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Three Floyds Brewing

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Three Floyds Brewing
IndustryAlcoholic beverage
Founded1996
Headquarters9750 Indiana Parkway
Munster, Indiana
41°32′08.1″N 87°31′00.0″W / 41.535583°N 87.516667°W / 41.535583; -87.516667
Key peopleNick Floyd (Owner)
Chris Boggess (Brewmaster)
ProductsBeer
Production output
20,000 (in 2011)[1]
Websitewww.3floyds.com
Three Floyds Brewpub in 2008

Three Floyds Brewing (3 Floyds) is a brewery[2][3][4][5] 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.)"[6]

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.[7] By 2026, Three Floyds had expanded distribution to 22 states.[8]

History

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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.[9] The three purchased a warehouse in Munster in 2000 to house the brewery.[10] Three Floyds opened a brewpub adjacent to the brewery in 2005.[11] By 2012 Three Floyds was producing 10,000 barrels per year.[10] 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.[12][13]

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.[14] Construction was set to begin after Dark Lord Day 2019.[15] The brewpub closed in 2020.[16] 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.[17]

Co-founder Simon Floyd died on December 19, 2024, in Dyer, Indiana.[18]

Beers

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Three Floyds produces more than a dozen year-round beers as well as numerous seasonal beers.[19]

Year-Round Beers
Beers Style ABV IBU
Alpha King American Pale Ale 6.66% 68
Arctic Panzer Wolf India Pale Ale 9% 100
Barbarian Haze Hazy IPA 6.5% 50
Dreadnaught IPA Imperial India Pale Ale 9.5% 100
Gumballhead Wheat Beer 5.6% 35
Lazersnake Pale Ale 7% 55
Permanent Funeral India Pale Ale 10.5% 100
Robert The Bruce Scottish Ale 6.5% 24
Space Station Middle Finger American Pale Ale 6% 50
Zombie Dust Pale Ale 6.2% 50

Three Floyds's flagship beer was Alpha King, an American Pale Ale that follows German beer laws.[9] Dark Lord, a Russian Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, Mexican vanilla, and Indian sugar, was first brewed in 2002.[9] They began making Zombie Dust, an American pale ale, in 2010 using Citra hops. The cans feature horror-style artwork by Tim Seely.[8] 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.[10] 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.[20]

Dark Lord and Dark Lord Day

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Dark Lord beer

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.[21] Attendance at this event is now limited to 6,000 via pre-sold tickets, after crowd control problems in the past.[22][23][24] As of 2018, Dark Lord sits as one of the top 100 beers in the world according to RateBeer.com.[25]

Collaborations with heavy metal bands

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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.[26]

Accolades

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Awards

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Year Competition Category Style Beer Entry Place/Result Ref.
2026 World Beer Cup American-Style Lager Floyds Deluxe 1st, Gold [27]
2024 World Beer Cup English Ale Gumballhead 3rd, Bronze [27]
2023 USA Today Readers' Choice Awards Fall Seasonal Beer Harvest Ale Broo Doo 2nd, Runner-Up [28]
2019 RateBeer Best Beer (Indiana) Russian Imperial Stout Dark Lord [29]
2017 RateBeer Best Brewers in the World Top 100 [30]
2016 World Beer Cup American-Style Imperial Stout Blot Out the Sun 1st, Gold [27]
2010 World Beer Cup Imperial Red Ale Behemoth 1st, Gold [27]
2008 World Beer Cup Behemoth 1st, Gold [10]
2008 World Beer Cup Dreadnaught 3rd, Bronze [10]
2007 World Beer Cup Gorch Fock 2nd, Silver [10]

