Alpha Naught (2015)
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

The alpha naught is a big beer and certainly worth a try. It poured a clear orangish with white head that left some lace. The scent had fresh floral and pine hop with tinge of bitterness. The taste was bitter through the drink but there was enough malt to make it drinkable. The Mouthfeel was fuller in body with smooth carbonation. Overall it was a solid beer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz pour on tap at Local Option, served in a short chalice, unlabeled glass. Enjoyed on 8.12.15, reviewed from tasting journal.

The beer pours a pleasant hazy copper color, cloudy texture with a finger of foamy white head, good retention and lace. The aroma is super earthy, pungent pine, bitter and spicy hops, resinous, rindy, a bit of tropical fruit and plenty of assertive, pale cereal grains as well. A total overload on the nose, huge hops, huge malt, very aggressive bitterness. The flavors are more of the same, plenty of intense cereal grains to start, quite the malt forward beer but as it warms, the earthy and aggressively bitter hops give way to nice juicy hops, tropical, fruity, citrusy, still piney and spicy, resinous as well, but a bit more depth and brightness is available. The mouthfeel is solid, coating, medium body, creamy but lively with an easy finish that has a nice dry snap.


Verdict: A decent Imperial IPA (Triple IPA?) from Three Floyds. Certainly not a normal beer as expected, super big and aggressive in every way possible. I think I like the parts more than the sum here, Alpha King is a steady favorite and Dreadnaught is exceptional, but this just feels average, too big, too bold, too bitter, too much everything. A novel experiment in taking two beers to their limits.