Pillar Of Beasts - Coconut
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

 

Picked up a 12 oz bottle from Shangy's in Emmaus, PA on 9-23-25 for $6.49. 2025 edition consumed 3-2-26.

Beer poured murky brown with a pretty good off white head.

Nose is barrel forward with notes of coconut and vanilla.

Taste is a very large malt base in which i am not getting the typical dark fruit associated with this style but i do get a ton of caramel, vanilla, and coconut. Barrel brings lots of additional warmth and bourbon flavor, leaving it style appropriately balanced.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth.

Overall, a tasty barleywine variant for a reasonable price. Always fun to try the 3 Floyds high gravity brews!

Had on tap. Barely clear brown body, beige head. Big coconut, caramel, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, and sweet malts in the nose, with whispers of barley and barrel. Taste has all the same elements, but a tick more of a balance between the sweet notes and the barley/barrel base. Feel is thick and medium-heavy in weight, little chewy, sugars are there too, cooler for a BA beer. A dessert barleywine, but well done

 

 

 

Minimal foam in the snifter with clear amber-brown brew. Aromatic with toffee, if it has an aroma, all wafted up on fumes of alcohol. Flavors of dates, butter, and brown sugar, like spoonfuls of it. Somehow this seems even sweeter than caramel candy. I would hesitate to pour it on ice cream, even. Still, this is an impressive sweet heat, though I would add that it tastes almost entirely like beer. Oh, coconut? I hadn't noticed. From the 12 oz bottle.

Poured into a mead snifter from bottle.

Light brown with brief off-white head with no lacing.

Aroma is sweet caramel and bourbon with toasted coconut and medium and dark crystal malts.

Flavor is more intense in with more caramel and bourbon and not shy coconut in a medium and dark crystal malt base. A little bit of fruity yeast ester. Flavor is similar to aroma but higher intensity. A little musty earthiness in the finish and aftertaste. The flavor is sweet and a little fatiguing as you work through the 12oz bottle.

Mouthfeel is very drinkable for a 14%+ Abv beer with medium-full body and sticky finish.

Coconut Pillar of Beasts from 3Floyds is an interesting BA barleywine which is very sweet but still reasonably drinkable for the high ABV. Worth a try.

A rich, elegant, and beautiful barleywine that perfectly combines salted caramel, coconut, and vanilla for a great taste and smell. A bit sweet in some areas, yet all around great for a barleywine.

Not a bad beer, too sweet for my taste.
Defi nately can smell and taste the coconut and the salted caramel. Noce bitterness on backend but not enough to overcome the sweetness.

 

 

3 Floyds Pillar of Beasts Coconut 12mo BBA English Barleywine, 14.6% ABV. Pours dark brown with a slight ring of brown bubbles. Aroma is light bourbon, caramel, and coconut. Taste is caramel/toffee, coconut, vanilla, bourbon, quite sweet, slightly bitter, some bourbon burn, salt on the close. Decent mouthfeel, leaving sticky lips. Overall outstanding.

12oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a ruby brown color with a one-finger foamy off-white head that reduces to a ring

S- I don't know if it's the mash bill, but aroma initially smells just like a Bruery Anniversary Ale. Very malty and boozy nose with plenty of caramel. Notes of pipe tobacco, leather, raisins, figs, dark cherries. As it warms, the barrel really comes through; wet oak, barrel juice & vanilla. It also adds a coconut note that emphasizes the addition of the actual coconut, giving a creamy coconut note. Light chocolate closes it out

T- sweet caramel dominates up front, but not cloyingly sweet. Dark fruit notes follow; raisin, fig, black cherry. Mid-palate brings out oaky bourbon that adds some peppery notes, followed by a creamy coconut flavor. The finish gives more sweet caramel with a complimenting barrel note. Lingers of caramel, bourbon and coconut

M- medium body with moderate carbonation leads to a viscous mouthfeel that turns slightly creamy into a warming finish

O- the caramel and coconut are great compliments to the extended barrel aging, well done

From my trusted Liquor store...

