IPA Tasting

Quite possibly one of, if not the, best night of drinking of my entire life.  The timing was perfect.  We had just came back from a trip to San Diego with some Pizza Port and Alpine brews.  My friend was in Chicago just days before the tasting so he was able to snab some Three Floyds, Pipeworks, Surly, and Half Acre beers.  And on a whim I quickly visited Cleveland to get growlers Fat Heads IBUsive and Columbus Bohdi.  We had quite the turnout for this one, especially since everyone saw the line up leading into it.  It was an incredible 6 hours of drinking, one I never will forget (although I did kind of slowly black out towards the end..so that part may always be forgotten). Take a look below at all the wonderful beers in the lineup:

Now unlike my other tastings, there were only a very small handful of beers that were unsatisfying. Let me discuss the big stand outs thought.  Alpine Pure Hoppiness was a shock because we had it on tap in San Diego and preferred Nelson and Duet much more..but something happened to this bottle and it was out of this world good! The aroma hit you from feet away and the whole room were pure enjoyment as they sipped on it making it the clear winner.
Another big standout was shockingly enough Surly Abrasive.  Now it is rated 100 on Beer Advocate, but it was a few months old so I expected it to lose a lot of its luster. It didn't...it was incredible. It's brothers...Furious and Overrated! were good..but didn't come close to Abrasive.
Another shocker, well not for me since I have had it, was Pipeworks Derketo.  It is a Belgian IPA which most would think isn't too great.  They are wrong..it drinks like a great regular IPA, very hoppy and has a lightness to it even though it is around 10%. The other Pipeworks however were all pretty underwhelming which was sad since used to be so much better.  I personally think they are pumping out too many different styles and not focusing on making just a few quality beers like they were at the beginning.
Three Floyds unfortunately while pumped up by me just couldn't make a big splash due to the two beers offered, Artic Panzer Wolf and Dreadnaught since they both tasted VERY alcoholic.  Half Acre's Vallejo was real tasty and liked by most however.  Good representation of Chicago beers.
Along with the Alpine beers, Pizza Port made a good splash for San Diego beers.  The S.I.P.A. session was a big hit, especially since sessions were just starting to pop up all over.  And Swami's IPA was also really tasty.
Our typical Ohio beers did great also. Fat Heads IBUSive growler was top 5 and a huge hit.  Headhunter IPA and Sunshine Daydream Session were also popular.  Brew Kettle White Rajah did well.  And Columbus Bohdi growler was a big hit, while the Columbus IPA was just average.
As for the rest, they were mostly our typical local beers. Ghandi Bot was probably top 5 as usual...it is so good and rarely found around here.  Ithaca Flower Power, Ballast Point Sculpin, Lagunitas Sucks, Stone Enjoy By, Great Lakes Rye of the Tiger, Bear Republic Apex and others were all staples around here and while very enjoyable just couldn't compete!
Such a great night of drinking that I could write about for hours since IPAs are my passion and I thought our lineup couldn't of gotten much better with the resources I am given.  The only way to even possibly make it better was maybe to throw in a can of Heady and some Hill Farmstead growlers...but hey wasn't need and it was a GREAT night!

Three Floyds Brewing - Munster, IN

This was my most exciting/nerve racking stop of the whole trip. For beer nerds, Three Floyds is one of those MUST have beers.  So many of their beers are very highly rated, most notably Zombie Dust.  They update their beer list everyday (on tap and for purchase).  For weeks leading up to it Zombie Dust was on the 6 pack list, on and off each day, so I was very nervous if I'd get me a case or 2 if it were there.  We drove from Grand Rapids to Munster...different time zones we had an extra hour. We arrived at 11:25 (they open 11:30).  They have a different entrance for beer purchase, with only one guy waiting at the door I was even more nervous. Once inside it's just a little window, the guy was VERY helpful and nice but unfortunately no Zombie Dust. But I still got a case of Alpha King and a mixed pack of all different 22s (including Dreadnaught, Apocalypse Cow, and Arctic Panzer Wolf). **Side note, I ended up tracking down a 6 pack of Zombie Dust at a diner, I convinced them to sell me a 6 pack and I had to pay 6$ a bottle!

-Now I am a constant Yelp reader and there were endless reviews stating how horrible customer service is at Three Floyds from the hostess to the waiters to the bartenders. Thankfully we were there right when they opened, so we sat at the bar. Luckily for me Zombie Dust was on tap! I will review beers in a minute...the bartender wasn't the friendliest guy but going into this expecting the worst he seemed nice compared to what I expected. They play metal music, but I barely even noticed, lots of reviewers said it's SUPER loud but it's not (maybe later at night?). They deck the place out with random toys, old Floyds bottles (which have awesome designs) and just other random stuff. 

-We split the Bison burger, pulled pork sandwich and the poutine.  They all were very good! I read a lot of reviews that the food is mediocre and overpriced, while I kind of agree with the latter I will say it was very tasty especially for brewery food.
-Now to the beers...Zombie Dust pale ale just hands down amazing in my top 3 beers ever, Alpha King pale ale was amazing, Jinx Proof pale ale was eh, Gumball Head wheat is really good and never would guess it's a wheat, Masonic Rite was good you can taste the blood orange, Evil Power pils was smooth, Arctic Panzer Wolf double IPA was strong and not bad, Apocalypse Cow double IPA is tasty but strong, and Dreadnaught double IPA was strong but VERY good. 

-All in all, their worst beer was better than most beers I have at other breweries and they have about 4-6 AMAZING beers regularly on tap here. The food is good. From what I read, if you show up at night be expected to wait a long time, and they don't let you wait inside you have to give your name and go wait outside. I highly recommend going when they open if you can...it's worth a day off of work!
-As for merchandise, they have t-shirts, an AWESOME glass, some bad ass stickers and some of the best coasters I've ever seen.

-My favorite brewery stop on my entire trip, very close to Founders and Surly (which I'm reviewing later). Check out their website for more info and a tap list....www.3floyds.com/