Great Lakes Brewing Devils Pale Ale

Upon first sniff there is a hint of sweetness. This is the shy start to something beautiful... understated sweet nose with just the faintest hint of what is to come... I had a 5 oz serving as part of a three beer sampler at Volo (on tap of course) It poured a dark rich amber colour with a slightly off white head that persisted throughout the entire sample. It presented lacing worthy of a drunken spider in a fishing net factory. The sweet hints in the scent gave way to a robust roasted flavour with just a hint of a citrusy zest finishing with the sweet aftertaste. All in all an enjoyable beer.

473ml can, 6% a/v Pours a dark brown colour with a nice tan head, some lacing on the glass. Smells malty, and hoppy with a nice earth base. The taste is malt, chocolate, caramel, and roasted grain with a very nice hop balance. The mouthfeel is very full and the aftertaste very complex. I thought the idea of 666kg of malt, 6.66kg hops, etc etc, would make for a good gimmick but possibly limit the beer, in fact it makes for a very nice, complex and delicious recipe.

Whoever added this as an APA was painfully off target. It says right in the description: "Reminiscent of early English Pale Ales", and if you know anything about EPA’s you know that they’re dark, not pale. Anyways, on to the beer. Pours a dark burgundy/brown, with a huge beige head. The aroma is a mix of the 6 malt varieties blended into one, along with some earthiness and a touch of hops. It smells pretty nice actually, there’s definitely some pils malt in there that I’m detecting. The taste is again, huge cluster of malts, toffee, caramel, bread, coffee, pretty much all the basics. There is a small hop presence in there, and it does have sort of a pale alelish taste to it. The mouth-feel is fuller because of all the malts, and the earthiness is actually really refreshing tasting. It’s a neat gag, and I like barley malts, therefore this is a good beer, you just have to know and appreciate the differences in pale ale types. There’s really nothing wrong with this beer. And it was also my 166th beer rated, oooooooooooo creepy.....not really, but hey it’s a mildly cool point to make.

473 ml can. pours dark brown almost (bright red when held against light). looks much darker then most apa’s. malty aromas dominate but wiffs of hoppy presents are detectable. great malty flavours with hops only showing up to round out the finish. i dont think this is an apa at least it isnt in my books, but it is fantastic and something ill buy loads of.

can. Poured clear auburn with a medium tan head. Nice citrus hoppy aroma. Smooth full mouthfeel. Tonnes of flavour, caramel, raisens, and smoke. And finishes just bitter enough with a light dry palate.

can from the LCBO, it is a favourite everyday dark ale while in Toronto on business. Malty sweet, easy drinking, balanced, with a nice aftertaste.

Can. Chestnut appearance and excellent head-retention for a canned beer. Aromas of orange custard, milk chocolate, dark malt and the faintest touch of coffee. Hefty palate offers a creamy flush of malt. Dark chocolate flavour evolves to bitter coffee towards the finish, with a nutty/buttery quality surviving throughout. Good to very good.

Pours a deep coppery amber colour with a thin off white head. Nose is thick caramel malts and some citrusy hop notes. Flavour is very much the same. There’s a strong does of hop bitterness in there as well, which rounds the flavour out very nicely. It’s fairly thick and the carbonation is spot on for the style. Very nice beer.