Drunk Monk Hefeweizen
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

4.09/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a pint glass. A hazy amber-orange color with a medium sized off-white head. Great foam retention and lacing in the glass. Aromas of bananas and cloves with wheat bread. Classic. Taste followed suit. A beautiful mixture of banana and clove with neither out shining the other. A wonderful example of the style. Very well done.

 336 characters

4.24/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

On point. Banana and clove are soft. Some honey. A little pineapple fruitiness and sweet pound cake / banana breadiness. Soft and creamy mouthfeel with a moderate Aron d if carbanatii. Just a delightful beer and another example FFF nailing a classic style.

 257 characters

4/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled 7/1/15; drank 7/11/15 @ the Yarchives.

Opaque orange appearance; champagne bubbles throughout.

A rough pour yielded a loud eggnog head which quickly dissipated; no lace.

Banana, clove, mild citrus & faint black pepper notes in the nose.

Medium thick mouthfeel.

Banana & mild clove flavors up front; smooth caramel finish with black pepper bite on the lips. Faint booze heat emerged as this warmed.

A substantial, flavorful hefe.

 448 characters

4.26/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

7/28/18: $8 22 oz bomber purchased at Three Floyds in Munster, poured into large chalice. Cloudy orange pour with generous fluffy cloud like white head, solid carbonization on pour. Strong banana and wheat aroma, nice slightly sweet, very pleasant. Excellent flavor and balance, banana, wheat and other fruits. Creamy texture and mouthfeel, very smooth drinking. Excellent offering, one of my favorite Hefeweizen's I've had.

 424 characters

4.75/5  rDev +16.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Have wanted to try this beer forever. Poured from a 22 oz. bomber into a weizen glass.
Perfect one finger very light tan crown sits on top of a straw-dark golden colored beer. Not clear and a little murky. Can see my finger on the other side of the glass.
The smell is that beautiful traditional hefeweizen smell. Bananas are huge followed by a vanilla bean like sweetness.
The taste is much less prominent on the bananas are provides more balance than I expected. That vanilla bean like sweetness is still there, but the balance in it all is great. Very, very slight bitterness in the back to finish.
Wow, getting through the creamy and dense crown is amazing. It coats your mouth with the sticky sweetness.
Overall, this one really surprised me. It surprised me not in the fact that it was good but the fact of how good the balance was. Especially coming from FFF. I'm a big fan don't get me wrong but sometimes I feel like balance isn't what they go for. They make things that are going to be in your face. This is a great traditional style hefeweizen. I'm glad I got to finally try this.

 1,096 characters

4.08/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had fresh and on tap at the source in Munster, Indiana.
A very pleasant hefe- that hit the spot on a hot summer day.
Its looks, smells and tastes like the style's very best ... but 3 Floyds will not produce the standard until it controls the banana better... also a little less vanilla, please.
I particularly like that this hefe- shows 3 Floyds versatility in the craft of making malt do the work and, unlike so many other brewers, not relying on hops to sell beer.

I drank Drunk Monk 3 days later from a bottle I bought at the source and dropped my original Overall rating by .25. But still highly recommended.

 613 characters

3.99/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - nice golden Amber hazy beer with no head
S - Banana, pepper, bread, wheat, yeast
T - Banana, pepper, bread, wheat, yeast, papaya, watermelon
M - light mouthfeel, alc covered, aftertaste is banana, yeast, pepper? Bread?
O - okay. Just a great breweries version of an average beer

 283 characters

3.74/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Taste: Crisp, Belgian yeast bread, cider, semi sweet.
Malt and wheat semi sweet nose.
Gold/Amber color, opaque for the most part with lace on glass. Medium body. Easy drinking.

 176 characters

4.7/5  rDev +14.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Darker & more alcoholic than style, pours a darker amber color. Nice head. Hit with heavy phenols of banana & fruits. First sip was nirvana. This stuff is nectar of the Gods.

 180 characters

4.16/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Poured cold into a hefe glass. Can’t make out bottling date but I’m pretty sure it was bottled sometime in August 2014, consumed on 9/25/14.
Look = 4.25 Pours a mostly clear golden straw color with 2 fingers of frothy off white head. There are a few bubbles streaming through it. Head fades to a light cap, good retention and great lace.
Aroma = 4.5 The backbone of the aroma is wheat and pale malts. Can quickly pick up the esters that provide banana notes and there is some spice notes too. A hint of bubblegum, great complex aroma.
Taste = 4.0 Wheat and pale malts, the banana hits on the backend of the taste and lingers into the aftertaste. Some bubblegum notes too.
Feel = 3.75 Medium bodied with low carbonation, not crisp but more silky; a little on the flat side.
Drinkability = 4.0 Easy drinking and somewhat refreshing.
Overall = 4.125 Nice and complex, a lot of different aromas and flavors keep things interesting. Pretty solid hefe all around.

