Beer: Three Floyds Blackheart
Brewery Location: Munster, IN
Beer Style: English IPA
ABV: 9.0%
Another brew I've been excited to try from the boys up at FFFs is this beer. FFFs is known for some over the top and "extreme" beers, but I am really hoping to be wowed by this offering from them and hopefully have a good change of pace. I had a conversation with someone at a recent beer event and they were slamming FFFs for their beer and stated "Do they make a balanced beer"? Ferrari doesn't make a grocery getter, so why does a brewery have to make something for your tastes? I am not just talking about FFFs there, but it seems like somehow on the beer websites they are always the whipping boy for this argument, but I am also talking about many brewers across the county. Just because brewer X doesn't make a intro APA or light lager or (insert your favorite style here) doesn't mean that is a reason to write them off. It is only beer, and I say you need to drink what you like, and drink a beer that keeps you coming back again and again. If that be a FFFs, Founders, Bells, or if you are cousin Eddie from the vacation movies a cold and frosty Meister
brau beer then so be it. (Sadly friends Meister Brau is no longer made, and the best cheap beer and best laxative has been retired permanently)FFFs always has some amazing label art, but this one is really unique and quite awesome I think and provided by Tim Lehi & Jeff Rassier.
According to the bottle this is FFFs attempt at an English IPA. They used English ingredients including yeast, barley, and hops, and then they aged it in oak barrels to try and give it that authentic real English IPA flavor. I do mean authentic in terms that it traveled from England to India via a wooden barrel. The only thing that is missing is English water.
Blackheart pours a clear slightly bronzed hue with a huge cap of solid white head on it, and it has lots of carbonation bubbles coming to the surface. I am greeted on the nose of this beer by plenty of caramel and toasted malt, but also by plenty of fruit like apples, peaches, and some apricot. I also get some of the notes from the oak aging, but that didn't happen until the beer had warmed up plenty and was nearly gone. The flavor profile has loads of spicy fruit starting it off with dominant flavors of apricot and tangerines upfront. The secondary flavors come in quickly, and I get tastes of caramel, oak, and the toasted malt. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and very smooth, and I noticed very little alcohol on the mouth. I wasn't really expecting that for a 9% English IPA. The drinkability is dangerously easy. I could have polished off another bomber of this beer with ease.
This beer got my conversation going with the person I spoke about above who said "Does FFF's make a balanced beer"? This was the best balanced beer I've had from FFF's. This beer is supposed to be an English IPA, but it really is like that, but with more attitude. To me at least an English IPA tends to be a bit more muted in the flavor profile and more balanced towards the malt, but this beer leans more towards the hops and oak flavor. I really enjoyed this beer, and I certainly hope they make this again, but I am not holding my breath on that one. This beer can still be found around Indy right now, but not many places will have it. You can check here to see if any is still available. The people that read this blog know that Three Floyds is my favorite brewer and they did not disappoint me with this offering.
Cheers!
Matt