Gumballhead

Tis the season of Three Floyds Gumballhead! Has anyone seen this on tap in Chicago yet - aside from at Handlebar?

The Maproom

This year it will also be coming in six packs, instead of just bombers, starting in the middle of the summer.

I am guessing this is a beer, but could you share more on exactly what it is, and why it is special?

I am guessing this is a beer, but could you share more on exactly what it is, and why it is special?

Gumballhead is an excellent wheat beer put out each summer by Three Floyds Brewing in Munster, IN. It has in the past only been available in 20 oz. bottles (bombers) or on tap. Both are relatively hard to find, particularly on tap. the Handlebar traditionally holds a release party each spring for Gumballhead.

Being able to find it/drink it is all the more pressing this summer, in my opinion, because of the loss of another excellent wheat beer, Bell's Oberon.

Thank you for the info.

you know, maybe I'm just not a fan of wheat beers, but when I had some Gumblehead before, I wasn't too impressed. It was tasty, to be sure, but I don't know that it's something worth celebrating so much.

I've found, too, that I've been generally un-enthused about Three Flloyd's. Give me a Two Brothers any day and I'll be happy enough.

This being said, I'll give it another shot, especially if I can find it on tap somewhere. I know, I know, what a hardship it is to drink beer! ^_^

danimalarkey wrote:you know, maybe I'm just not a fan of wheat beers, but when I had some Gumblehead before, I wasn't too impressed. It was tasty, to be sure, but I don't know that it's something worth celebrating so much.

I am not a big fan of wheat beers myself. I do not like Oberon at all. When I first tried Gumball Head, I didn't like it that much, but this year's batch is much better. I am not sure what changes Nick and Barnaby made to the recipe, but it has really improved (at least to my palate). If I recall correctly, it is made with a single hop variety, Amarillo.

I appreciate the tip. I'll be sure to check out the Gumballhead this year and will post again with my thoughts.

danimalarkey wrote:I've found, too, that I've been generally un-enthused about Three Flloyd's. Give me a Two Brothers any day and I'll be happy enough.

I'm not too big on American wheats, either, whether it be the 312, Oberon, or Gumballhead. If I want wheat, I want WHEAT and YEAST, which is what all the German and Belgian varieties provide. That said, they are all excellent and clean summer beers, if not to my tastes.

As for Three Floyd's, it helps if you really love hops. Bell's is my favorite brewery, but Floyd's is a close second. I'm a big IPA fan, and Alpha King is my favorite every-day IPA, and I think Dreadnaught is perhaps the best specialty beer in the world (an Imperial IPA). If you're not a big hop-head, then Three Floyd's is not going to be the brewery for you. One reason I like Bell's over Floyd's is that they seem to be more versatile in their beers, but the best Floyd's beers I prefer over the best Bell's beers.

I think 3 Floyd's beers have improved immensely since Barnaby became the brew-master. I love that they are willing to experiment with different styles and hop varieties. Some of their specialty brews are way over the top. Dreadnought is a phenomenal beer if you like that Imperial IPA style, and Dark Lord is the stoutest stout I have ever tasted. As to their everyday brews, Alpha-King is my favorite, but the others I can take or leave. Rabid Rabbit is interesting in that it reminds me of Apple-Jacks cereal, and Pride and Joy is a great middle-of-the-road party beer, for when you want to give the hop-heads something with some flavor but not scare the MGD drinkers away. I guess I feel the same way about much of what Bell's produces also. For instance, I (heart) two hearted ale, and I really like the Bell's lager also, but most of the other beers are just OK in my book. I do like the seasonal Cherry Stout as a special occassion beer (it is fantastic with chocolate cake) . Several of us conducted an impromptu blind hoppy ale taste test at the maproom once. We tried 2 hearted, red seal, alpha-king and 60 minute dogfish, all on draft. To my surprise, Alpha-king was the undisputed favorite. What was weird, was that my beer of choice, Bell's 2-hearted, came in last. However, I have since decided that I prefer 2-hearted in bottles. Of course, it has been quite a while since I have enjoyed a 2-hearted draft, and I do miss it.

d4v3 wrote:I think 3 Floyd's beers have improved immensely since Barnaby became the brew-master. I love that they are willing to experiment with different styles and hop varieties. Some of their specialty brews are way over the top. Dreadnought is a phenomenal beer if you like that Imperial IPA style, and Dark Lord is the stoutest stout I have ever tasted. As to their everyday brews, Alpha-King is my favorite, but the others I can take or leave. Rabid Rabbit is interesting in that it reminds me of Apple-Jacks cereal, and Pride and Joy is a great middle-of-the-road party beer, for when you want to give the hop-heads something with some flavor but not scare the MGD drinkers away. I guess I feel the same way about much of what Bell's produces also. For instance, I (heart) two hearted ale, and I really like the Bell's lager also, but most of the other beers are just OK in my book. I do like the seasonal Cherry Stout as a special occassion beer (it is fantastic with chocolate cake) . Several of us conducted an impromptu blind hoppy ale taste test at the maproom once. We tried 2 hearted, red seal, alpha-king and 60 minute dogfish, all on draft. To my surprise, Alpha-king was the undisputed favorite. What was weird, was that my beer of choice, Bell's 2-hearted, came in last. However, I have since decided that I prefer 2-hearted in bottles. Of course, it has been quite a while since I have enjoyed a 2-hearted draft, and I do miss it.

