Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Three Floyd's Blackheart IPA

By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 7, 2008 6:00PM

Beer is made from four ingredients: water, malt, yeast and hops. It's the hops that provides bite and spice to the mix. Hops also help preserve beer, making it last longer. Back in the days when the sun never set on the British Empire, brewers working in India would add extra hops to their English bitter in order to survive the trip home around the south African Cape Horn and ensure its drinkability when it arrived home. This is how the India Pale Ale style earned its name.

Hops are also members of the hemp family, which might explain why so many potheads gravitate toward beer, as well. This week's "BotW" designee, an oak-aged IPA we drank at DarkLord Day, had a fragrant nose that reminded us and our friend Sue of a really green joint (disclaimer: this is not an endorsement for marijuana use). the flavor of the beer was mainly apricots, with an undertone of caramel malt. The hops really hit us mid-palate with its spice and pine, and left the back of our mouth dry as a desert. After two or three of these while in line for our DarkLord we were in no mood to be angry or frustrated. Nor were we in a condition to operate a camera, hence no photo this week. Lo siento.

We've only found Blackheart at Three Floyds's Munster brewpub, but for a taste of this week's "BotW," it's worth the trip.