I’ve had this one for a while—six or maybe even eight months. Is it still good, you may ask. Well, all my beer is technically cellared—I live in a basement, after all—but my bomber of Three Floyds Black Sun actually has been sitting in the beer fridge the whole damn time. Besides, stouts hold up to aging, even harsh aging, pretty well, so let’s see how this bad boy comes out.

The pour is a dark, dark, dark brown—but not, as the brew’s name suggests, black. The head is light brown, silky and thick, even after a fairly tame (for me) pour in my giant-ass 24-ounce glass stein.

Light, caramel-like malt heads up the nose, with some tiny vanilla-tinged coffee bean notes on the edges. No heavy roasty aromas like I’d expected, though. The roast, however, is in the taste, smooth, toasty malt at the outset followed by coffee and mild chocolate flavors. The roast sticks around for a medium-to-long finish. The body’s not huge at all, probably a little below average for a craft stout, and the abundance of roasted malt keeps the brew’s sweetness in check, with some help from restrained hop utilization. In fact, except for a short bite at the very end of the sip, you’d be hard pressed to detect any hops at all.

So the crazy crew at Three Floyds demonstrates that they can do things without the strait jacket if they so choose. The result is a solid stout, smooth and drinkable, but lacking that signature Three Floyds character that makes their other brews so damn great. Still, a good beer and worth grabbing a bomber or two if you come across it, but if you’re looking for something mind-blowing from the greatly insanes from Munster—and aren’t faint of heart—I’d suggest trading up for their stellar milk stout, Moloko.

Reviewed by Eddie Glick on December 17, 2008.

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