Black Sun Stout
Three Floyds Brewing LLC – Muster, IN
6.5% ABV
Bottle and Draft / Seasonal

This is a beer where I’m glad tastes change and evolve. Several years ago Mike and I were at the Map Room in Chicago (#4 beer bar in the world!) where it was the beer of the month and got the 22 oz. bomber for $3, and I hated it. I had no care for hoppy beers, IPAs and such, and I had described it as an IPA stout, and couldn’t finish it. Now this was before the IPA revolution, and I hadn’t acquired a taste for hops this strong yet. So, it wasn’t a reflection of the beer itself so much, as it was my tastes.

Fast forward to a couple years ago and Mike had me try the Dogfish Head 120 IPA, and was blown away! From this point on, I still wasn’t a huge fan of IPA’s but definitely give them a fair try. I’m glad my tastes change, because this beer is SPECTACULAR! There is so much going on in this beer.

It pours black, with a nice tan head that ticks around for awhile and a good lace. The aroma is piney/citrus hops with hints of roasted malts, chocolate/cocoa powder and coffee. The rich hops flavor really come through in this along with chocolate and roasted malts in there as well. There are hints of vanilla, and smokiness as well. Mouthfeel is smooth with a bit of bite from the hops and carbonation. The medium body helps make this beer quite drinkable.The finish is of hops of course, but it has hints of chocolate on the end.

We have come to expect a lot from Three Floyds and this definitely didn’t disappoint. I’m also glad I revisited this beer, since my tastes have grown, and expanded, there are now a lot of beers that I would skip if they hadn’t, or I relied on past experiences. Now there are beers that I will not revisit, don’t get me wrong, I’m looking at you Fat Boy! but who can blame me on that. Anyway, I would expect Three Floyds to be near the top of all our series tastings as they are all awesome!

Brittain’s Score: 5 of 5

Overall Score: 4.45 of 5

This is day 27 of 28 - Check out the rest of our Midwest Beer Stout Reviews

Beastie Barrel Stout
Barley Island – Noblesville, IN
6% ABV
Bottle and Draft / Seasonal

This is the first Barley Island beer I have had the pleasure of enjoying. It’s a bit of an odd fit for the style – a Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout with 6% alcohol? I was worried it would be watered down or weak but Barley Island packed a good amount of flavor in to this beer, after thinking about it, maybe 6% abv just means you can have more than one without falling over.

Beastie Barrel Stout pours an ebony brown with a rich brown head which sticks around for a few sips. Sweet chocolate and burnt toffee fill your nostrils without knocking you back in your chair. I thought it might be a bit over carbonated, but I was the only one, otherwise the silkiness of the oats shine in this texture. Beastie Barrel has a very malty sweet character with a medium-high intensity, which I was quite satisfied with. Roasted grains, coffee and a slight hop flavor round out a pretty good beer. You may have noticed though, I left one detail out. The name indicates it is bourbon barrel aged, but I wouldn’t have guessed it if I wasn’t told. After I reviewed the label again and discovered that I was in fact supposed to be tasting a bourbon barrel aged stout I began to taste it, that must have been cause I was looking for it.

If you like stouts but not bourbon, perhaps this one is for you. If you like bourbon barrel aged stouts but wish you could drink a few without telling the man sitting next to you that you love him, perhaps this is for you. If you like drinking a strong bourbon barrel aged stout that gives you a hangover from looking at the bottle, this isn’t for you.

Mike – 3 of 5
Overall – 2.8 of 5