Other media

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  • 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.[31]
  • 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.[32][33]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Three Floyds State of the Brewery Address 2011" Archived 2014-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, Three Floyds. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ Noel, Josh (April 26, 2012). "Three Floyds' Evil Genius", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ Sudo, Chuck (August 6, 2012). "Three Floyds Details Growing Pains" Archived 2013-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Chicagoist. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  4. ↑ Konkol, Mark (April 26, 2013). "Three Floyds Founder Doesn't Hate Your Favorite Bar" Archived 2014-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, DNAinfo. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ Bendersky, Ari (June 25, 2009). "Chicago's New Wave of Microbrews", The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ Fromson, Daniel (November 1, 2011). "Beer: The Secret Behind the Cult of Three Floyds", The Washington Post. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  7. ↑ "BREWERS ASSOCIATION RELEASES 2018 TOP 50 BREWING COMPANIES BY SALES VOLUME". www.brewersassociation.org. March 12, 2019.
  8. 1 2 McDonald, Chesney (2026-04-12). "Why This Midwestern Craft Beer Has A Cult Following". Tasting Table. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  9. 1 2 3 Sivits, Clare Goggin (2020-10-02). "12 Things You Should Know About 3 Floyds Brewing Co". VinePair. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 hannah.gillis (2012-04-02). "Strange Brew: The Story of Three Floyds' Success". Indianapolis Monthly. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  11. ↑ Thiel, Julia. "Three Floyds Brewpub", Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  12. ↑ Pete, Joseph (March 5, 2019). "3 Floyds Starts Hiring for its Long-Awaited Distillery Tasting Room". nwitimes.com.
  13. ↑ Selvam, Ashok (June 19, 2019). "Iconic Brewery Three Floyds to Celebrate Opening of New Distillery on Friday". eater.com.
  14. ↑ Noel, Josh. "Craft beer icon Three Floyds' brewery to triple in size". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  15. ↑ Pete, Joseph (March 6, 2018). "3 Floyds Gets Approval from Munster for 'World-Class Facility". www.nwitimes.com.
  16. ↑ Pete, Joseph S. (December 16, 2020). "3 Floyds Permanently Closing Munster Brewpub". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  17. ↑ Beer, American Craft (2023-10-16). "New Three Floyds Brewery Taproom To Open In 2024". American Craft Beer. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  18. ↑ "Simon Floyd Obituary (1970 - 2024) - Munster, IN - The Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  19. ↑ "Beers". www.3floyds.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  20. ↑ Beer, American Craft (2025-11-18). "New Beer Alert: Cold Weather Imperial Porters And Buzz-Free Dark Lagers". American Craft Beer. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  21. ↑ Pete, Joseph (March 20, 2019). "Dark Lord Day Tickets Go On Sale Saturday".
  22. ↑ Stambor, Zak (March 17, 2011). "Brewery Aims to Lighten the Stress of Dark Lord Release", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  23. ↑ Lazerus, Christin Nance (April 27, 2013). "For Beer Lovers, 'Dark Lord Day' Offers a Rare Taste" Archived 2014-05-25 at the Wayback Machine, Post-Tribune. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  24. ↑ Montoro, Philip (April 29, 2013). "Dark Lord Day Spreads Out and Levels Up for 2013", Chicago Reader. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  25. ↑ "The Best Beers in the World". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  26. ↑ Epstein, Dan (November 5, 2017). "How 3 Floyds Brewing Co. Became a Mecca for Heavy Metal Craft Beer". Revolver. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  27. 1 2 3 4 "Award Winners". World Beer Cup. Retrieved 2026-08-17.
  28. ↑ "Broo Doo - 3 Floyds Brewing". 10best.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  29. ↑ Beer, American Craft (2020-02-10). "RateBeer's Best US Breweries, New Brewers And Beers By State". American Craft Beer. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  30. ↑ "Best Brewers in the World for the year 2017". www.ratebeer.com. Archived from the original on 2025-01-29. Retrieved 2026-08-19.
  31. ↑ Peters, Mark (April 17, 2018). "A Comics Legend Teams Up With Three Floyds to Brew Some Beer-Fueled Superhero Mayhem". www.chicagoreader.com.
  32. ↑ Hess, Joseph (October 2, 2014). "Skin Graft Artist Rob Syers Talks About His Art Show This Week". Riverfront Times. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  33. ↑ Syers, Rob. "Gumballhead the Cat – A Comic About a Cat". Gumballheadthecat.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.

Further resources

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  • Wissing, Douglas A. Indiana: One Pint at a Time Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 2010.
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