Alpha Klaus Christmas (Xmas) Porter
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

Weird combination of a lot of roasted malt with a good amount of carbonation and a lighter body, plus a very hoppy back end. To me, it's more of a chilled out, drinkable black ipa with all the hop character. The roasted malt flavor is less bitter coffee and more less sweetened chocolate which is fun. Definitely not in the same category as barrel aged and dessert porters, this one is lighter and refreshing while still having an interesting flavor and evolution.

 

You can call it a Christmas porter if you want. Not much anything Christmas about it but that doesn't make it any less delicious. Smell is what gets you first with the Mexican sugar and strange American hops. Taste is good and bold without being overly sweet. Nice chocolate malts with dark chocolate undertones. Pretty balanced for a porter with chocolate. I like the invention by 3 Floyd's here - it's a different porter, not the best porter you've ever had but it's different in a good way. And not so different as to make it bad. They tried something to a type of beer that would be super easy to make the same type of boring porter but they didn't and it's a nice style and taste. Try it.

 

Poured from the tap into a snifter. Pours pitch black with a small light brown head. Smells of coffee and chocolate. Tastes of coffee with holiday spice and slight grassy hops. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, good carbonation. Overall, a very good beer.

 

Bottle
L-tan head, opaque dark brown body
S-mostly malts
T-well rounded, classic flavor profile for the style. Chocolate, leather
F-medium bodied but not particularly smooth
O-an above average porter, with the actual flavor being the standout although not much to suggest this is a seasonal/Christmas entry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle poured into a snifter.

A: As dark as brown gets before going black. Light brown head is creamy and long-lived. Thin and webby lacing.

S: Plenty of roasted malt, soot, baker's chocolate. Woody, French roast coffee. Equal dose of earthy American hops. Pine and bark. Whiffs of grapefruit rind and tangerine. Heady and potent.

T: Follows the nose pretty perfectly. Ample roast up front. Sooty, French roast, bakers chocolate and chocolate truffles. Chocolate sauce. Brush of alcohol. Hops are potent and unabashedly bitter. Piney, in a big way. Hemp seed. Juicy pop of tangerine, bitter bite of ruby red grapefruit. Long finish of mocha, woody roast, and trailing bitter pine.

M: Medium-full body. Airy, whipped texture with a velvety creaminess. Sharply biting carbonation. Little but of hop grittiness.

O: This is a fantastic beer. Maybe a bit old school by today's standards, but that's right in my wheelhouse. Such great malt character, boldly roasty, but the hop profile rides right up to meet it and doesn't shy away from dropping a lot of heady and piney bitterness into the mix. More of this and less of the dessert beers, please. I'd rip right through a 6pk of this beer and be one happy camper.

 

 

 

Pours a dark color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has roasted malt, spices and chocolate hints
The taste follows the nose with a roasted malt, spices and chocolate flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A good Porter

Appearance: Pours a completely dark black color with a strong, dark tan head. SRM of 24. (4.25)

Aroma: Strong aromas of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, dark malt with some floral and hoppy notes. Spice and leather notes evolve from the hops. (4.00)

Flavor: Strong flavors of chocolate, hoppy pine and citrus, and some coffee roast. Lingering pine and hoppy bitterness through the end. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-bodied, decent carbonation. Finishes bitter and hoppy. (4.00)

Compared to Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald 1/2023: Pours darker, larger head. Stronger aromas. More roasted and bitter pine. Less smooth chocolate and coffee. More hoppy and bitter.

Overall: A strongly hopped porter here no doubt. Never had something quite like it. Tons of bitter pine off the end. Sort of like a Black Celebration if you can imagine that. Incredibly hoppy which sort of overpowers the porter quality. (Rating: 3.97))

Is January 14th too late for a "Christmas" Porter? I don't know, or care for that matter. I intended to open this one on Christmas Eve but it totally slipped my mind, so here we are. I haven't had anything dark from 3 Floyds, so I'm interested to see how they do with this. Let's get into it

Pours a very dark brown with 3 fingers of creamy dark tan head that slowly fades to a cap and leaves decent lacing

The nose here is really interesting, sweet sugary malt but with some acrid hops that take over. I'm picking up on aromas of burnt sugar, milk chocolate, herbal hops, black tea, pithy grapefruit, dark roast coffee, allspice, and a touch of black pepper

It's even more abrasive in taste, knocking it down a bit from the aroma but I still mostly enjoy it. On the front end of the sip I'm tasting burnt sugar, dark roast coffee, leafy hops, dark chocolate, pithy grapefruit, licorice, light toffee, and raisin. The swallow brings notes of acrid coffee, licorice, leafy hops, pithy grapefruit, black pepper, dark chocolate, allspice, and black tea

A medium body pairs with minimal carbonation, resulting in a beer somewhere between creamy and biting. Finishes mostly dry and spicy

This is good, but not exactly what I'm looking for in a Porter. It's definitely fun to try