Alpha King is indeed a great beer, it and 2-Hearted are my go to beers all summer long, along with the Ayinger wheat beers. I'm surprised 2-Hearted came in last in your taste test, I wonder if it was simply a draft vs. bottle issue, or maybe the Bell's was not as fresh? Fresh is huge when it comes to IPA after all. I'm a huge fan of Bell's in general, probably my favorite overall brewer. They have a strong lineup from Douple IPA to their Expedition Stout, which is amazing, even their experimental wheat beers. The only thing they don't have is a belgian style, but I can live with that seeing as all the great Belgians coming out of Belgium itsel, and a number of solid offerings available in the region from other domestic craft brewers.

It's a good time to be a beer fan, that is for sure!

KSeecs wrote: I'm surprised 2-Hearted came in last in your taste test, I wonder if it was simply a draft vs. bottle issue, or maybe the Bell's was not as fresh? Fresh is huge when it comes to IPA after all.

I was also surprised. If somebody asks me what my favorite beer is, I will still say 2-hearted. I do find a big difference between the bottle and draft versions. I think the bottle conditioning makes for much better carbonation and head. The 2-hearted draft was not as copper-colored as the bottled stuff either. Anyhow, coming in 4th in a field like that is not shameful. Plus, the tasters were all confirmed hop-heads, and the draft 2-hearted just did not seem as hoppy. I was surprised at the dogfish, which is not one of my favorites in bottles (personally, I rated it last). My friend, who organized the impromptu tasting, was trying to prove to me that I was selling Alpha-King draft short in my devotion to 2-hearted. This was shortly after FFF changed the A. King recipe (and toned down that strong grapefruit flavor). Anyhow, I would happily drink any of the four beers. I would love to conduct the test again, but we would have to cross state lines to do that. Apparently, the Maproom currently has Dreadnaught on tap, as well as Ska's Decadent Imperial IPA and 2-Bros Hop-Juice. It might be time for an impromptu IIPA tasting (anybody want to be my designated driver?).

On another note, I noticed the Maproom website lists Gumballhead at 100 IBU. Could that be right?

Now, a Double IPA tasting, that is something I can get on board with! My last bottle of Dreadnaught was a disappointment as it seemed to have a bit of age on it and had lost its crisp fresh hop bite. Getting some draught would make things right again!

As for the Gumballhead IBU's that seems high to me, not saying its impossible, but I've never really seen it presented anywhere. It is definitely hoppy for a wheat beer.

Twisted Spoke (on Ogden) has Gumballhead on tap. Maybe. They were out of it last night. They seem to be out of everything I want every time I'm in there.

I'd crack the one I have in my frig to see if it's anywhere close to 100 IBU, but the sun isn't quite over the yardarm yet.

Speaking of hefty IBU, I found Dogfish Head 90 Minute on tap at the Long Room on Irving Park. For you Two Brothers fans, they have the Cain and Ebel Red Rye and the Dog Days on tap too.

Twisted Spoke
501 North Ogden

Long Room
1612 W. Irving Park Rd

I recently had a little IIPA tasting of my own with Dogfish 120 minute and Founders Devil Dancer. While both were excellent, it was my first time having either, I thought the 120 minute was the clear winner among the two and I think the best IIPA I have had yet. But I am up for another tasting...

kiplog wrote:I'd crack the one I have in my frig to see if it's anywhere close to 100 IBU, but the sun isn't quite over the yardarm yet.

I'm thinking that's a mistake on the maproom website. somebody must have cut and pasted the dreadnaught listing and forgot to change the ibu. Gumball is made with amarillo hops. Amarillo hops contains 8-8.5% alpha acids. Unless they get some kind of miraculous hop utilization from that Indiana water, it would be impossible to produce a 100 IBU beer using just that hop variety.

d4v3 wrote:.
On another note, I noticed the Maproom website lists Gumballhead at 100 IBU. Could that be right?

I'm fairly certain they're confusing it with the Dreadnaught, which is advertised at 100 IBU. I don't think there's any freaking way an American wheat is anywhere near 100 IBU.

Let's see...well, there's a post on ratebeer.com that says it's 18 IBU, which sounds in right general area to me.

edit: from a quick online search, it seems the Gumballhead is anywhere from 18 to 25 IBU.

As I've seen it mentioned a few times, maybe this is a fair thread to ask if CostCo normally stocks cases of Two Brothers or was it a fluke? I went back a few days ago to get more and it was all gone.

