3 Floyds Dreadnaught Imperial IPA

Dreadnaught is a classic West Coast Double IPA.

Brewer's Notes: Our OG Imperial IPA, Dreadnaught ups the ante with intense citrus hop aromas, a huge malt body, and a crisp finish. Notes of pine, mango, and pineapple are balanced by A strong malt bill which creates a wonderful partner to the strong hop bitterness.

Beeradvocate: An Imperial India Pale Ale with an intense citrus hop aroma, a huge malt body and a crisp finish. 100 IBU.

Tasting notes
20260527: I just finished the third of the four pack. What more do you want from an Imperial IPA?

Rating = 7 glasses

Previous ratings = 6.5, 6

20260503: I picked up a four pack in Indy. Yummy and loads of lacing as I drank the beer. 

August 2022: The beer continues to impress. Upgraded to 6.5 glasses.

June 2022: The pour is beautiful with a slightly hazy golden body and a creamy cloud of foam on top. Bitterness predominates but it has just enough sweetness to balance. BeerAdvocate rates it "World Class". I agree.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale

Brewers Notes: Bigfoot is a beast of a beer, brimming with bold flavors of bittersweet malt and heaps of aggressive whole-cone Pacific Northwest hops. First introduced in the winter of 1983, Bigfoot is a cult-classic beer brewed in the barleywine style, meaning a strong, robust, bruiser of a beer with the refined intensity of a wine. Bigfoot is prized by beer collectors for its supreme cellarability. Under the proper conditions, it can age like a fine wine, developing new flavors and character as it matures in the bottle. Each new release or “expedition” is vintage dated. Collect your own and see the flavors develop and progress.

BeerAdvocate

Tasting Notes

20260125: I am sipping a 15-year old 2011 vintage as I watch the snow fall and the Patriots play the Broncos for the AFC championship. It is a total delight. It combines caramel sweetness with a dose or subdued hop bitterness. I wish that I had more of this vintage.

20260117 I am drinking the first bottle from the first six-pack from the 2026 vintage. I was surprised to see Big Foot in Total Wine before the middle of December. Printing on the bottle indicates that the beer was bottled December 05, 2025.

In a war between hops and malts, hops wins. They are bitter, coat the tongue, and kick in after the swallow to give a sustained bitter after taste. Easily one for the hoppiest beers I have had. It is not for the faint of heart. 

202511: I drank a 5.5-year-old vintage from 2025. Yummy! The hops had mellowed slightly and some chocolate flavors emerged. 5.5 years is GOOD!

Aug. 2025: I drank a 19.5-year old 2026 vintage with a Pecan Bliss Bar (Our thick, crumbly oat cookie bar filled with chopped pecans, caramel and chocolate chips) from Shyndigz. Fantastic beer and pairing!! The head was minimal. The hops had mellowed down to a dark sour bitterness. Chocolate notes abounded.

Nov. 2023: I drank a ten-year old 2013 vintage with pumpkin cake from Shyndigz. The pairing was great. The beer still had robust flavors and the hops had mellowed some. I noticed a nice chocolate flavor coming forward. Yummy!

August 2023: I drank a 2023 vintage with Jen's Chocolate Cake at the conclusion of dinner to celebrate my 71st birthday. The beer continues to amaze me. What I noticed was the fantastic lacing clinging to the glass as it emptied. I revisited my review to see if I rated it 6.5 or 7 glasses. The flavor, color, and lacing merit 7.

Feb. 2022: The first 1.5 bottles of 12. Alex got the other 0.5. May not be as sweet as last years but it has hops galore. A flavor bomb. I plan to purchase another 6-pack.

Jan. 21, 2021: I drank the first bottle of a case of just released 2021 vintage. It paired wonderfully with carrot cake from Publix. It did not disappoint. Loads of caramel-sweet almost sticky malt coupled with tons of hops. At $13 a 6-pack, I think it is a great value for a fantastic beer. 

July 5, 2020: Bigfoot is the classic American Barleywine. It is a flavor bomb - tons of sweet malt and tons of bitter hops. It ages fantastically and my "cellar' has bottles dates 2006. It has been a favorite of mine for years. It goes great with carrot cake and other sweet desserts. My understanding is the "Barleywine-style" in the title arose because the ABC folks feared that buyers would confuse it with wine if the SN called it simply "Barleywine".

Rating = 7 glasses.

Hardywood Kentucky Christmas Morning

Kentucky Christmas Morning is Christmas Morning aged in bourbon barrels. Christmas Morning is Gingerbread Stout with coffee. The coffee adds some bitterness to the sweet milk stout and then the bourbon adds back some sweet and more flavor. Wow! Beeradvocate classifies it as a Sweet / Milk Stout.

Brewer's notes: Hardywood Kentucky Christmas Morning is liquid proof that good things come to those who wait. Our original Gingerbread Stout takes an initial transformation through months of aging in Kentucky bourbon barrels, reaching new levels of maturity with layers of vanilla, coconut, and toasted oak. Before bottling, the barrel aged stout is cold filtered through heaps of freshly cracked locally roasted coffee beans from Blanchard’s Coffee Co, showcasing the nostalgic joys of Christmas Morning. Treat yourself, it’s been a long year.

