Three Floyds Brewing

Three Floyds Brewing (3 Floyds) is a breweryNoel, Josh (April 26, 2012). "Three Floyds' Evil Genius", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 21, 2014.Sudo, Chuck (August 6, 2012). "Three Floyds Details Growing Pains" , Chicagoist. Retrieved February 21, 2014.Konkol, Mark (April 26, 2013). "Three Floyds Founder Doesn't Hate Your Favorite Bar" , DNAinfo. Retrieved February 21, 2014.Bendersky, Ari (June 25, 2009). "Chicago's New Wave of Microbrews", The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2014. founded in 1996 by brothers Nick and Simon and their father Mike Floyd in Hammond, Indiana. Since 2000, the brewery has been located in Munster, Indiana. In 2011, an article in The Washington Post said that Three Floyds "has won over the beer geek elite", and "has been making the best beers on the planet for four of the past five years—at least according to the more than 1 million beer reviews logged each year on RateBeer.com. (In 2008, it slipped to second place.)"Fromson, Daniel (November 1, 2011). "Beer: The Secret Behind the Cult of Three Floyds", The Washington Post. Retrieved February 20, 2014.

In 2018, Three Floyds cracked the top 50 list of Brewing companies by sales volume reaching the #39 spot in craft brewery sales and #49 spot in overall brewery sales. By 2026, Three Floyds had expanded distribution to 22 states.

History Nick, Simon, and Mike Floyd opened Three Floyds Brewing in 1996 in Hammond, Indiana operating out of an old auto garage. The original brewing system was made of a Canfield's cola tank with wok burners and Swiss cheese fermenters salvaged from Wisconsin. The three purchased a warehouse in Munster in 2000 to house the brewery. Three Floyds opened a brewpub adjacent to the brewery in 2005.Thiel, Julia. "Three Floyds Brewpub", Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 21, 2014. By 2012 Three Floyds was producing 10,000 barrels per year. In 2014 it was announced that plans for a distillery were in the works across the street from the brewery. The distillery would produce gin, rum, vodka and other spirits for sale and tasting. The distillery opened on June 21, 2019.

In 2018 plans were unveiled for the expansion of Three Floyds 57,000 sq. ft. facility to a larger, campus-like setting with a bigger brewpub, retail area, office space and parking, as well as a larger brewing facility. Construction was set to begin after Dark Lord Day 2019. The brewpub closed in 2020. Three Floyds made plans in 2023 to open a Taproom at their Munster location in 2024, expanding to over 136,000 sq. ft. and enlarging the retail and office spaces.

Co-founder Simon Floyd died on December 19, 2024, in Dyer, Indiana.

Beers Three Floyds produces more than a dozen year-round beers as well as numerous seasonal beers.

+Year-Round BeersBeersStyleABVIBUAlpha KingAmerican Pale Ale6.66%68Arctic Panzer WolfIndia Pale Ale9%100Barbarian HazeHazy IPA6.5%50Dreadnaught IPAImperial India Pale Ale9.5%100GumballheadWheat Beer5.6%35LazersnakePale Ale7%55Permanent FuneralIndia Pale Ale10.5%100Robert The BruceScottish Ale6.5%24Space Station Middle FingerAmerican Pale Ale6%50Zombie DustPale Ale6.2%50 Three Floyds's flagship beer was Alpha King, an American Pale Ale that follows German beer laws. Dark Lord, a Russian Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, Mexican vanilla, and Indian sugar, was first brewed in 2002. They began making Zombie Dust, an American pale ale, in 2010 using Citra hops. The cans feature horror-style artwork by Tim Seely. By 2012 they were producing Dark Lord in thee variations (standard, oak aged, vanilla-bean barrel aged), Alpha King pale ale, Behemoth barley wine, and Dreadnaught India pale ale. Seasonal beers included Rabbid Rabbit, Moloko milk stout, Broo Doo harvest ale, Topless Wytch Baltic porter, and Apocalypse Cow. Three Floyds Released Turbo Reaper, a 7% ABV West Coast IPA in 2024. In 2025, Three Floyds released Blinded By The Light, a lager made with corn grits, referencing the song of the same name.

Dark Lord and Dark Lord Day Three Floyd's Dark Lord is the brewery's premier barrel-aged beer. Purchasing a bottle of Dark Lord requires attendance to the brewery's annual "Dark Lord Day" festival which regularly features beer exchanges, heavy metal music and food trucks. A ticket nets attendees four bottles of Dark Lord and a fifth variant flavor of Dark Lord. Attendance at this event is now limited to 6,000 via pre-sold tickets, after crowd control problems in the past.Stambor, Zak (March 17, 2011). "Brewery Aims to Lighten the Stress of Dark Lord Release", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2014.Lazerus, Christin Nance (April 27, 2013). "For Beer Lovers, 'Dark Lord Day' Offers a Rare Taste" , Post-Tribune. Retrieved February 21, 2014.Montoro, Philip (April 29, 2013). "Dark Lord Day Spreads Out and Levels Up for 2013", Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 22, 2014. As of 2018, Dark Lord sits as one of the top 100 beers in the world according to RateBeer.com.

Collaborations with heavy metal bands In 2010, the brewers teamed up with heavy metal band Pelican to brew The Creeper, a doppelbock made in recognition of the band's 10th anniversary. Since then, the brewery has collaborated with several other heavy metal bands, including Mastodon, Skeletonwitch, Exodus, Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, and Pig Destroyer.

Accolades

Awards +YearCompetitionCategoryStyleBeer EntryPlace/ResultRef.2026World Beer CupAmerican-Style LagerFloyds Deluxe1st, Gold2024World Beer CupEnglish AleGumballhead3rd, Bronze2023USA Today Readers' Choice AwardsFall Seasonal BeerHarvest AleBroo Doo2nd, Runner-Up2019RateBeerBest Beer (Indiana)Russian Imperial StoutDark Lord2017RateBeer Best Brewers in the WorldTop 1002016World Beer CupAmerican-Style Imperial StoutBlot Out the Sun1st, Gold2010World Beer CupImperial Red AleBehemoth1st, Gold2008World Beer CupBehemoth1st, Gold2008World Beer CupDreadnaught3rd, Bronze2007World Beer CupGorch Fock2nd, Silver

Other media

In 2018, comics writer Brian Azzarello teamed up with the brewery to produce a series of comics produced by Image Comics featuring characters based on Three Floyds beers including the Alpha King. Gumballhead the Cat – a punk, anthropomorphic cat – is the namesake of Three Floyds Gumballhead wheat ale. The fictional feline has his own webcomic, which is written and drawn by Rob Syers, who also created the artwork for the beer packaging.

Three Floyds Brewing

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