 968 characters

4.37/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A weird, wicked hefe weisse, this flax-fringed, golden-brown-hearted beer is nearly just the sort of treatment you'd expect with Three Floyds stepping out of their APA/DIPA wheelhouse. Extremely effervescent, it's also essentially opaque: a little light leaks through around the edges (decanted into a Three Floyds tulip-pint), illuminating the ale's pale malting, but the yeasty turbidity is dense throughout, giving Drunk Monk a heady, hefty, yet altogether heavenly appearance.

But the bubbles fight the visual feeling, and indeed the actual lilting cadence of this weisse in the mouth is not just pleasant but a bit ethereal, especially considering its category. Splitting the bomber, my drinking-companion even compared it (favorably) to a Norman cidre in its forceful, sharp gaseousness—a quality that serves to successfully cut the otherwise big "banana, vanilla, and clove notes", and which is presumably likewise what qualifies this as a "hefe weisse from space".

As it is, the spicing is pretty much perfect: base notes of creamy vanilla, inflected with persistent clove punch, both of which surround and support the top-level yeasty esters and banana-bready and orange-flower flavoring notes. The aforementioned citric elements, plus the very mild but effective bitter notes in the finish, seem to proceed from some extremely delicate but intentional hopping, another layer accrued atop a wheat base that never overwhelms but nonetheless doesn't stray too far from the strictures of the style.

I liked Drunk Monk a lot when I had it nine or ten months ago in the taproom, but I think it has even more pop—and I like it even better—out of the bomber. Who knows: its excellence may have been swallowed up that day by the beers I drank around it; but, as a lunch-time, first-of-the-day beer, it really is a nice, 3F-consummate treatment of the beating wheat heart of Bavaria.

 1,897 characters

4.19/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

1 PINT 6 FL OZ bottle
Served in a weizen glass

L - It is cloudy once I disturbed the yeast at the bottom of the bottle. The beer is orange/yellow in color with a thick, creamy, off-white head that is continually fed by a stream of bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass.

S - The scent of banana cream is in the air. The smell reminds me of banana pudding.

T - This is a flavorful beer. Of course there is plenty of banana. I get some spices from the yeast as well. It is a great combination of flavors.

F - It is rather full bodied for a hefe.

O - This is probably one of the best American hefes that I have tried. I typically avoid the style unless it is a German brewer. It is well done and comparable to some of the better German versions of this style.

 766 characters

3.91/5  rDev -4.4%

Bottle from some fantasy baseball winnings. Thanks, Derek! Pours hazy yellow golden with a fluffy white 2 finger head that dissipates quickly. Really nice aroma of banana esters, honey, yeasty hefe funk, pears, sweetness. Flavor is sweet banana esters, light honey sweetness, pears, yeasty yeasties, lingering sweetness. Light bodied with plus carbonation as expected from the style. This is really nicely done actually.

 420 characters

4.87/5  rDev +19.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

This beer is full of clove and banana Esters. Absolutely delicious! A perfect balance of wheat malts, Deutschland yeast, and hopps. An artisan's hefeweissen, made to perfection.

 178 characters

4/5  rDev -2.2%

22oz bottle poured into snifter

A- Well filtered, light oragnge with thin, whispy white head
S- Banana, clove, light malts
T- A touch of sweetness from the malts. Spices give a over ripe banana taste that is enjoyable.
M- Thin

O- Nice, traditional Hefe here!

 263 characters

4/5  rDev -2.2%

The aroma is like a banana candy, sweet and sugary. There's a bit of vanilla, bubblegum, light yeast and spice on the nose as well. The flavor is more peppery than clove with a mellow banana and a doughy malt.

I tend not to gravitate to a Hefeweizen as my palate always perceives cloves but this one is quite good and ranks amongst my favorites.

 346 characters

4.51/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

22oz bottle poured into a pint glass

A- Pours hazy golden yellow with a one finger white head.
S- Hay, wheat, clove and banana. textbook.
T- A bold and refreshing burst of flavor on the tongue. A ton of clove on the tongue and a massive banana. Very true to the beers description. The malt is thick, creamy and has a lot of feel. A vanilla and a hint of caramel from the malt. Subtle herbal note as well as a slight spice and undeniable Belgian yeast.
M- It remains easy drinking, has a great texture and is refreshing. Excellent.
O- One of the best Hefe's I have had and without a doubt the best in the states.

 613 characters

3.84/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22 ounce bottle into weizen glass; no bottle dating, but was released fairly recently. Pours very hazy golden orange color with a 1 finger fairly dense white head with decent retention, that reduces to a spotty lace cap that lingers. Minimal lacing clings on the glass. Aromas of big orange peel, pear, apple, banana, apricot, wheat, bread, bubblegum, clove, pepper, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, malt, hop notes; with good strength. Taste of orange peel, apricot, banana, pear, apple, wheat, bread, clove, bubblegum, light pepper, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness. Lingering notes of orange peel, apricot, banana, pear, apple, wheat, bread, clove, bubblegum, herbal, floral, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance, complexity, and robustness of fruity/spicy yeast, malt, and moderate hop flavors; with zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a lightly creamy and very smooth mouthfeel that is good. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very nice hefeweizen. All around good balance, robustness, and complexity of fruity/spicy yeast, malt, and moderate hop flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

 1,331 characters

3.84/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

A - Pours a hazy orange with a foamy white head that holds nice to a nice thin cap.