Beeradvocate: Bourbon barrel aged imperial Imperial milk stout, aged in Kentucky bourbon, barrels with ginger, vanilla, honey, cinnamon, and coffee added.

Tasting notes
20260119: I enjoyed a bottle with some cupcake while watching the CFP championship game. The beer is a delight. Wonderfully sweet with hints of coffee and a nice touch of bourbon. I am returning the rating to 7 glasses. Maybe I should go with 6.5 glasses based on my review of Concealed Darkness but what more could a beer do?

Rating = 7 glasses

18 Oct. 2020

A bottle from 2018. I drank it after drinking a crowler of Concealed Darkness. (I had help.) Kentucky Christmas Morning is way sweeter and bourbony that Concealed Darkness. It is a BIG beer with Big flavors but I am downgrading the rating.

Rating = 6 glasses 

25 Dec. 2019

Kentucky Christmas Morning is Christmas Morning aged in bourbon barrels. The bourbon flavor is subdued and adds more complexity and some sweetness. 

Rating = 7 glasses.

Stone Old Guardian

Old Guardian is a big bold American barleywine. It has loads of malt and hops.

Beer Advocate 

classifies it as an American Barleywine.

Brewer's Notes

Barley wines are traditionally hefty brews, but ours is downright excessive. The huge maltiness of this beer is only tamed by an equally prodigious addition of hops, creating a rich, slightly sweet, caramel-hued ale infused with assertive bitterness and bright hop notes, all culminating in a pleasing dryness. While it will evolve into an even more glorious brew with age, this beer's delicious onslaught of flavors will seriously challenge your ability to wait any longer to drink it.

Featured Hops: Cascade, Chinook, Delta & Nugget.

Flavor Profile: Caramel, dried fruit, balanced finish.

Tasting Notes

20260214: I had a 10-oz. glass of 19-year old 2007 vintage at the brewery. It was lovely. Caramel and dark fruit flavors shined. Then I had a relatively fresh can from a four-pack I purchased in November. I featured big hops and a bitter finish. I am upgrading the rating. I acknowledge that Bigfoot may be a better value. Old Guardian may be more agressively hopped and fruitier.

Nov. 26, 2025: I had a small glass of a 10-year old 2015 vintage at the Stone tap house. It was wonderful. For the money, Bigfoot gets my nod. Therefore, I downgraded the rating slightly.

Rating = 6.5 glasses

Oct. 4, 2020: I cracked open my second growler of Old Guardian 2010 last weekend. The beer is now 10 years old and spent the last year and change in a crowler in my refrigerator. The beer is not what I remembered. The sweet malt had faded. A nice chocolate taste had emerged and the hops were kicking. malt. I don't know if the result is simply part of the aging process or being the crowler too long. Folks on Beer Advocate warned me that crowlers are NOT generally suitable for long-term storage. 

I would not rate what I had as 7 glasses but am leaving the original rating alone.

20 Aug. 2019
This vintage 2010 American barleywine was on tap @ Stone. It is yummy. It has aged wonderfully. - way better than the Big Foots in my "cellar". Loads of sweet malt with backbone of muted hops. Don't tell my wife; but, I bought two crowlers. The opportunity may never come again: Stone quit brewing Old Guardian circa 2015.

Rating = 7 glasses. 

Eggenberg Samichlaus

Samichlaus is a delicious Doppelbock. It is so strong I would call it a Triple Bock.

Beer Advocate: The once strongest beer in the world is back! Brewed only once a year on December 6. Samichlaus is aged for 10 months before bottling. This beer is perhaps the rarest in the world. Samichlaus may be aged for many years to come. Older vintages become more complex with a creamy warming finish. Serve with hardy robust dishes and desserts, particulary with chocolates, or as an after dinner drink by itself. Brewed under the exclusive licence of Feldschlösschen-Hürlimann-Holding, Switzerland.

Brewer's notes: This is brewed only once a year, on December 6th, in a complex process Strong beer is a rarity. It can age in bottle for many years and gains complexity. Red-brown shimmering, complex aromas of dried plums, malt and caramel.

Tasting notes
2508: A can with some age on it was a delight. Sweet toffee and alcohol sweetness. A ale version of a sticky English barleywine. I want more.

Rating = 7 glasses

2401: Another glass at Can Can with L and ML. Sweet toffee goodness. Let's up the rating to 6.5.

2312: I had a glass on draft last night while dining with L and E at Can Can. I sampled the beer years ago but could not find my notes. Well, I was blown away; the beer is better than I remember. It is deep and dark and malty and delicious. It paired well with a good cheeseburger. It reminded me of Alesmith Private Stock and Bell's Third Coast Old Ale - a strong ale with loads of flavor and complexity. I want more and will buy some when I see it. It impressed me more than BFM Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien which I rate as 7 glasses. I need more tastes to go that high for Samichlaus. 

