Three Floyds (Munster, IN) brews many nationally renowned beers such as Dark Lord, Gumballhead, Dreadnaught IPA, and yes, Alpha King. Hell, Dark Lord has its own release day festival that draws thousands from multiple states. Being that pale ales are one of my favorite styles, I have had the Alpha King on the radar for quite some time. Problem is, Three Floyds doesn't distribute anywhere close to California. Until I gathered wind about the aforementioned gem of a beer store- Lone Hill Liquors, I had no hope of obtaining this except maybe down the line in a trade. Well, having picked up a single 12 oz. bottle of Alpha King today for $2.99, I could not wait to crack it open.
I went into the living room, flipped on the ASU/OSU College World Series game (quick shout out to my undergrad university's baseball team, UC Irvine, for their fantastic run in the playoffs), and poured myself a glass of Alpha King. I'll jump right to the point, I had great expectations for this beer and it held up and surpassed every one of them. What a fantastic beer. The pour alone excites me. I love pale ales that are orange in color, its just one of those things. Alpha King pours a slightly cloudy but darn near clear color with a beautiful fluffy white head. 
It's not much of a surprise that this beer delivers two of the most common elements in most pale ales or IPA's- citrus and pine character. The aroma consists of mostly fruit and citrus. The taste starts out with a burst of berry and citrus transitioning to a subtle pine finish. Lots of pale ales and IPA's contain these flavors, but the way Three Floyds does it with Alpha King... well there's just something near perfect about it. If this were a standard craft beer that we could find in the store for $7.99 a sixer, I would be buying it ALL the time. Unfortunately it would cost me about $18 a sixer. Oh well, it was great to at least have the opportunity to try a bottle. I scored it a 4.65 on BA.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale
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Possibly the greatest ale brewed by mankind. I had the opportunity to experience this beer over the summer of '07, and by God, what a beer. I bought a six pack at a local liquor store that specializes in microbrews, and as luck would have it, three floyds was at the peak of distribution there. They had about five different types to choose from. I spotted my eye on the three kings and stuck to it. Quite possibly the most beautiful pale ale I have ever poured and drank in my existance. A clear amber color with a powerful beige head. Grapefruit sweet tasting hops with notes of caramel. Dry but delicious. Citrusy throughout and the best tasting bitter beer ever.
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