Royal Brat

So my two favorite breweries decided to get together and do a collaboration. Three Floyd's came down to Indy during Gencon and got together with Sun King for an English Style Bitter. Since I just got back from the UK, the land of the bitters, I figured I should do a review.

Royal Brat is sold in 4 packs of 16 ounce cans. It's 4.7% ABV and 55 IBUs. It was released the weekend of the CANvitational.

It pours out a nice dark golden color. It smells like English hops and biscuit malts with a hint of caramel. The head is light cream colored and really dissipates quickly, much like UK Bitters. It leaves a nice bit of lacing at the top.

I have a new found appreciation for this beer after running around the UK last week. The beer in the UK is great, but it's all very traditional. Royal Brat has some seriously traditional flavors, but where most of the bitters I had in London left it as is, this one ratchets it all up a bit. The flavors are bolder and more in your face and that's no easy feat with a 4.7 ABV beer. The hop character is very smooth but has a nice bitter back end that sits in the back of your throat after you swallow. With a very light and bready malt character, the hops really have an oppertunity to shine.

I've seen a lot of mixed reviews about this one online. I think people were expecting a really big beer from a creative duo like Sun King and FFF, but this one is relaxed and nuanced. Also, remember its basically a session beer, and the lower alcohol beers tend to have much lighter malt flavor.

Haters gonna hate, but I think its a solid 3.5

O-Dawg:  Some of us didn't get a chance to refine our pallets on UK bitters... From an "unrefined" pallet used to all that is American I dug the hell out of Royal Brat!  Crazy drinkable!  Paired with enough hops and malt to keep me interested in a long drinking session.  The low ABV's will help you out when having to drive  call a cab to get home after that long drinking session. An astonished 3.5!