Beer Review: Rye D'Floyd (Three Floyd's version)

Reviewing Rue D'Floyd, an imperial porter aged in bourbon barrels with cherries and vanilla beans added brewed by Three Floyd's Brewing Company out of Munster, Indiana out of their facility in collaboration with The Bruery. The Bruery version, which also has coffee in it, was reportedly infected with unintended lactobacillus (it still tasted good fresh, but the infection likely means it will develop off/unintended flavors over time). However, this version was brewed and aged separately by Three Floyds and thus does not share the same concerns as (or the coffee in) the Bruery released version.

Score: 98

May 2014 vintage bottle served in a stemmed 2013 Midwest Belgian Beer Fest tulip and enjoyed on 06/01/14.

Appearance: Pours a dark chocolate color with minimal head that totally settles. No lacing or retention, but nice browning effect from the swirl. 4/5

Smell: Rich, desserty vanilla and chocolate cake, bourbon, brown sugar, molasses and light cherry. Wow. Smells incredible. The cherry character is not very prominent on the nose, but it is there. This is one of the best stout/porter noses I have encountered in a while. 5/5

Taste: Much more cherry in the flavor. Upfront is a nice mix of cherry, chocolate and a vanilla flavor that tastes like a donuts glaze. Bourbon and cherry flavor on the back half, with a big, lasting chocolate-vanilla flavored finish. The bourbon character comes out more and more as it warms up, and the longer you let the beer sit on the tongue. Lovely integration here. No real booziness. 4.75/5

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, minimal carbonation. Viscous, chewy and a little creamy mouthfeel. Sweet, but not cloying and very balanced. 5/5

Overall: Incredible. Viscous, decadent and robust, without being cloying. This is one of Three Floyd's and The Bruery's best barrel aged stout/porter releases. Heck, this is better than over half of the Barrel Aged Dark Lord releases to date.

Cost: $30 for a 750 ml bottle.