Rating = 6.5 glasses.

3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek

Brewer's Notes: 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek is the result of macerating hand-picked whole sour cherries on young lambic for at least four months, in a proportion of one kilogram of fruit per litre of lambic. The kriek lambic is then blended again with more young lambic to obtain a minimum intensity of 35% fruit, and is bottled immediately afterwards. These bottles are then stored in our cellars for at least five months so that the kriek lambic can develop into a beautiful, traditional, and refined Oude Kriek. With a pleasant tartness and organic notes of almond and cinnamon as it warms in the glass, 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek, will age perfectly but may lose some of the vibrant red colours and forest fruit aromas. This unfiltered and unpasteurised lambic is all-natural with no artificial juices, syrups, or sugars added. Traditional Lambic is living, cultural heritage rooted in the Zenne valley!

Tasting Notes

Feb. 2024: Simply fantastic. Tart, vineous, with a touch of cherry. I think that it is better than Intens Rood.

Rating = (still) 7 glasses

Aug. 2022: See Feb. 2022. I am hooked. Bottle dated 06/02/2020 which I think means 06 Feb. 2020. 

Rating = (still) 7 glasses

Feb. 2022: Wow. Tart + Sour Cherry + a titch of vinegar and je ne sais quoi. 

Rating = 7 glasses, upgraded from 6.

Oct. 2019: Oude Kriek is a great example of the style: lambic that sits atop sour cherries in oak barrels, is blended with more lambic, bottled, and referments in the bottle. Sort of gueze with a dash of tart cherry flavor. The color is dark pink. The flavor is complex: tart with hints of sugar, cherry, and other fruit flavors. Yummy. A rare find obtained by the good folks at Corks and Kegs.

Rating = 6 glasses, and may be knocking on the door for 7.

Rating = 7 glasses

BFM Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien

Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien is a fantastic beer, one of my favorites. Beer Advocate classifies it as a Flanders Red Ale.

Beer Advocate

Brewer's notes: The Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien is a strong sour ale of mixed fermentation, aged during a year in old wine oak barrels. The oak aging and the action of wild yeasts confer this beer’s astonishing wide range of aromas. Its outstanding komplexity, balance, roundness and long finish, are the fruit of the meticulous blend of selected barrels.
On the palate the blend reminds one of fruity red wines with a pronounced balsamic sourness.
The best way to enjoy a Bon-Chien is to serve it in an elegant wine glass at 16°C or 60.6°F paired with a duck breast or some panned foie gras for example.

Tasting notes
2312: I enjoyed a glass on draft at Can Can while dining with L and E. It continues to impress. It paired well with beef tartar and escargots. I have sampled the beer on draft and from the bottle several times since my last review but saw no reason to add new comments. "Sour with oak and smoke and tons of complexity" is accurate. I noticed more wine last night.

Rating = (still) 7 glasses

1308: Abbaye De Saint Bon-Chien is a fantastic beer. Sour with oak and smoke and tons of complexity.  Rating = 7 glasses.

Fantôme Saison

Nov. 25, 2022

I am hooked on this beer. Corks and Kegs has a good supply and I want to buy a case. I shared a bottle with Alex yesterday with Thanksgiving turkey. A delight.

Rating: 7 glasses

(202202): The biggest gusher I have ever seen. Lost over 50% of the beer.

(201910): Wow, my favorite saison. Funky with a titch of sour. Complex, hardy and quaffable. Everything you want in a saison.

Rating = 7 glasses. Upgraded from 4.

Previous review

Blue Mountain Concealed Darkness

Concealed Darkness is an Imperial version of Dark Hallow, already classified as an Imperial Stout. It is a fantastic beer. It pours black with a dark brown head. It is Big AND Smooth, too easy to drink. Flavors include bourbon, chocolate, oak, char, and caramel, but all or muted and blended. It finishes with a wonderful charred bite at the finish. I don't know if the bite at finish is from hops, chocolate malt, bourbon,or all three. Yummy. It replaces Hardywood Kentucky Christmas on my list of beers rating 7 glasses. It came from a crowler sold by Corks and Kegs as part of an anniversary celebration. I look forward to drinking my second and last crowler in my cellar

Beer Advocate. 

Rating= 7 glasses.

Trappistes Rochefort 10

10 continues to impress. The best one-word description is complex. It is a wonderful balance of malt, hops, and je ne sais quo.

Previous review.

BeerAdvocate rating = World Class, 91st best overall, and the 2nd best quadruple.

My rating = 7 glasses.

Russian River Pliny the Elder

Wow. Wonderfully balanced. Simultaneously bitter and subtle. The bitterness coats the tongue and mouth and lasts for what seems like forever. My favorite double IPA.

Rating = 7 glasses.

Saison

Brewer: Fantôme Style: Saison Tasting notes: (1008) Quaffable and complex. A little apple up front w/ interesting sour/dry aftertaste. Though about 5 glasses. (0808) Dry apple cider w/ a musty bite @ end. Different, interesting and complex. Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 14 August 2010. Rating: 4 glasses