S - Coriander, banana peel, spices.

T - Strong fruity and banana flavor, followed by some spices.

O - Solid Heffe - Nice robust flavors.

Notes - thanks PDF for sharing.

 258 characters

3.71/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

First and foremost...I am not a huge Hefe fan so I probably wont rate this as high as others. The beer was poured carefully as to avoid the sediment that amassed at the bottom of the bottle. The beer was a golden clear with no head and no lace. The scent was typical of most....probably leaned more towards clove than banana. The taste had decent spiciness to it and the clove and banana balanced fairly well. The mouthfeel was medium in body with good carbonation. Overall it was good....and certainly worth a try.

 515 characters

3.84/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4

Bottle picked up 2 months ago when i was in town. Enjoyed from a FFF teku.

a - brew poured a rich yet transparent orange with a thin bubbly head that bubbled away almost instantly.

s - nose is big bubble gum and banana bread to a tee.

t - exactly as the nose advertised. Banana bread with bubble gum.

m - zingy and heavily carbonated, almost prickly. Not sure why others claim under carb. Although minimal head, this puppy is fizzy.

o - overall, i really enjoyed this beer. Everything is in the right place. If anything, I would dial back the aggressiveness on the carbonation and the bite. Solid hefe.

 607 characters

3.83/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

The beer is dark orange with only a mild haziness. The head is surprisingly nonexistent for a hefeweizen. Even an aggressive pour yields very little cap. The aroma offers some bubble gum like sweetness. Banana, clove, sugary candies. The taste is a little better than the aroma, lacking the cloying sweetness I had feared. A bit of prickly carbonation, in spite of the nearly still and lifeless appearance. Overall, a pretty solid beer.

 436 characters

4.03/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Nice for the style. Very smooth...wish it had a bit more carbonation...had a slightly flat taste to it, but really, really nice. Deep yellow/amber in color...I bumped up the taste because it was just really good....some extra carb and this would have been right on, but all in all and awesome heff!!!

 300 characters

3.47/5  rDev -15.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a cloudy yellowish-orange color with a nice bgright glare. The head was a big and rocky one at first, nice white pillow that seemed to just die in about five seconds leaving a few bubbles. With the amount of wheat in this beer the retention should have been bettr and a head retention is a staple of the style guidelines

S: A big whiff reveals much of what I was exopecting-wheat, wheat and more wheat with a nice ripe banana note and a dash of vanilla

T: Initial wheat upfront with a rush of ripe banans to follow. The vanilla provides a little sweetness which I don't actually like in this beer and is a little much for the style. Traditionally, a moderate vanilla is acceptable on the nose but not so much in flavor. The finish is a bit heavy to me, sticky evem sweet and really not that refreshing

M: Medium bodied, a bit undercarbonated I felt, really not crisp but somewhat creamy and silky on texture

O: Not a bad weiss or hefe but not something I would recommend or routinely go back to.

 1,009 characters

4.43/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22 oz. bottle poured into a Franziskaner weissbier glass.

A - Pours a pale wheat yellow. A full five-finger head of eggshell white fluffy foam quickly sets up and them visibly explodes bubble by bubble until all the suds have disappeared, which takes several minutes. Held to a full-spectrum light, the beer is a mango orange/gold and very cloudy, with barely visible traces of bubbles rising to the surface. There's also a good half-finger worth of sediment left in the bottle, so either slowly roll the bottle before opening or be very careful not to disturb it when pouring.

S - Wheat grass to start with notes of light toast, followed by banana ice cream with a light, fresh apricot syrup and hints of clove. Richer than a standard hefe, and wandering in the direction of a dunkel. Toward the end after it warms, the banana esters march to the front and take on an almost banana-butterscotch quality.

T - Clove is more forward in the taste profile. Bananas are tasty and ripe, almost as if they're lightly carameled, and spread on wheat toast with a touch of medium-dark honey. Yeasty. There's also a sense of freshly cut Granny Smith apples lurking in the background. Traces of vanilla taffy and Juicy Fruit gum spread across the tongue in the finish, and the clove reappears with a touch of white pepper to balance.

M - On the fizzy side and decently crisp. Moderate carbonation. Body is a notch up from light and thin, showing a tight structural substance in the well-integrated components that's slick and smooth. Finish is short and just a touch bubblegum sweet, but predominately clean. At points, the beer is almost chewey. The overall feel is one of quality throughout.

O - This recipe demonstrates that FFF can brew outstanding and delicious beers that feature something other than hops. This is more than simply beer - it's a liquid dessert. Clearly made from high-quality ingredients, it's rich, complex, and lucious without being at all thick or cloying. It's a fantasic interpretation of the style, and true to it while at the same time turning up the saturation on the style's flavors. From the brewery, this bomber was $10 and worth every penny.

 2,169 characters