Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA

bottle, thick orange red color with thin foam, nose had a lot of refined sugar and alcohol, flavor is not as hot with some nice pineapple and malty, finish is hop bitter with a touch of alcohol

12 oz bottle from the shelves of Wilmer Liquors (New Lenox, IL). Pours a dark reddish copper, good haze, small offwhite head that laces pretty well for it’s small size. Aromas are heavy caramel malts and grapefruity citrus hops. Some florals, toffee and light toast come into play, fairly sweet with a good bitterness, but sweetness that matches pretty strongly as well. Initial is thick, a heavier body supports strong grapefruit and piney resin bitterness, well hopped with a strong caramel and toffee body underneath as well. A fairly potent alcohol feel, the beer coats the palate and leaves good bitterness and malty sweetness clinging to the mouth and aftertaste. Some florals, a bit of cereal further into the body, the bitterness grows and it is indeed strong, but the strength of the malt lends itself to a Barley Wine possibly. A good beer, just a bit too "strong" and thus, a well craft beer but not a beer I’d necessarily love again and again. Cheers.

Bottle from DuffmanSW. Poured a reddish mahogany color with no head. Aroma of sweet citrus hops, caramel, and sweet cream. Medium carbonation. Sweet taste with mild bitterness. Kind of reminded me of a barley wine.

12 oz bottle. Bought at Martha’s Vineyard in Grand Rapids MI for a hefty $5.99 per bottle! At that price it NEEDS to live up to the reputation. On opening the nose is murky and less hop forward than expected. The strong alcohol aroma is certainly hop infused but a complex mixture of other scents confound easy description. The colour is a vibrant copper with light lacing and fairly evident effervescence. The flavour at room temperature is a real complex mix of chewy hops and strong malt that tastes almost cereal like. The hop lingers like cough syrup but not overly bitter. The alcohol is fairly well integrated but still evident. Makes me wonder how this would age? I’d almost want to classify this as a barley wine rather that the triple IPA they claim. So we really need such a designation? Regardless it is a superior beer despite being a little atypical for its style...which I suggest is a good thing.

bottle 12 oz. - Poured somewhat cloudy copper color with minimal head. Aroma - huge grapefruit and citrus nose!! Flavor - grapefruit, sweet malt with massive amount of hops. Palate - thick syrupy mouthfeel with below average carbonation. Finish is very bitter and dry. Does have slight alcohol burn! Overall - Pretty well balanced for such high IBUs. I loved this beer probably because of high ABV. and awesome pungent HOP taste. $3.50 for bottle is pricey but worth a try if you get a chance!

Split a bottle with some friends and I am glad I did, because I had to drive home. Pours amber with an off white head. Citrus in the aroma, but almost taken over by the sweet malt. This beer was thick and syrupy almost. Didn’t really hide the 12% well. It was well balanced, I imagined if aged the hops would fade a bit and it would be more like a Barleywine.

Just way too much, more than is good. Syrupy, which I don’t think is a good thing. Too expensive and seems like just an experiment to cram as much bitterness into one beer. Pass.

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip. Poured a dark amber with off-white head. Aroma of heavy malt, sweet dark bread, molasses, maple syrup, grapefruit/orange, and alcohol. Taste was heavily sweet, and surprisingly was only moderately bitter. The heavy sweetness balanced out the bittterness to point where I didn’t notice the full 112 IBU’s. Medium to full bodied, soft carbonation, and syrupy. Finishes with a strong alcohol presence. All in all, it’s a lot: a lot of bitterness, a lot of sweetness, a lot of everything.