Black Sun

Brewer: Three Floyd's Brewing Company, Munster, Indiana
Alcohol Content: 6.5%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Black Sun has a nose of coffee, roasted malts and piney hops. This medium bodied stout has a broad depth of maltiness and a clean dry finish. "

Wilk's Take:
Here I am doing something I vowed never to do: write a full review of a Three Floyd's beer.  Sure I dabbled in little paragraphs here or there, but to take the approach on a full bomber?  The rationale behind never doing a full review came from the fact that there are far too many Three Floyd's apologists in the world.  Believe it or not, these guys can make mistakes.  Sure they have the best beer in America, but that doesn't mean all their beers are the best beers in America.

As is well documented on this blog I love stouts.  I can't seem to get enough of them and would drink a bomber everyday if my liver would let me.  Black Sun is no exception.  When I pulled back the cap and heard the carbonation escaping the bottle, I could detect the coffee and roasted malts before the cap could clink on the counter.  The undercurrent of hops was oh so subtle that upon first whiff you never would know they existed.

Black Sun did not pour thick.  Three Floyd's labels it a medium bodied stout, but on shear liquidity alone you could almost use the word light instead.  Curiously though, there was significant lacing on the glass as I drank so there is some staying power here.  The aroma was in full effect in the glass and the hops were more noticeable.  At 50 IBUs Black Sun is not the most bitter beer in the world, but the hops definitely kick you in the teeth.  If I didn't know any better I would say that Black Sun resembled more of a black IPA than a stout, but no IPA has had the flavor as this.

Black Sun is a great stout in its own right and with its hop character can certainly over power any other stout you may consider drinking in the same night.  Its uniqueness certainly requires admiration but no admiration reserved for Dark Lord or even current brewery favorite Zombie Dust.  Although, if you were to line this bottle up next to an oatmeal, chocolate, or imperial stout I'm not sure which would be more intimidating.

Suggestion: In the end, if you are typical a hop head like my good friend Brett, and you are looking to stick a toe in the stout pool, Black Sun is the perfect entry.  If you're a stout head and you want a change of pace, you could do much worse.  This one certainly will be purchased again before the supply runs out (if it hasn't already).

Value: Three Floyd's is very easy to come by in my neck of the woods and for $8, I would say the value is there.  Then again, I bought it a while ago so I'm not exactly sure it was $8, but since that seems to be average price, I'll risk it.

Michelle Factor: Although Michelle was a champ at B.I.G. Winterfest and downed more beers than I could have ever imagined, she didn't want to give this a go.  She's sick, so her taste buds are skewed anyway