Three Floyds Black Sun Stout

Beer: Three Floyds Black Sun Stout
Brewery Location: Munster, IN
Beer Style: Irish Dry Stout
Serving Style: Nitro-Tap
ABV:5.25%


I was at Three Floyds over the Christmas holiday. I just can't stay away from stouts and porters right now. I've never tried this beer before, but for only five bucks at the brewpub for a 20oz imperial pint compared to the ten dollar price tag for a bomber of this at the liquor store makes it a good deal.

I only got the last bit of cascading on the beer as it was served to me. The beer has an opaque black hue with two fingers of tan head on it. I wasn't expecting the aroma that this beer had. I was ready for the roasted barley and burnt coffee scent, but a huge blast of floral aromatics also come fairly heavy to my nose. It was packed with citrus floral scents from the dry hopping. The flavor profile is actually really nice on this. The taste loses the floral aromatics and sticks more to the dry Irish stout style. Dark bitter coffee, bitter chocolate, dark fruits, and roasted barley work very well on the palate. I am really enjoying the flavors on this beer, but my nose and my palate are not syncing up here and that really takes something away from the beer. The mouthfeel is big and chewy and really nice for the beer. This actually drinks very nice, but overall the scent and flavor profile do not really mingle that well.

I really enjoyed the flavors on this beer, but I just couldn't get past how the nose and the flavor profile didn't match up for me. It had great flavors of a classic dry Irish stout, but the floral sweet nose on this made it unenjoyable for me when matched with the flavor. I will most likely give this another try just to make sure it was the batch, but I won't go out of my way for it.

Here is also a picture of what is currently on tap: (sorry for the bad lighting)




Cheers!
Matt

Guinness

Beer: Guinness Draught
Brewery Location: Dublin, Ireland
Serving Style: Nitro-Tap
Beer Style: Irish Dry Stout
ABV: 4.2%


I met some good friends out at the Claddagh Irish Pub last night for a few drinks and some catching up. One of the best things about beer is the social aspect of it. When you put it with a good atmosphere and good people it's tough to beat.

I enjoy the Claddagh. Say what you will about chain resturants, but for me if I was going to eat at a chain, I like this more than most. We were at the 96th street location for the gathering. The downtown location is my favorite in terms of atmosphere. The other locations were made for the sole purpose of turning tables and making money. There is nothing wrong with that from a business standpoint, but they other locations just really don't have much character to them. I personally will also spend more money at the downtown location than the others just because I enjoy it there enough to order one more drink.

Guinness is one of my first loves in beer. I am not sure what originally turned me onto Guinness, but it was one of the first beers that I really loved when I had a choice of drink. This is my comfort beer is a good way of describing this beer. I've been lucky enough to travel to Ireland and go on the Guinness factory tour. According to a huge map in the factory the Guinness we drink here in the States is mostly brewed in Toronto. I am not sure if any Guinness from Ireland makes it into America at all to be honest though. Guinness is truly a huge company run by a large multinational (Diageo). I still enjoy a pint served on nitro-tap though from time to time. The funny thing about Guinness is people think it's heavy on the alcohol, calories, and mouthfeel, but it's lower in calories and alcohol than Bud Light.

The beer begins pouring a deep brown color mixing with the nitrogen and cascades into a midnight black beer with a soft two finger creamy head at the top. The cascading is always rather neat to watch. There isn't really much of a nose on a Guinness. Perhaps a bit of roasted barley, but not much. The taste is of the unique roasted malted flavor that allows for a bit of chocolate to find your palate from drink to drink and a dry finish leaves you going for another drink. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, but the beer is actually rather light and doesn't overly coat your mouth. The drinkability is very high on this. It's low in alcohol, refreshing, and satisfying. It would make a great session beer.

I will always like Guinness. It is a bit of nostalgia I guess. There are plenty of other stouts that Guinness doesn't stack up with, but you can't always get those when you want. I do have to say that I can't stand Guinness Draught out of a bottle though. It must be on tap for my liking. If you drink beer and haven't ever had a Guinness head out and get yourself one.