Three Floyd's Man-O-Awe Review

It appears another Three Floyd's limited offering has trickled into central Indiana... Man-O-Awe, an American pale ale clocking in at 6.0% ABV.

Like a lot of FFF labels there's not much relevant info to be gleaned from the beer description, but it does tell us that the beer is brewed exclusively with Michigan hops. Other than that I'm supposed to be in awe and go listen to some metal whiled drinking this (okay it doesn't say that, but it's implied with any FFF beer).

Well, time to drink the mystery beer.

It pours a deep copper with gold highlights topped with a two finger, off-white head. The aroma is pleasant with melon, tangerine, and bread. The taste is... well interesting to put it nicely. Heavy (sourdough?) bread malt and a dose of floral, musty, perfumey notes. There's some bitterness in there, but all the weirdness going on makes you forget about it. The body is light, bordering on watery, with middling carbonation and a slightly oily mouthfeel; then finishes somewhat dry.

I am in awe... of how bad this beer is. This is the worst Three Floyd's beer I've had and I actually drain poured what was left in the bottle. I don't care for the notes of tangy bread and heavily perfumed hops at all. I really hope this isn't indicative of Michigan hops, because if so, something ain't right. Three Floyd's has a track record of excellence so they're allowed a mulligan every once in awhile... not everything can be Zombie Dusts and Dark Lords. Resist your "Limited FFF Beer!" urge and leave this on the shelf.  0.5/5 (Yeah I think it's that bad)

The Big Guy: Whoa whoa whoa!!! I love ya buddy but you missed the boat on this one. Maybe I'm just a fan of sourdough bread, I don't know. The malts were light but sweet with a little bit of biscuit and bread crust. The hops come in with an awesome mango and melon flavor. Think really subtle tropical fruit flavors hiding just behind the sweetness of the malts and I thought it blended together nicely.

There is a slight resiny, pine flavor and earthy hop quality to the finish that closes it off nicely. I think this is a unique beer and its even better knowing some of the hops came from right here in the Midwest. There was just a bit of bitterness at the end and that's OK. Remember this is only a pale ale, a regular pale ale- not an IPA or a DIPA- just an everyday pale. A lot of us have come to expect intense hops every time we hear that Three Floyd's is making a beer. I was thrilled to see that this one didn't have that heavy handed hop flavor. I even picked up another bottle because I liked it so much. Thanks for leaving that one on the shelf Russ. I give it a 4.