Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA

Brewed by Founders Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Grand Rapids, Michigan USA

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Potent aroma, strong citrusy hops, orange and grapefruit, sweet malt, caramelized sugar, ripe berries, and faint alcohol. Clear ruby color, dense beige head dissipates to a lingering wisp, nice lacing on the glass. Intense flavor, sweet caramel and malt up front, quickly develops into piney and citrusy hops, peppery alcohol is present throughout, with a strong bitterness in the finish. Very full-bodied, quite warming, with alcohol and hop bitterness lingering in the aftertaste. This is a great beer! It has all the intensity and complexity of the best American barleywines. Another great beer from one of the most underrated (in terms of reputation) breweries out there!

Bottle: Excellent sweet grapefruit hops and citrus aromas pour out of the bottle as soon as the cap is removed. Pours a hazy reddish-orange with an off-white head with great retention. Excellent lacing. Sweet citrus flavors balance very well with all the hops in this beer. Just a touch of alcohol is noticeable in the finish. A little saltiness in the front of the flavor. Sticky syrupy mouthfeel. I got a slight taste of caramel in the final few sips. This brewery continues to impress me.

Clear, ripe crimson appearance, hot in looks alone, so far, with a big, creamy, near-tan froth above, slow to simmer down. Aroma: good Lord, it’s good, a barleywine aroma, huge, malty, fruity, rich in dark fruit, berries, cherries, grapes, with an extra brandy-ish, boozy twist, yes, sharp and strong as we drink it in well, damn, it’s invigorating! Not smelling as much like an IPA, triple or not, but a big, fat barleywine. Alcoholic heat gets hotter, and it nears a cognac-y feel, definitely a brandy-ish sort of barlleywine, more than any kind of IPA, despite what the label tells you. Taste, already!...Lush, rich, thick, and utterly delicious...very full, malty feel all over the sensory receptors, turns the entire mouth into a playground for these huge malty flavors, a fat fortress of fruit and malty sweetness, a swelling ground for verdant wonders, plush delights, fantastic flavors...the booze rarely clashes with the enjoyment of it all, for it meshes so well with the flavor that it’s almost hard to notice...almost, for it so surely does it’s trick, of sneaking in it’s strength, that, I fear, it’s nighty-night time! "Triple IPA", a la the label, is way too cute. It’s a hot and hugely flavorful barleywine, but it’s way beyond an IPA, sorry, folks. Classify elsewhere, for this has successfully stretched beyond the boundaries and doesn’t beong to that category any longer. Mouthfeel is thick and vinous, finish is long, fruity, alcoholic, and sticky, body is full as can be... Why it’s in a mere 12 ounce bottle, and then how they can get away with $4 per, is a big fat mystery to me. Put it in a bomber size serving, then bring the price down, just a smidge, then you’ll have the MidWestern Equivelent of Stone Double Bastard, and then some! But, if it needed to be said, Founders has proven themselves with this brew, as if they hadn’t already! Having said the above, I’ve nothing left to do, but let this thick, rich, slick, toasty,oily, malty brew slosh about my mouth and rinse my tongue over and over...the 13% ABV hasn’t punished me yet, but we’ll know in the morning, maybe...for the moment, as I finish it, it’s a hit, a hell of a brew, the kind of thing I wish I had more of,...for special occasions, when the irristible urge for devil dancing inevitably arises!

UPDATED: OCT 8, 2005 Original rating from the Tosa tasting: Ar 6, Ap 4, F 6, P 3, O 12.

Resampled on Oct. 8th after my Bell’s Batch 7000 sample. This beer pours to a rich, glowing dark red body with a creamy whiteish head. Beautiful lacing. The aroma is very hoppy. Pac NW hops. Sweet caramel, pine and citrus hops. The flavor is tons of grassy, piney, sprucey, and resin hops. Citrus hops really aren’t apparent as they are in the aroma. If this is 200+ IBU, I’m santa claus! Yes. This is hoppy, but I swear this isn’t the hoppiest stuff I’ve had. Bitter palate. Smooth. Must have tons of malts in this because I don’t get a huge hop oil palate. The palate is quite good. Perfect. I’m glad I re-rated this. 3.1 -> 4.4? I suppose. My desires in beer has changed since I’ve had the last 650+ ratings.

Pours a transparent copper brown with a nice cream colored lightly-lacing head. Aroma is a fresh grapefruity, pine resiny blend of hops and sweet crystal malt. Seems like the body wants to reveal some sweetness, but the hops keep suppressing it in a sea of sticky hop resin. Very bitter, but not to the point of it being a detriment. The malt really supports the body but I wish a little more sweetness was tastable. A very interesting double IPA, thanks JCW!

WOW! What a great brew! Pours a dark red, small white head. Aroma is strong, of all sorts of hops, with citrus and piney aromas dominating. Flavor is complex hops with a good "malt backbone". I’m just blown away by this, I’m diggin’ it! Palate is smooth, and overall very drinkable. Thanks to Silphium for brinigng this one!

Small tan head, good retention, little lace. Clear, glowing amber color. Fairly large raw hop nose, juicy, citrusy, piney. Medium body, oily. Sweet malt and abundant hops, biscuity, grainy malts along with some caramel flavors. Plenty of hops to back up the big malt bill, citrus and grapefruit abound. Finish is lightly sweet, resiny with plenty of hop flavor. Alcohol is evident but works well with the malt and hops. 13% alc...Giddyup! Thanks John!

UPDATED: MAR 17, 2005 May be able to taste the alcohol content a bit too much. I think it takes away from the 200+ IBU’s and it’s not as hoppy as I hoped due to the 13%. It is however a damn good beer. Worth $18-$20 for a 4-pack? I’d say you have to try at least once. Nice lacing, color and aroma as well as aftertaste. More barleywine to me then IPA.

Bottle. Very red with little tan head. Huge bitter grapefruit notes on this one. Chewy malts in the body with the citrus hops finishing this dance out. Alcohol is hidden in this devil. Lookout!

Clear ruby wutha creamy light tan head and nice glass lacing. The aroma is massive citrus hops and alcohol. Sweetness is also a major factor here. Flavor wise this one is massive hops and lots of malt. Bitter throughout. Medium-full body dry finsih and alcoholic. Very bitter. More of a huge American style barley wine than an IPA3 but tasty nonetheless. Thanks bro (unclebleen) for the xmas gift!