Ok then, what shall I write about first? When in doubt, discuss something familiar! In my case, it should be booze: an ale that I tried this past Saturday night.
Here we have a limited release bomber from Three Floyds Brewing Co called the Lord Rear Admiral. Normally I'm not a big fan of Three Floyds (for reasons I shall soon explain), but seeing how this particular ale was an Extra Special Bitters, I couldn't pass up on the chance to not try it. Back in the day, no self-respecting micro brewery was without an ESB in their regular lineup, but as the American craft beer seen has exploded in popularity, this classic English-style has fallen by the wayside in favor of absurd and increasingly overhopped IPAs and Pale Ales. 'Tis a shame, as a good ESB is a like a maltier, thicker pale ale. Served at room temperature - as proper ale should be - it makes for a refreshing brew, and if you ever get the chance to try one right from the cask, jump at it!
Back to the Lord Rear Admiral: when I first saw it, I was quite excited for the reasons explained above. The last time I had drank ESB was way back in November, when Schlafly Brewery out of St Louis had it as their seasonal six-pack, so I wasn't going to miss this opportunity. As with all Three Floyds beers, the label is like something ripped from an over-the-top comic book (or tattoo parlor), which is fitting for their brewing philosophy. However, we all know that it takes more than a flashy label to make a good ale, and this is where delivery did not live up to expectation. Lacking in body or any pronounced maltiness and weak in aromatics, with what I could detect being that same characteristic West Coast hoppiness they use in most of their ales but which is completely out of place in this style, it was a major disappointment to say the least.
Then again, I didn't go into this with the highest hopes either: see, Three Floyds is one of those breweries whose's reputation has gotten excessively bloated. Not only are they considered the best brewery in my home state of Indiana, but one of the top ten craft breweries in the whole United States as well. Among beer geeks it's got a legendary aura, so people who drink it go into it with preconceived notions that invariably color the experience. Hence the reason why these beers get consistently high ratings on sites like Beer Advocate and Rate Beer, even if objectively there isn't much difference between X and Y style of the upteenth IPA or pale ale Three Floyds puts out, or even compared with other breweries. Hype, more than anything else, is majorly inflates the ratings.
That being said, Three Floyds is good (very good in fact) when it comes to pale ales and IPAs, so if you're a hophead then you'll find little to complain about but for those of us who want more diverse ales or one with more subtlety and nuance, this brewery isn't one's cup of tea.
Final verdict on Lord Rear Admiral: pass. Perhaps I simply had a bad bottle or my palate wasn't properly tuned, but at $11 for a bomber I'd rather spend it on something else.
