It's Not Normal! (But it is tasty.)

It's not normal!

That's the motto of Three Floyd's Brewing Co., of Munster, Ind., and they live by it. Most of the beer these guys brew would be considered a bit outrageous by most beer drinker's standards, but these guys don't brew beer for that crowd. They brew beer for hard-core hop heads and malt lovers. Three Floyd's range of beers covers everything from their interpretation of an English Mild to India Pale Ale to Barleywine to Stout. Each beer features lots of hops, but don't think that makes the beers one-dimensional. All of Three Floyd's beers boast wonderful hoppy and malty flavors combined. Take for instance, the Pride and Joy Mild, a beer with a wonderful caramel malt flavor with a good shot of hops. Or, try the Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale, and you'll find a nice toasted malt character. Another Three Floyd's beer, Extra Pale Ale, is just about as good a classic American ale as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The only difference may be that Three Floyd's is in Indiana and Sierra Nevada is in California.

Time for a tasting

As big fans of Three Floyd's beers our party (which included myself, my wife Carol and my friend Ryan) headed to Indiana for a look at how the beers are made. The brewery is located about five miles south of the I-80/94 expressway, in an industrial park off of Calumet Avenue. From the outside the brewery looks pretty boring; but what's inside is definitely not boring. We went to Three Floyd's to take a tour, something the brewery just started, and we anxious about what we might find. Our anxiety was quelled once we got inside the brewery. We rang the bell and knocked on the door next to the loading dock. We were invited inside by brewmaster Nick Floyd. Ryan recognized Nick from seeing him at the Real Ale Fest last spring. Nick offered us some beer right away, poured from an incredible selection of the Three Floyd's beers, including favorites such as Dreadnought IPA and Behemoth Barleywine. Other selections included the Extra Pale Ale, Alpha King, Robert the Bruce and a new creation called Alpha Klaus. I had to try the Alpha Klaus.

A beer made to celebrate the holiday season, Alpha Klaus is a strong porter-style beer with some additional spices and flavorings, aside from the usual malt and hops. I noticed these flavors right away, but I couldn't really make any sense of them, but Nick explained to us that beer was made with Mexican chocolate and molasses. Very unusual, but very tasty. Somehow, these strange flavors meshed well with the malt and hops and made for a very interesting beer. According to Nick, the Alpha Klaus used to be called Alien Porter, a few minor changes were made and it was released as a holiday beer. Unfortunately, the Alpha Klaus is only available on tap, and it's reach probably won't extend far beyond a few pubs in Chicago. I think I had two helpings of the Alpha Klaus before I moved on to the Behemoth Barleywine.

I figured I might as well go for the really big beers that I don't see too often, but when I say big, I really mean HUGE. The Behemoth Barleywine is a huge beer at nearly 10 percent alcohol. The first thing that is noticed is the massive -- and I mean massive -- malt flavors. The truck loads of malt are fortunately balanced by nearly as much hops. I couldn't really pick out all the different malt flavors -- definitely some crystal or caramel malts, and probably some dextrin malt. The result is a gargantuan ale that despite it's strength, is a very enjoyable sippin' brew.

Having a look around

Once we started our tour, I was quick to point out to Nick that I brew my own, and have done so for almost six years. Revealing this to Nick kept the tour pretty low-key. "You probably know what all this stuff does then," Nick said. Nonetheless, he pointed out the fermenters, the homemade keg washers and the glycol cooling system. He even showed us the old brew kettles from the brewery's former location in Hammond, Ind. The new equipment allows the brewery to make more beer, but all of the bottled product is still contract-brewed at Schell Brewing Co., in New Ulm, Minn.

What was most interesting on the tour was getting a chance to see two batches of beer fermenting. One batch was a rather large tank of Alpha King that was fermenting rather vigorously. A large hose could be spotted pumping excess carbon dioxide and fermenting beer into a five gallon bucket. A similar arrangement set up several feet away was overflowing onto the floor. I pointed this out to Nick and asked what was fermenting in this smaller tank. It was a rather short, squat and odd looking vessel. "That's going to be and abbey beer," Nick said. "But I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it." He later explained that it was sort of a test batch of about seven barrels in volume and would probably only be on tap at the brewery. I was disappointed by this, but nonetheless interested in the unusual fermenter. As it turns out, the squat stainless-steel vessel, set up on wheels was salvaged from Georgia, where it was going to be used for cooking barbecue. I'm sure glad Nick saved it to brew beer!

After our brief tour of the brewery, we pondered the cool selection of T-shirts and hats for sale, decorated with the unusual logos for the different Three Floyd's beers. We decided we didn't need any more T-shirts and that our money could be better spent on beer. We ended up taking home a half gallon growler of the Dreadnought IPA, a seriously strong version of India Pale Ale that is brewed near the strength of a Barleywine or Imperial Stout. Cheap cases of Three Floyd's beers were available for $20, the growlers for $10 and $15 depending on the strength of the beer. It's almost worth the trip just to get some of the hard to find tasty beers.

For those who would like to take their trip to Three Floyd's, I highly recommend it, the tour only costs 5 bucks and you can pretty much drink all you want. I suspect this policy might change once more people start visiting the brewery, so I wouldn't waste any time checking the place out. In the meantime, I plan to get back to Three Floyd's soon, to see if I can get any of that abbey beer fermenting in the barbecue pit.

Send comments and suggestions to: marc@marcobrau.com