my life it would be Alpha King. Love that stuff.

I stopped at the Brew Pub once and was appalled by how rude the employees were. Maybe the brewery is different.

those labels are pretty sweet

Stopped in there a couple of weeks ago. I liked the Lord Admiral Nelson as well. I just wish I lived closer so I could partake of those pub-only offerings more often.

I read something the other day saying that they might start bottling the L. A. Nelson.

carnevoodoo said:

I thought Dark Lord was a LOT ovverrated. I've had so many better imperial stout type beers that I don't get the hype at all. It is too hot, has an odd soy sauce flavor (not as bad as Sam Adams Triple Bock, but noticeable) and really, not very well balanced or tasty.

I did have their fresh hop beer, gumballhead, and alpha king, and I thought those were nice. I also had a fresh bottle off Alpha Klaus that was good, but didn't blow me away. My take is that they're pretty good, but their following is a bit much.

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Well, as they say, "-there ain't no countin' for taste." Alpha King is one of my favorite beers ever, Gumball Head is one of my wife's favorite wheats, and although I haven't been able to get a glass of Dark Lord or any of the others yet, I look forward to it.
Breweries seem to have followings who either like or don't like their products. For instance, I greatly enjoy Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, Founders and Flying Dog. I don't particularly appreciate the beers produced by New Belgium or Magic Hat. And, IMHO, the world is plenty big enough for these differences in taste.

Cascadian said:

I read something the other day saying that they might start bottling the L. A. Nelson.

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That'd be cool. I'd like to see that in sixers. Seems like anything beyond Alpha King or Pride and Joy ends up in bombers.

rico567 said:

Well, as they say, "-there ain't no countin' for taste." Alpha King is one of my favorite beers ever, Gumball Head is one of my wife's favorite wheats, and although I haven't been able to get a glass of Dark Lord or any of the others yet, I look forward to it.
Breweries seem to have followings who either like or don't like their products. For instance, I greatly enjoy Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, Founders and Flying Dog. I don't particularly appreciate the beers produced by New Belgium or Magic Hat. And, IMHO, the world is plenty big enough for these differences in taste.

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I totally agree. Although, I don't know anyone who likes Magic Hat. haha. Founders is pretty damn great. I wish we could get more of that out here.

I have had mixd experiences with 3f some good and some bad, and I have visited alot of brewpubs. I have to say that nothing beats the beer at the brewpub. The food and service so so.

I loves some Alpha King as well.

I was also in Chicago during the holiday - I hit up Piece and Goose Island - both excellent. Stopped by and scored some bulk malt at MidCountry on my way out of town. A great vacation if I say so myself!

Their Robert the Bruce is one of my favorite beers.

I am going to try to get a ticket for dark lord day next year.

carnevoodoo said:

I totally agree. Although, I don't know anyone who likes Magic Hat. haha. Founders is pretty damn great. I wish we could get more of that out here.

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I've only had 2 of the Magic Hat brews, the #9 and the Lucky Kat IPA. I'm not crazy about the #9, but a lot of my girl friends like it a lot. I REALLY like the Lucky Kat though. I just polished off the last of a 6 pack tonight. It's GREAT with some pizza IMO.

Three Floyds makes nice beers. I have to add that I was not that impressed with the staff at the brewpub.

Alpha Klaus is a nice xmas porter!!!

No mention of Dreadnaught yet? My favorite IIPA and I've been trying a lot lately.

3F's makes good beer but some can be a bit kitschy. Seriously? An overhopped wheat? Good to try, not to drink all the time. Make me a stellar Hefe!

That ESB sounds great, and I'd love to try the dark lord. I doubt it will touch Peche Mortal though. :rockin:

carnevoodoo said:

I thought Dark Lord was a LOT ovverrated. I've had so many better imperial stout type beers that I don't get the hype at all. It is too hot, has an odd soy sauce flavor (not as bad as Sam Adams Triple Bock, but noticeable) and really, not very well balanced or tasty.

I did have their fresh hop beer, gumballhead, and alpha king, and I thought those were nice. I also had a fresh bottle off Alpha Klaus that was good, but didn't blow me away. My take is that they're pretty good, but their following is a bit much.

