Three Floyd's Brewpub, Munster IN, March 5th, 1pm

Hello all,

Cathy2 has nominated one of our great area breweries for a Great Neighborhood Restaurant/Resource award, and while you can drink many of their beers just about anywhere in the area, what better place to drink them than at the brewpub?

So I thought, let's get out there and check it out! Hit up the brewpub early afternoon on a Saturday, try a flight of beers, have a snack, maybe catch one of their brewery tours, and get back to our respective locals before the the puck hits the ice for the Blackhawks game.

Since this place isn't the most accessible by mass transit and thus there will be some driving involved, I encourage carpooling and I would be willing to meet up with a small group, say at a nearby train station or somewhere not too far out of the way for me, and ferry a few people there and back. Details can be worked out later. And of course since there is driving involved I encourage moderation as well. It's a practice to which I am unaccustomed but I will control my baser impulses. Or recruit a designated driver.

I'm looking at Saturday, March 5th, at 1pm for this event. That is close to the end of the comment period but should give us all enough time to collect our thoughts and share them.

What do you say folks? Anyone care to come out and try some beers with me? And let me know what you think about doing the brewery tour. When I get some kind of idea of numbers and interest in the tour, I can contact the brewpub and ask if they've got spots available.

3 Floyds Brewpub
9570 Indiana Parkway
Munster, IN 46321
(219) 922-4425
http://www.3floyds.com

Well, not a lot of interest so far, and I understand that this is conflicting with a few things, including a big-time annual beer event, the Day and Night of the Living Ales. But alas, I do not have tickets to that event, so I plan to console myself with a little quality time at the brewery that, as pointed out by nr706 here, has been rated the best brewer in the world three years running by ratebeer.com.

Any other D&NotLA refugees out there?

I may be out of town next weekend - wont know till Friday, but if not I'm in

Jim,

I am committed to attend the Mardi Gras wing ding at irisarbor.

I understand Three FLoyd's offers beer not seen anywhere else inthe Chicago region. It may be the only opportunity to sample unique small-batch brews from other producers. They end up at Three Floyds because of their reputation to handle the beers very carefully. Perhaps people might be teased into attending once they know the beer offerings for this coming Saturday.

Thanks for thinking to organize this.

Regards,

I'm tentatively in. Sounds like fun.

Llama, it would be cool to have a beer with you again, hope you can make it.

Cathy, thanks for the recommendation. Here is the current taplist according to the 3floyds website

Cask-conditioned Robert The Bruce on the beer engine
Robert the Bruce is their scotch ale, the cask-conditioned version is hand-pumped rather than kept under CO2 pressure, and served at cellar temperature rather than cooler temperature, resulting in lower carbonation but thicker, longer-lasting head, smoother mouthfeel, and more nuances of flavor.

Alpha King Pale Ale
Alpha King is sort of the big dog of 3floyds lineup, and many of us have likely had it in the past as it's everywhere. It's a big malty hoppy American pale ale.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Robert The Bruce
This is the normal kegged CO2-pressurized version of the scotch ale described above.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Pride and Joy
Three Floyds' "Mild" Ale, hopped higher than a normal mild would be, with citrusy American-style hops, light-bodied and drinkable.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Gumballhead
An American-style wheat beer but bigger-bodied and again, a greater hop presence than in the typical wheat. Another very popular local beer that can be found at many bars around the area.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Dreadnaught IPA
A big double or Imperial style IPA with a blast of piney hops but a big malt presence to back them up
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Arctic Panzer Wolf
Another double IPA but balanced more toward the hop end of things, bracingly bitter
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Gold Leader
I have not had this beer, Three Floyds calls it a "Samurai inspired crisp lager" using a newer Japanese hop variety called Sorachi Ace that has been very popular among American brewers the past couple of years.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Krunk Monk
I have not had this beer either, but 3Floyds calls it their "German-style heller weizenbock", so expect a strong but not terribly dark wheat ale with significant banana/clove flavors.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Behemoth
3Floyds standard barleywine. Barleywines are one of my favorite styles and this is a good example of the American type, with some piney and fruity aromas and a big sweet malt wallop on the tongue, with an assertive bitterness helping clean it up but still leaving a lot of flavor with you for a while.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Cortez
I have not had Cortez. It is a pale ale of the "single hop" type, which brewers make to show off the distinct flavor and aroma of a specific hop variety, El Dorado, which is a hop that is either new enough or obscure enough that I know nothing about it yet. Looking forward to this.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Zombie Dust
Another single-hop pale ale, in this case Citra, which is another newer hop variety that should impart a variety of fruity flavors and aromas.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Owd Engwish Barley Whine
I have not found much information on this but since it's a barleywine, I'm excited to try it, and given the name I'm guessing it's of the English type, which will have less hop aroma and focus more on malt flavors, with a big body and background bitterness but without the piney/citrusy aromas you find in the American type.
Not currently rated on either Ratebeer or BeerAdvocate

Ham On Rye
Another beer I'm excited to try, using smoked and rye malts.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Brian Boru
An Irish red, with toasted and caramel malt flavors.
Ratebeer.com review
BeerAdvocate review

Guest Draft Beer
Dogfish Head Midas Touch, their well-known beer made to try and replicate the residue found in drinking vessels recovered from the site thought to be the tomb of the legendary King Midas.
Murphy's Stout, a dry Irish stout
Southern Tier Choklat, a big sweet stout that pours thick and black and tastes like chocolate syrup
Unibroue Trois Pistoles, a strong dark Belgian ale by a Canadian brewery that can be relied upon to craft a great beer every time.
Founders Breakfast Stout, a delicious full-bodied Imperial stout with a big kick of coffee
Kasteel Rouge, a Belgian ale sweetened with cherry juice.

