Alien Porter
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

 

 

Unlike anything seen in this universe, leave it to Three Floyds to bring us hoppy, summery ale. But this is no normal ale. Its a dark, toasty, malty porter with the unique highlights of drinkability and hopping that only the brewery can provide.

Medium brown and carrying the austere of a frothy columbian cup o' joe, the beer entices the senses with overt coffee aromas along with toast, caramel and a potpourri of citrus, herb and leaf. Applying a moderately sweet film on the front of the tongue, the early palate leads with those caramel, chocolate and dry toffee tastes.

But the focus quickly shifts toward the hops as the porter tramples the middle palate. Sweetness lifts and the remnants of malt continue a robust trek on the heels of toast, pepper, pecan, coffee and cocoa. But the story of its flavor is the hops, and they hit the tongue with grapefruit peel and orange peel before trending dry, resinous and bitter with pine, stem, leaf and an overall herbal vegetal bite.

Medium bodied but with a robust taste, the beer leaves the senses thinking that its a fuller beer. But its drinkability is dry, clean and dedicated to hop bitterness. A medium long linger of slightly burnt toast and citrus oils duel out a sharp taste of freshly shaven pine and an overall grassiness in aftertaste.

 

Tasted in a pint glass from draught at Firkin on May 5, 2017. Look is dark brown with a thick tan head and sticky lacing. Smell is dark roasted malt. Feel is medium in body with a slightly dry finish.

 

Kegged summer 2015; drank 7/9/15 on tap @ Three Floyd's.

Brown/black appearance.

Khaki head; a curtain of lace.

Faint citrus & faint smoke notes in the nose; not much odor at all.

Medium mouthfeel.

Very mild citrus & smoke flavors up front; faint grapefruit bite on the finish. Boring & barely there.

 

 

 

 

 

On both the chalkboard and whiteboard at the bar (in two seperate locations), this was listed on-tap as 10% ABV. I can't find anything about it on 3 Floyds website, so either there was an error at the bar, or what I tried was a higher-gravity batch. In any case, my friend described this as a "black IPA," a characterization that I personally contest. While the main flavor characteristic is hops, I would not describe this beer as insanely bitter. There is no hop-bite, and the hop-flavor is more juicy, fruity/citrusy than intensely bitter. That being said, the hop-flavor does not compete with the maltiness of the porter, but rather accents it without overpowering it, such that both flavor profiles are detectable making for a rather nuanced tasting experience. This reminded me very much of a juicier, fruiter baltic porter.

 

 

On tap at Stacks Bar and Grill in Valparaiso, served in a snifter glass.

Look- A cola brown with hardly a trace of foam.

Smell- Heavy pine, caramel malt and a hint of fusel alcohol.

Taste- Pine forward followed by caramel malt and a rye-like spice in the finish.

Feel- Thin, but a bit oily.

Overall- Listed as a Black IPA on the beer menu and a Porter here. I'm leaning more towards the IPA with the predominance of pine and oily feel. If it is indeed a Porter, it's the strangest and hoppiest I ever had. Not a bad beer, just 'not normal' I guess?

I was expecting a porter not a black IPA. It was alright...

L- Dark, dark brown with 1 finger of head... poured on tap
S- Spruce tips, chocolate malt
T- Follows the nose. Hoppy in the piney way. Behind that is a semi-traditional porter
F- Spot on for a porter
O- Interesting beer. Imagine a middle of the road porter with a bunch of pine thrown in. I thought it was decent

This is a hard beer to rate because it taste like a hoppy ale instead of a porter. The hop flavor is quite strong and overwhelms what porter-y qualities it might have. The good thing is that, overall, it tastes pretty good. The bad thing is that it pretty much ignores the porter style and does its own thing. Not a bad beer, but not a classic for the ages, either.