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I would love to know what RIS is better than Dark Lord. I was cautious when I was going to taste it, figuring it was over hyped, but damn, that is the best beer I have ever had so far. I had the 2009 bottle in August. Amazing. Pretty much the complete opposite of your description.

Gumballhead on tap, mmmm. I've had most of their beers bottled, all of them have been awesome.

Yeah, I've never experienced those flavors from Dark Lord, and I've had 3 bottles over the years. Always think it's overcarbed for the style, though - that's my main gripe.

I havn't had the pleasure of trying the dark lord so far but i have heard people say that they have had a better RIS.

Alright, now I have to hunt this Darklord down.

Quite a task. I forgot how good the BrooDoo is as well.

You really need to age Dark Lord before trying it. The samples of 2009 Dark Lord at Dark Lord day were not that stellar, the 2008 Dark Lord (Vanilla bourbon barrel aged) were absolutely amazing and I'm working on trying to clone it.

oldschool said:

I havn't had the pleasure of trying the dark lord so far but i have heard people say that they have had a better RIS.

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I'd really like to know what they think is better so I can pick some up and thank them or call them crazy.

I just moved to hammond and live about 5 minutes away from it now. I'm there at least once a week. I've only had one bad encounter with a waitress there, but then again you'll have that anywhere you go. Love the beer and everyone is almost always friendly!

ODaniel said:

I'd really like to know what they think is better so I can pick some up and thank them or call them crazy.

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I think a lot of RISs are better: Alesmith Speedway Stout; Southern Tier's line: Mokah, Javah, Choklat; etc. Dark Lord's reputation is from rarity and hype, but it's really not all that. Great, yes, but so are a lot of other Impy Stouts out there.

PseudoChef said:

I think a lot of RISs are better: Alesmith Speedway Stout; Southern Tier's line: Mokah, Javah, Choklat; etc. Dark Lord's reputation is from rarity and hype, but it's really not all that. Great, yes, but so are a lot of other Impy Stouts out there.

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I've been wanting to try the Alesmith, but I have no idea where to get that. I guess none of the better ones I can get here. I do love Bells Expedition, but DL was much better IMO. Got any more suggestions so I can keep an eye out? I just saw The Party Source here might have Southern Tier, but I doubt it. Liquor Barn doesn't I know.

Victory Storm King is a pretty good RIS as well. I can't compare it to Dark Lord, since my lone bottle of Dark Lord is still unopened.

ODaniel said:

I've been wanting to try the Alesmith, but I have no idea where to get that. I guess none of the better ones I can get here. I do love Bells Expedition, but DL was much better IMO. Got any more suggestions so I can keep an eye out? I just saw The Party Source here might have Southern Tier, but I doubt it. Liquor Barn doesn't I know.

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Expedition is pretty good too. Because I'm a stupid scientist, it really all comes down to go out and get lots of RISs, set up a blind taste test, don't get too stumblin' drunk, and see what you like the best!

Saying, that, I have never had DL next to another RIS.

I love 3F and a lot of their brews: Alpha King/Klaus, Broodoo, Dreadnaught, Blackheart, Gumballhead, Dark Lord, etc. Wonderful brewery, and we need more like them. The brewpub is a sweet too. They have pretty good food, and a great beer selection. But you can run into ******-bags there, but in my experience they were customers not employees. The employees I met were pretty cool.

Don't forget Robert the Bruce.

They're all good beers.

I think it's interesting that people go out of their way to express their negative opinions about Dark Lord and to claim that it is overrated because of rarity. This thread (and others I have read as well) was not about DL, but somebody needed to throw their negative opinion out there anyway. It's a great beer, and like most completely rare beers, opinions boost it's rating because its so hard to get. It's still an amazing RIS, and while not my favorite RIS, I have never had one even close to it (in the terms of what it does).

Westveleteren 12 is an amazing beer, but not the best quad I've ever had. But I don't go proclaiming that in every thread about Trappist beers. I mean c'mon. It is your opinion. You are not letting out a well kept secret.

I was there on Saturday too, that's funny. I've done the brewery tour before so I skipped it this time. There is definitely one a$$ that works there and he treated several customers like crap.

I love the food there and the beer is stellar. Like someone mentioned earlier, the 2008 Dark Lord day served a vanilla aged Dark Lord that was absolutely out of this world. My wife hates beer and she LOVED this beer. I have tried most of the hyped up RIS out there and this one smokes them all.

