Cimmerian Sabertooth Berzerker
3 Floyds Brewing Co.

 

 

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 1/2014. Pours very hazy deep golden/orange/amber/light copper color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and rocky cream colored head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, lime, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit/dough, nuttiness, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt notes with big strength. Taste of huge red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, lime, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit/dough, nuttiness, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, minty, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, lime, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, onion, mint, peppercorn, pine, honey, caramel, brown sugar, toasted biscuit/dough, nuttiness, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/bitterness balance; and no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and fairly full body; with a very smooth, creamy/silky/bready/sticky, fairly resinous/rindy, and lightly slick/syrupy mouthfeel that is great. Mildly increasing warmth of 9% after the finish. Overall this is an awesome DIPA. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and dark/bready malt flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the big ABV, with the mellowly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Great soft feel for the ABV, and not overly aggressive. Feels like a lot of Warrior, Columbus, Chinook, and Summit. Very juicy, vibrant, dank, and earthy hops; with a large sized dark/bready malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering resin dryness. A really enjoyable offering, and impressive style example. Held up extremely well for the age. Reminds me of SN Bigfoot a lot at this point, but already was expecting that.

 

 

Thanks to maximumu13 for sending me this bottle! Reviewed from (very long-standing) notes. Poured from a 22 oz. bottle into a Cigar City Brewing pint glass.

A: Very hazy darkish gold with a good amount of visible carbonation. Forms a half-finger of eggshell-colored head that fades fairly quickly.

S: Bready sweet malts, pine resin and orange rind malts. I think I’m getting a touch of oxidation from this bottle as well, unfortunately.

T: A big bready malt sweetness and a punch of citrus pith and bitterness. Resinous hops along with the bitter underripe orange. Some ethanol sweetness. There’s big bitterness here, but balanced by the bready malts with bits of caramel within. The bitterness stays on the tongue with some ethanol burn at the end.

M: The body is a bit on the heavy side for style, and the carbonation is on the low side. The alcohol isn’t quite distracting, but it’s clearly noticeable.

O: Nothing terrible here, but it rather embodies what I don't prefer in DIPAs. A caramelly bready malt bill and prominent alcohol flavors just don't hit me right.

Heavy. Hoppy, real throat grabber until tongue coated. High gravity, thick, spicy, and sweet. Too much rye in recipe?

 

 

 

 

Pours hazy, orange-brown in color with 1/4 inch head. Get loads of Earl Grey tea with huge lemon, caramel, and Juicy Fruit gum. Medium-heavy bodied, low carbonation, dank and slightly bitter. I am really liking this beer. Of the thousands of beers I have had, I have to pause when I find something unique and this is just that. Not sure if I have had a beer like this. Interesting and well done...Better as it warms. One of the better beers I have had from Three Floyds...Should have gotten a second bomber.

 

 

 

 

 

The fruit really burst though on this one. The hops kinda over take the malty sweetness. However, both are prevalent. Very good beer but not my favorite style ipa.