And FYI, the brewery tours for that day are all filled up already so we will have to content ourselves once again with the beer.

Moetchandon and I will see you there, if there's room. It's been a coupla years since I've been down there ... looking forward to it.

Would love to have you come down for it, Tom, it'd be great to see you again.

As far as there being room, I don't really have a cap in mind for this event, and if I did I don't think we'd be nearing it yet

MincyBits (who will be there, even though she hasn't responded) reminded me last night that we tried to get in around 1pm a couple of weeks ago and there was already a line out the door.
Someone might want to try showing up a little early and hording chairs.

It's a good suggestion. I will be there at least a half-hour early and hopefully more than that.

Looking forward to seeing everybody who can make it!

Ham on Rye is on the beer engine now!

Thanks for the update, Llama, I will definitely be trying the cask-conditioned Ham On Rye

Additionally, the guest taps have been updated on their website. Southern Tier Choklat, Founder Breakfast Stout, and Kasteel Rouge are off. Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, Boulevard Tank 7 Saison, and Founders Porter have been added.

Also they just tweeted that they've added Topless Wych, their Baltic Porter, to the taplist. No word on what it's replacing yet.

I'm a solid maybe for tomorrow--can I ask you to PM me a cell number so that I can make sure you are going to be able to get a table before ditching the kids to come over? thanks!!

Were you able to get seating?

Llama and Mincy Bits had to wait to wait outside for a while, but eventually we were all able to get a table. When we left (about 3:30) there were probably 15-20 people waiting to get in, suffering in the snow. They were very happy that we were giving up a table.

Hi,

I'm glad. I was there a few weeks ago with the Moms, we went to Teibel's rather than wait.

How was everything? Especially since today is the last day of the comment period.

Regards,

I had the classic - Scotch Eggs. It was great, as usual, although sauced differently than I'd remembered (no hot sauce). I think Mincy Bits thought her bacon was a bit bland. But as always the beers were outstanding (I especially liked the Zombie Dust), and I think I speak for all when I say full support as a GNR. Fan me a count (or something like that).

As nr706 mentioned, we had to wait outside behind 6 other people when we got there, but the wait wasn't that long. I wonder if they're thinking of expanding, or at least adding a waiting room, since that line seem to be a constant thing now. The staff there really must be commended, they really tried hard to get us all seated together and happy - we were all around tall 4-top table and they eventually got us a couple of tables pushed together.

We ordered the Chicarones again, and they were just as beautiful as last time. I had the Bangers & Mash which weren't fantastic, but were good beer food. Sadly, MincyBits' Cassoulet was really bland.

Every single beer we had was fantastic, though.

Jim had stolen the last Ham on Rye off of the cask right before we got in, so MincyBits had one off the tap. I tried the Topless Wych (Baltic Porter) and the Zombie Dust when they had it up on the beer engine. There was also a Cervesa Mysterioso, which was some sort of dark-pale.

Afterwards, we ended up at Jim's friend's house, sampling his home-brew for a good 6 hours.

Llama wrote:Afterwards, we ended up at Jim's friend's house, sampling his home-brew for a good 6 hours.

Damn ... I wish I could have made that. Maybe Jim's friend (Bob)'s house could be a nominee for the next round of GNR's?

It was a great time. The beers were fantastic--that cask-conditioned ham on rye was amazing and every other beer I tried was good too. The food was only OK. The place is tiny but they did a good job of accommodating us.

The beers that Three Floyds bottles and puts on the shelves of liquor stores, or on tap at your local, are very well done, but like the best brewpubs the one-offs and seasonals that you can only get at their location are on another level. Three Floyds is one of Chicagoland's great breweries for sure.

Thanks for coming out, everybody

nr706 wrote:I had the classic - Scotch Eggs. It was great, as usual, although sauced differently than I'd remembered (no hot sauce). I think Mincy Bits thought her bacon was a bit bland. But as always the beers were outstanding (I especially liked the Zombie Dust), and I think I speak for all when I say full support as a GNR. Fan me a count (or something like that).

HI,

As much as Three Floyd's beers are stellar and their brewpup hosts rarely seen beers because of their reputation for careful handling. Their food was purposefully omitted from my GNR nomination because it has been variable. I know I have had at least four distinct variants of their Scotch eggs over the years. It is an area they making efforts to improve.

Regards,