Pillar of Beasts from 3 Floyds. Received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine and Stout BIF #2. 12 fl oz capped bottle. Received 26/02/25, reviewed 09/03/25 (Review 3466). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol. Etched above the front shoulder, invisible on the cold full bottle but visible on the warm empty one “BOTTLED 2022.”. Stored at home at 39 degrees F and served at 56.8 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 60.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Medium Amber (SRM 12), murky.
Body – Medium Amber (SRM 12), with distinct caramel overtones, opaque. Under direct light, same but a large quantity of fine precipitate is visible inside the glass. When rear-lite, translucent reddish orange.
Head – Average (Maximum 1.5 cm, aggressive center pour), light tan, high density and fizzy, quickly gone, leaving a 0.0 – 0.1 cm bubble ring, constantly being renewed, and a roiling center, reproducing the Hawaiian Islands.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.5 – Caramel and brown sugar. No hops, no yeast, no bourbon, no barrel, no alcohol.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly sweet with caramel, followed by some brown sugar. No hops, no malt, no yeast. No alcohol (14.6% ABV, according to the label), but moderate gastric warming does occur. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Absolutely no bourbon or barrels. A bit of salt on the aftertaste which yields to weak coconut at the higher temperatures.
Palate – 4 – Medium: not quite creamy: soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the loose style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 3.75 Somehow, this ends with sour notes – maybe all the murk-producing stuff isn’t supposed to be there? But the ethanol content should prevent noticeable infection… Ok, summing up: Starts off slightly sweet and caramelly, but ends slightly sour and burning. Maybe some suppressed contamination – dunno, but the initial flavors of caramel and brown sugar are good, and the faint coconut is somewhat jarring. Too bad the bourbon barrels didn’t survive. Glad I got to try this – Thanks Craig! – but I probably won’t buy any bottles I see on shelves. The label is correct – “It’s Not Normal.”

It's pretty expensive, but I'm likely to buy it again.

 

Purchased at Bound Beverage, Warrington, PA. $23.50/4pk, 12oz bottles

Pours a very opaque, mahogany, reddish color. Very small whiteish head that rapidly fades to just a skim.

Aromas of dark fruits like dates, plums and a slight vanilla smell.

An intensely boozy barleywine but full with flavors. Picking up a wide range of flavors-caramel , vanilla, raisins, dark fruits and malts. The advertised coconut isn’t really a main part of the flavor profile. The bourbon barrel aging is done perfectly. Rather sweet but not cloying. As mentioned, the high 14.6% is right there to smack you and reminds you that this is a beast of a beer.

Thicker, viscous consistency with small bubble carbonation.

An outstanding brew. A sipper for sure. A really enjoyed this beer and although on the pricier side, well worth the price. Highly recommended…cheers!

It's important to note the color of the label when buying or reviewing this beer. The label does mention coconut but it isn't prominent. The pink label seems to indicate that this is different from regular Pillar of Beasts.

I don't see any date listed on the bottle or label.

Appearance: The body is nearly still, there is some faint carbonation that forms a short off-white head that quickly vanishes. Some small bubbles form like goosebumps on the surface. The body is a murky tawny brown.

Aroma: Alcohol hits the nose first which is shortly followed by notes of caramel and vanilla. The aroma is soft, mellow, and pleasant.

Taste: Vanilla hits the palate first, then there is this flavor of coconut. It tastes a bit like a mounds bar. A caramel flavor joins the middle of the mouth but it fizzes out with the carbonation and leaves vanilla and coconut on the tongue.

Mouthfeel: The body is thin and the carbonation is higher than a usual Barleywine, whether it is English or American. Both of these accentuate the alcohol burn. The label does state "ALC. 14.6% BY VOL." and it does not hide it well. Aside from the alcohol character the beer feels very sweet with nothing to balance it.

Overall: The label states that this is a "BARLEYWINE ALE BREWED WITH COCONUT AND SALTED CARAMEL IN OAK BARRELS." It is possible that the vanilla character came from the oak barrels and both the coconut and caramel characters are present, so the beer definitely delivers what is advertised. Unfortunately the presentation is messy when it comes to the carbonation and the overall heat. The coconut and vanilla character are good enough that I'd still recommend it but only as a single pour or even a sampler. It isn't something I would likely buy more than a bottle of again. I might buy it again in the future to see if it changes from year to year or I might age a bottle.