411. Three Floyds Blackheart English Style IPA

While we’ve already tried this beer once before, the new label art (well, and the fact that we found some more of it) means that we figured the beer was good for another entry. While we’ll not be so bold to just cut and paste the old notes in again, the two beers do share some similarities, although this one has a bit fresher hop flavor across the beer profile. One thing that hasn’t changed—while we’ve got a new label here, there is still a fair amount of the creepy vibe in the label art. As with all things Three Floyds, however, the beer is a delicious treat. Hooray for Three Floyds. Oh, and we’ve previously tried Dark Lord 2010, Rabbid Rabbit, BrooDoo Harvest Ale, Brian Boru, Gumballhead Wheat, Robert the Bruce, Dreadnaught, Black Sun Stout and Blackheart IPA. Since we’ve hit up Blackheart before, we’ll call this one 9 ½.

Blackheart pours slightly cloudy and is the color of bread crust with a thin ivory head that hangs around and laces the glass decently. The nose is bready with a good dose of spicy resin hop aroma; flavors start dry with bread and biscuit maltiness coupled with some early hop flavors—like with the nose, spicy and resiny—that bleed into the middle, along with a decent amount of bitterness. The resiny and spicy hop flavor runs through the middle and into the end; there is a return of bread crust malt flavor in the finish, but also a good amount of bitterness that lingers on the palate. With the bitterness, there are light oak and acorn flavors that mix with the hops. Blackheart has a creamy but drying mouthfeel with a chewy medium body; there is a bit of alcohol warmth at the finish, particularly as the beer warms, although it is partially masked by the lingering hop bitterness. The carbonation is medium, but does contribute, along with the hops, to some of the dryness in the mouthfeel. This version of Blackheart is quite similar to the last; the main differences are more hop flavor across the profile, and less directly apparent oak flavor, which are probably connected, with the hop flavor covering some of the oak components. Nonetheless, Blackheart is still delicious and enjoyable.

From the label: “This beer is Three Floyds’ U.K. IPA brewed with all English ingredients and aged on toasted oak. An artistic collaboration with our friends Tim Lehi & Jeff Rassier at Blackheart Tattoo in San Francisco. Check it!”

ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 70

(9/8/2010)