I bought myself a bomber of PopSkull, Alpha Klaus (love this stuff), and a sixer of Alpha King to bring home. I drank a Gumballhead and a the Dunkel they had on tap and both are great beers. Wish I would have tried the Admiral Lord Nelson though, that was the only one on the menu I haven't tried.

I couldn't find any info on their website about their tours. Do they have a set day and time?

PseudoChef said:

Yeah, I've never experienced those flavors from Dark Lord, and I've had 3 bottles over the years. Always think it's overcarbed for the style, though - that's my main gripe.

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It isn't just me! Look at the very first review on there (jeffthechef) for a 2009 bottle. I had to look up reviews for this because I know I'm not crazy.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26/7520

Yea, the lord admiral nelson was pretty much the exact beer I've been looking for... or maybe I'm just missing ESB's from my time in london. Up until now, I've sworn by Mac and Jack's, but damn I liked the admiral...

KUbrew said:

I couldn't find any info on their website about their tours. Do they have a set day and time?

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3 pm saturdays it seems. I mean, it's not a tour for brewers really -- you know the standard "what are the four ingredients for beer" type of deal. But, I enjoyed the POV about the brewery's niche in the greater beer community.

Oh, and I'd take a bottle of 2008 Abyss, Kate the Great, Old Rasputin (preferably an anniversary barrel aged one), Speedway Stout (even better barrel aged!), HaandBryggeriet Dark Force Stout, and a couple from Pizza Port Carlsbad (Tovarish and Night Rider come to mind) over another shot at Dark Lord any day.

Maybe the '09 vintage just sucks, though. Every brewery has their missteps.

bdnoona said:

I think it's interesting that people go out of their way to express their negative opinions about Dark Lord and to claim that it is overrated because of rarity. This thread (and others I have read as well) was not about DL, but somebody needed to throw their negative opinion out there anyway. It's a great beer, and like most completely rare beers, opinions boost it's rating because its so hard to get. It's still an amazing RIS, and while not my favorite RIS, I have never had one even close to it (in the terms of what it does).

Westveleteren 12 is an amazing beer, but not the best quad I've ever had. But I don't go proclaiming that in every thread about Trappist beers. I mean c'mon. It is your opinion. You are not letting out a well kept secret.

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Calling Dark Lord overrated has nothing to do with its rarity. It has to do with its hype in relation to the quality of the product. It might be a good beer for some, but I found it to be less than impressive, and I'm not the only person who thinks so. I don't put down beer because it is popular or because everyone loves it. I called it overrated because that's what I think of it. Selling tickets to get in line for a bottle of beer you then have to pay for makes this one of the most hyped releases in the country. It is nowhere near as good as the hype or most of the reviews. That's pretty much what overrated means, isn't it?

Also, this is a thread about Three Floyds. It is pretty much pertinent to the conversation. Randomly calling out Westy 12 in a quad conversation is not a very good comparison to talking about a beer from a brewery in a thread about that brewery. I'm not being a dick here, I just have a varying opinion, and if nobody had one of those, we'd all be carbon copies and boring.

Sorry it doesn't follow your line of thought, but my opinion, and those who disagree with you are just as valid to share what they think. You say "amazing", I say "middling at best". Opinions. Rad.

I grew up in Indiana and unfortunately never visited TF, but am already planning a trip home to see family (read: attend Dark Lord Day 2010). I'm not sure why I never visited seeing as Robert the Bruce is by far my favorite beer and has been wearing that crown for years. The only craft brewery I managed to visit was Backroad Brewery, and while that was an excellent facility with good brew and a fantastic owner, I feel like I robbed myself of approximately 5 years of delicious RtB and other experience.

On a side note, Lord Admiral Nelson is on the radar and I will hopefully possess an ample amount via mail soon....

ODaniel said:

I would love to know what RIS is better than Dark Lord.

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I guess it depends on what you want. I thought there wasn't enough hop bitterness to balance (cloying) and wasn't enough roasted flavor. I prefer Yeti, Old Rasputin, and Rogue RIS.

We can certainly both agree that Dark Lord is bigger than almost every other stout. Beyond that it is going to be subjective.