Dreadnaught IPA - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

Ego

New Jersey

4.55/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

(this is not available in jersey) practically flipped my lid when I found this case ($79) just sort of stacked "out of the way"... oy, they had the black sun stout, alpha klaus and the rabid rabbit... there goes food money for the month... this bottle conditioned bad ass can't make it to my glass fast enough...

eyes...
holy crap! I can smell the amarillo poppin from 3 feet away.. but let me get to the look. lots of carbonation, 2 full fingers of craggy foam with immediate lacing present as the head slowly receded. retention at beer level is really good with smaller bubbles keeping the head quite alive.
"it was only mostly dead"
a nice mix of orange and ruby tone, looking at this is like finding the penthouse youtr dad stashed in the closet when you were 14. but thankfully the pages of this beer won't stick together.

nose...
take an orange, smash it up in your fingers, now do the same with some hops, people may think you are nuts but that is the only way to relive this odor. although this is an assault on your hop senses you can detect the malt. Not much else to add, this is a nice one.

taste etc...
thick and slick yet smooth, like billy d williams, this works everytime. unusually smooth actually, the carbonation isn't prickly but it makes the mouthfeel full and satisfying, This doensn't kill you with hops, there is a really nice balance here of flavors. Don't get me wrong, this has great bitterness but the malt really ties this one together, superb! Absolutely no sense of the alcohol in the flavor. 9.5%? jeez. This one isn't over-amarilloed like some 3F beers, damn this is tasty.

verdict?
oh hell yes. An extremely well balanced DIPA, with tax this was around $7 a bottle!! I will be going to clean the store out of the rest of their stock post haste.

more thoughts:
this is BIG BEER. the definition of big beer is THIS beer. Forget the other DIPAs, there are great ones. No other DIPA is as balanced and as well crafted as this beer, and they have been doing it for years. Other brewers will catch up, but Dreadnaught is worth the hype. I like some other DIPAs slightly more only due to hop "bombness" but in balance this is the standard, period.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2006 03:29:14 | More by Ego

Soloveitchik

New York

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-22-2013 12:29:11 | More by Soloveitchik

JamesShoemaker

New York

4.18/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

22 oz bottle purchased from the brewery yesterday. No bottling date, but no doubt they keep things fresh. This is my third DIPA from FFF (Permanent Funeral and Arctic, the other two); so far Zombie takes it.

A - good looking beer, dark oranges, ochers and ambers. A little sediment in the bottle, but it doesn't get kicked up on the forced pour. Slightly over an inch of foam recedes slowly, carbonation evident from the bubbles rising from bottom to top.

S - there's something off here. I keep searching for the hop/malt heavy notes, but I get this weird, wheaty, lager aroma right up front. Some sweetness on the back of the nose. It's definitely not unpleasant, but it's not what I expected.

T - the weak nose is even stranger after the taste, which is really strong. The hop profile is either extremely well-blended or completely unilateral, I can't tell. It hits first as honey and sweet stickiness, later fading pretty quickly into bitterness. The bitterness lingers with the malt, which isn't as caramel-heavy as the bottle suggests. Good, I like beers that take me on a journey.

M - the bitterness lingers a little too much. The alcohol, though high, doesn't play a role, but that's understandable given the IBUs. A little sticky.

O - this is my favorite DIPA from FFF so far, and it's available all year, so I'll be sure to pick up a bottle when I make it down to Munster.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2013 02:26:18 | More by JamesShoemaker

h0ppster

District of Columbia

4/5  rDev -10.1%

05-21-2013 23:53:03 | More by h0ppster

pmoore311

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-21-2013 22:07:16 | More by pmoore311

aleman39

California

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-21-2013 21:20:46 | More by aleman39

Beerandboards

New Mexico

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-21-2013 19:02:38 | More by Beerandboards

TheBattousai

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-21-2013 01:49:06 | More by TheBattousai

mikeincharleston

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-21-2013 01:41:54 | More by mikeincharleston

ackeeper

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-21-2013 01:07:05 | More by ackeeper

MarshallBirdhouse

Kentucky

5/5  rDev +12.4%

05-20-2013 23:56:20 | More by MarshallBirdhouse

seplo

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-20-2013 23:56:05 | More by seplo

powz87

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-20-2013 17:19:22 | More by powz87

AL89BR

New Jersey

5/5  rDev +12.4%

05-20-2013 14:52:52 | More by AL89BR

benz08

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-20-2013 07:54:31 | More by benz08

sirsteve42

New York

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-20-2013 03:17:11 | More by sirsteve42

Stevedore

Wisconsin

4.09/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle which should be relatively fresh since it just showed up on the shelves just this past week. Poured into New Belgium snifters and shared with a friend today, 5/19/2013.

Aroma: Dank and grassy. Smelled sweet honey and bread, with earthiness surrounding it. Pretty decent nose, but not the most pleasant and juicy fruity, like Permanent Funeral is. (3.75)

Colour: Pours a hazy golden orange body with some minute sediment scattered throughout. The head is heckuva fluffy, filling up 3cm of glass and takes 5-10 minutes to recede into a thick 1cm white film. Lots of sticky lacing. Appetizing if not for the tiny sediment flakes floating around. It reminds me a little of Goldschlager... nasty! (4.5)

Flavour: A little citrus, but mostly malty breadiness with a good bitter pine and grass bite. As it warms up, you can feel increasing heat along with an increasing straight up dank sweetness- I like the sweetness but not so much the heat. Pretty good but not mindblowing. (4.25)

Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth medium bodied beer that comes down well. Resinous, coats the palate in pine and earthy bitterness at the end of the swallow. Good carbonation, tasty but not out of this world. (4)

Overall: Pretty good DIPA. It's a bit more drinkable, but not explosively hoppy compared to APW. I remember this beer being a bit better on draft at FFF when I had it last year; it was smooth, hoppy and sweet all at once. It is not a hot mess like some DIPAs can be, which is a nice plus in my book. More balanced than APW, even fresh. Solid DIPA but I'd take a good number of it over Dreadnaught- like Pliny, Heady Topper, Sosus, Permanent Funeral, IIPA, etc. Very good DIPA but FFF makes better beers. (4)

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 02:59:56 | More by Stevedore

Benish

Wisconsin

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-20-2013 02:41:20 | More by Benish

thaghost

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-20-2013 01:24:45 | More by thaghost

BeastLU

Virginia

4.5/5  rDev +1.1%

05-19-2013 22:14:29 | More by BeastLU

TreeBeard

Ohio

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

05-19-2013 20:30:02 | More by TreeBeard

Dyelawn

Maine

4.75/5  rDev +6.7%

05-19-2013 19:12:46 | More by Dyelawn

ShawnMH

Indiana

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-19-2013 15:11:02 | More by ShawnMH

MJSJr

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev -4.5%

05-19-2013 15:07:11 | More by MJSJr

craft_shannie

Indiana

4/5  rDev -10.1%

05-19-2013 14:41:28 | More by craft_shannie