Gumballhead - Three Floyds Brewing, Munster

When I read the description on the back of the Gumballhead bottle I thought this beer would be something along the lines of a Bière De Garde or a Belgian Amber. The blurb on the label describes this beer as a red wheat with a lemony finish. When I poured the Gumballhead into a glass I got a bit more hoppy IPA qualities than I was expecting. That's not to say it was too hoppy though. Three Floyds managed to put a ton of strong Amarillo hops into a beer without it tasting like a straight up hop bomb. I attribute a great deal of this to the fact that this is a wheat beer at heart, not a bitter ale. The Gumballhead does finish a little bitter in the aftertaste though, you can blame the addition of all those hops for that, but really - it's a small price to pay considering the great combination of flavors Three Floyds came up with.

My first impressions of the Gumballhead weren't too sunny. I thought this beer was too hoppy for a wheat, and if I'm going to drink that much hops why not just grab an IPA... Well, as I made my way through the glass the beer really grew on me. When I stopped focusing on that dandelion hoppiness I could start picking up on the citrusy lemon and orange flavors that were in the Gumballhead. The mixture of the wheaty yeast flavors, the citrus and the strong hops is really a surprise. It certainly sounds like this beer would be too busy to be cohesive, but it totally works.

If you're a fan of IPAs and want to try something with a bit more body and some interesting fruitiness, the Gumballhead is just right for you. Even if you're a staunch wheat beer drinker you should probably give the Gumballhead a try. The hops are obvious but not overpowering. You certainly won't confuse the Gumballhead with any other wheat beer out there.