If anyone missed it, they had the 4 six pakcs below in each case for $22.49 (or something like that):

Domaine DuPage
Prairie Path Golden Ale
Monarch White Ale
The Bitter End Pale Ale

Jamie

Jamieson22 wrote:As I've seen it mentioned a few times, maybe this is a fair thread to ask if CostCo normally stocks cases of Two Brothers or was it a fluke? I went back a few days ago to get more and it was all gone.

Maybe they've sold out? The following is from the Two Brothers web page

As a lot of you have emailed, we are in Costco in the Chicago area right now. This has been exciting for us. Thanks to all the supports there, we are the number two selling beer for them right now! I think that should bode well for us in the future.

louisdog wrote:I recently had a little IIPA tasting of my own with Dogfish 120 minute and Founders Devil Dancer. While both were excellent, it was my first time having either, I thought the 120 minute was the clear winner among the two and I think the best IIPA I have had yet. But I am up for another tasting...

I'd put the Goose Island Imperial IPA on your list for the next tasting. My favorite IIPA is Dreadnaught, but Goose Island is a close (and possibly more drinkable) second. Also, I prefer the Dogfish Head 90 IIPA to the 120 IIPA. The 120 is great, but it's way too alcoholy for my tastes.

KSeecs wrote:I'm a huge fan of Bell's in general...The only thing they don't have is a belgian style...

Isn't the Sparkling Ale in the style of a Belgian Tripel?

I was a little disappointed overall with this beer, but they did give it a shot, I believe.

Aaron Deacon wrote:

KSeecs wrote:I'm a huge fan of Bell's in general...The only thing they don't have is a belgian style...

Isn't the Sparkling Ale in the style of a Belgian Tripel?

I was a little disappointed overall with this beer, but they did give it a shot, I believe.

Interesting, I've never tried the Sparkling Ale, but you are correct it is a Belgian style. Ratebeer calls it a Belgian Strong Ale, a fairly broad definition, where as BeerAdvociate calls it a Tripel, and to really confuse things on the Bell's website they call it an "American Triple." Whatever it is I need to try it looks like it is released September, not sure if I have seen it before or not, obviously not going to find any locally anymore, but I do get to Kalamazoo more than a few times a year.

I didn't like the Sparkling Ale much either. It doesn't really taste like a typical Beligian--I mean, it has some of the yeasty fruitiness, but it also has an assertive hop aroma which, to me at any rate, seems out of place. It's worth a shot, though. Bell's has a lot of fun with their beers, and I enjoy their experimentation! Their Batch 4000 or Batch 5000 (or whatever they were called) are among the best beers I have tasted. Their wheat experiment I didn't enjoy that much, but it was a clever one-off for us beer geeks.

I was at Weegee's (corner of Lawndale and Armitage -- near the Brown Sack) last night and they had Gumballhead on draught. It was their 1-year anniversary celebration, though, so everything on tap was on the house. It's very possible they ran out.

Try calling ahead. The place was mobbed, and I know they had to 86 several options by the end of the night. It's a great bar, though. A working photo booth and beautiful vintage shuffleboard table. Plus Jeffrey mixes a mean Manhattan.

I was at Small Bar (on Division) last week and had the Gumballhead on tap. It was wonderful. I tried following it up at Handlebar, but they were out. Nuts.

I think Two Bros' Victor's MemoriAle is great, and I keep snatching up extra bottles whenever I'm at Binny's on Grand.

I have a bottle of the Dogfishhead 120 minute, but I'm hesitant to break it out. It's such a small bottle! What if I want more?! ^_^ I've rarely seen it at Binny's/Sam's. Has anyone tried their ImmortAle lately?

I had Gumballhead at the Longroom last night. It was my first of the season. It is extra hoppy this year. I think it is more akin to a pilsner, which is fine by me. One nice bonus, on Mondays, all midwestern beers are $2.50 a pint at the Longroom. $2.50 for Gumballhead makes me very happy.

For any of the home brewers, I was planning on giving this extract clone recipe a shot. Any comments?:

6 #- Wheat LME
3.3 #- Gold/ Light LME
1 # Caravienne Malt

Hop Schedule:
1/2 oz. Amarillo 60 minutes left of boil
1/2 oz. Amarillo 20 minutes left of boil
1.0 oz Amarillo 10 minutes left of boil
1.0 oz Amarillo 5 minutes left f boil
1.5 oz Amarillo dry hop

Yeast
White Labs California Ale Yeast (WLP001) - 1800 ml starter

Gumballhead has finally been bottled in 6 packs & they are now much more reasonably priced. Forget the $5.00 22oz bottles, they are now priced like the rest of the 3Floyds line-up $7.00 per 6pack at the brewery.

Dale wrote:Gumballhead has finally been bottled in 6 packs & they are now much more reasonably priced. Forget the $5.00 22oz bottles, they are now priced like the rest of the 3Floyds line-up $7.00 per 6pack at the brewery.

And according to post at Beer Advocate they have been spotted in Chicago liquor stores. So if you can't make it to Indiana, try your local liquor store that carries 3 Floyds.