Alpha Klaus Christmas (Xmas) Porter - Three Floyds Brewing Co. & Brewpub

UncleJimbo

Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Sampled on tap in July 2003 at The Blind Tiger. Christmas 2002 vintage.

This porter poured jet black with creamy, tan foam that coated the glass a bit. The smell was strong, "chewy", green hops (floral) with a bit of dark malt. The taste was dominated by the hops but the malt almost balanced with flavors of chocolate, cocoa, and caramel. The mouthfeel was smooth, and relatively sweet and a bit fruity. The body was medium with medium carbonation. This was a very nice porter -- kind of a Porter meets IPA. Very enjoyable as a porter and as a highly hopped ale. This keg had apparently lost much of its spiciness after 7+ months cellaring.

Serving type: on-tap

07-18-2003 04:36:42 | More by UncleJimbo

jcalabre

California

4.3/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

bottled by hoprus. Originally sampled on 19 December 2002. Yet another winner from Three Floyds has been poured into my glass. Alpha Klaus has a roasty flavor w/ coffee tones along with hints of cinnamon. It is medium bodied and brown/dark red in color. Very nice

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2003 20:09:11 | More by jcalabre

dwarbi

New York

4.6/5  rDev +10%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This was one of my two favorite three floyds. Fantastic beer. It's a solid black beer. Can't see it at all. Lovely tan head. Smells of cinnamon and homemade bread. It tastes malty and a little bit like chocolate. Perfect thickness -- feels very good on the palate and incredibly drinkable.
(Tasted this beer at the Blind Tiger's Three Floyds event)

Serving type: on-tap

04-24-2003 20:24:13 | More by dwarbi

Shiredave

New York

4.8/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Dark chocolate brown, thick tan head, big aroma of chocolate and flowery hop w/ some smokiness in the back. Just lucious as it enters your mouth - not a big beer but huge on flavor and drinkability. Incredible blend of flavors in a medium bodied porter. Lingering hop bitterness remains after the hop and dark grain flavors fade. No specs on alcohol content from web site or distributor but my guess is around 6.5%/ Vol.
I am surprised my numbers came out so high but when I look back, I dont want to change a thing. I just took another sip.... IMHO its nearly as good as it gets.

Serving type: on-tap

12-20-2002 21:42:52 | More by Shiredave

zerk

California

5/5  rDev +19.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Sampled this one on tap at the brewery, and again from my growler at home.

From a Three Floyds pamphlet: Rich and chocolatey, with English chocolate and Mexican sugar.

Just when I thought Three Floyds couldn't wow me anymore than they already had, along comes Alpha Klaus. Black with an amber tint... a persistant tan head... leaving beautiful lace all the way down the glass. Aroma of sweet chocolate and quite a bit of pine. Flavor is very bold, and somewhat sweet... pine, chocolate, toasted malt, and some noticable alcohol. The pine hop flavor is what really dominates... almost as if they had extracted the pine flavor from the hop, and left the bitterness behind. Mouthfeel is very smooth and creamy, with a delicate carbonation, and medium body. I don't know the ABV% on this, but I would imagine it's pretty high, based on the flavor and the punch that it packs.

A truely astounding brew from 3f, and *dare I say it* probably even better than Dreadnaught!

Serving type: on-tap

12-06-2002 05:48:49 | More by zerk