Zombie Dust - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

starrdogg

District of Columbia

4.68/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Big thanks to Chris for sharing his growler of this one.

A: Pours a cloudy orange/amber color, darker than I expected it to be.

S: Wow, what an incredible aroma! It's just tropical fruity hops hitting you in the face. It doesn't get much better than this.

T: Taste follows the smell and does not disappoint at all. Citrusy hops are definitely the dominant flavor, but the beer has a stronger malt backbone than I expected, which leads to some great balance. Very easy to drink and packs a TON of flavor.

M: Light-medium bodied, nice carbonation with some great hop stickiness and a little bit of dryness in the finish.

O: This is a hell of a beer, and fits right in with others like Alpine's Hoppy Birthday and The Alchemist's Holy Cow in the trend of low ABV, super hopped delicious pale ales/IPAs. It's so ridiculously easy to drink and flavorful. I can't wait for bottles, because this could so easily be my go-to beer for a long, long time.

Serving type: growler

08-10-2011 19:34:19 | More by starrdogg

Deuane

Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-18-2013 06:07:39 | More by Deuane

Netdogca

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-18-2013 03:14:34 | More by Netdogca

swgwilt

Tennessee

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-18-2013 02:32:04 | More by swgwilt

mkirkland80

Virginia

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-18-2013 02:09:48 | More by mkirkland80

BradSillars

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-18-2013 01:13:22 | More by BradSillars

Ebf

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -24.6%

05-17-2013 23:54:25 | More by Ebf

SilentNature

Virginia

4.5/5  rDev -3%

05-17-2013 22:27:29 | More by SilentNature

Soloveitchik

New York

4.5/5  rDev -3%

05-17-2013 21:49:06 | More by Soloveitchik

Dools9

Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bottle into a pint glass with no date, thanks much to Arsenal0328 for the Dust!

A: Golden amber orange, big three finger slighlty off white head that retains to a skim, excellent lacing left on the glass.

S: Big hop smell with lots of oranges, lemons, candied citrus and a little bit of pine. Decent caramel malt sweetness in there as well. Really good smelling brew.

T: Right upfront it hits you with a firm, dry hop bitterness with oranges, lemons and grapefruit peel, also some citrus as well. Malt does a decent job at keeping it balanced but the hops win in the end, still very drinkable all things considered.

M: Lighter end of medium, good crispness, very easily drinkable.

O: Damn I wish we got FFF here in MA, this is just an awesome Pale Ale, love the single citra hop, really showcases well with this brew ans overall its very tasty. The only thing I'm gunna knock it for is not having a bottle date.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 20:21:08 | More by Dools9

thaghost

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-17-2013 17:41:20 | More by thaghost

twenty5

Pennsylvania

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-17-2013 16:00:12 | More by twenty5

athesing10

Ohio

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-17-2013 13:57:41 | More by athesing10

BillyHayes

California

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-17-2013 06:41:21 | More by BillyHayes

myersk27

Indiana

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-17-2013 03:45:28 | More by myersk27

hopspine

Colorado

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-17-2013 00:29:58 | More by hopspine

Fcolle2

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev -3%

05-17-2013 00:17:36 | More by Fcolle2

AL89BR

New Jersey

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-16-2013 23:00:17 | More by AL89BR

BigbROB

Illinois

4.75/5  rDev +2.4%

05-16-2013 17:26:15 | More by BigbROB

JamesShoemaker

New York

4.29/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I received a six pack from redsand22, thanks again, along with a bottle of Permanent Funeral. Between three of us, we polished off the sixer in a night, yet another good offering in a long line of pale ales that I've had recently.

ZD is an interesting beer and deceptively strong for its ABV. Normally, with a strong nose and citra hop profile like this, I'd see this kind of beer landing right between seven and eight percent by volume; though it's close, ZD has a little less than that, and ever fewer than expected IBUs. It drinks like a big malty IPA, like Sucks or Undercover Investigation Shut-Down, and honestly I found it difficult to discriminate between it and other west coast IPAs. This isn't to say that it's not delicious, of course, but it seems to me that the popular pale ales all fall on the bitter end of the malt spectrum. They're still sweet in their own right, but nothing like Hopslam, Union Jack, Sculpin, or Head Hunter, all of which I prefer to ZD. Of course, getting down and dirty with cross-style comparison is a no-no on Beer Advocate, I'm comparing them by way of taste. Like I said, I don't taste a huge difference between ZD and Lags IPAs and DIPAs, even though they're technically different styles.

Would I get ZD again? Of course. It's delicious, affordable, and brewed year-round, even if it's difficult to get off site. A fresh bottle of it would blow a stale bottle of any of the above listed beers out of the water, but that's not to say that it's better. The margin of difference between these top tier IPAs, DIPAs, and PAs is so slim that it's negligible.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 16:11:59 | More by JamesShoemaker

carlosega

Ohio

4/5  rDev -13.8%

05-16-2013 15:53:33 | More by carlosega

drbenzo

California

5/5  rDev +7.8%

05-16-2013 14:53:37 | More by drbenzo

Benjiehorn

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev -8.4%

05-16-2013 14:33:02 | More by Benjiehorn

hopoilcrazy

Tennessee

4.53/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I've had Zombie Dust many times, but never reviewed because it doesn't need any more praise, but....

A - Awesome hazy orangish gold. Awesome puffy light head that stays around and punches lacing into the pint glass.

S - Lemon pith, orange juice, citrus everywhere. Very light malty toast notes

T - Not very balanced, but awesome nonetheless! It definitely showcases the Citra hops well. Barely toasted bread, orange pith, pomelo, aspirin big time, almost a sort of implied saltiness.

M - Nice and light. Perfect timing that I got this at the start of summer in TN

I love this beer so much that even though I can tell the certain batch I am drinking now is not the freshest, it still does the trick!

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 06:11:22 | More by hopoilcrazy

somethingcreative

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -30%

05-16-2013 02:02:47 | More by somethingcreative