Steamworks Ale Diablo

Brewed by Steamworks Brewing Co. (US)
Style: American Strong Ale
Durango, Colorado USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Nov. 2006 - Pear aroma, light yellow color. Thin fruity flavor with thin mouthfeel. Some other kind of off flavor was also present. Really not good...a waste of my liver.

Bottle purchased in Gunnison, CO.

What a @$%@ disaster. I liked the only other beer I had from this brewery - the Third Eye PA - but wow, I really can’t do anything to cut this one a break. Almost total absence of hops, one of the grainiest, waterieset beers I’ve ever had. Light yellow pour, over-carbonated, watery alcoholic mouthfeel.

This makes the worst of the 8% Russian strong lagers seem subtle; non-denatured isopropyl alcohol cut with effluent for my local storm drain gives this one a run for the money.

Simply off the charts.

I picked this bottle up when I was out at GABF in 2005… I came home eager to drink it as I knew very little about Steamworks Brewery, but when I saw the low reviews here on RB, I set the beer in my cellar and pretty much forgot about it… it’s been resting there until now.

Bottle reads “Best if Consumed Before Jan 2006”
Pours a golden body with edges of amber and a quickly depleting head. The aroma is grassy, a bit herbal, spruce sap, caramel, with a note of vanilla and lavender and a very small fragment oxidized. I touch on some green apple, with a hint of sourdough. The beer is somewhat still, as the carbonation seems to have dropped. I find this beer very drinkable, and somewhat complex… I assume the aging did this beer justice… I see no reason for such a low score?

Bottle purchased at the Wet Grocer in Gunnison, CO. Pours hazy dark yellow with an average, creamy, off-white head, lasting with excellent lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (bread, straw, meal), average hops (flowers, grass), average yeast (dough, barnyard) with notes of apple and honey. Medium bodied, creamy texture, average carbonation, and a metallic finish. Average duration, light sweetness, acidity and bitterness.

The beer deposits itself in the glass a sparkling clear gold with a majestic crown of white upon the body, creamy texture, as it erodes slowly, the lacing forms a glutinous sheet upon the glass. Nose has a hop flowery aroma, sweet malt and a touch of fruit, fresh and clean, mouth watering, and a portent of things to come. Start has a delectable malt presence; hop spiciness at the back, top is medium in its feel to the palate. Finish has a determined acidity, the hops plentiful, with a modest sweetness leading to the dry aftertaste. Steamworks has become a favorite brewery.

Draft, Brew at the Zoo Benefit in Denver. Poured a clear golden color. Head was white and left some decent lace behind. Aroma was of cereal grain and caramel with occasional whiffs of vinegar. Dry on the tongue with mild to moderate hop bitterness. Body was on the lighter side. Clove dominated flavor with a hint of alcohol. A bit one dimensional.

Nice gold with thick sticky head and lacing. Aroma is lightly sweet, grass and citrus. Flavor is sweet malt and hops, citrus. Lightly sweet hopy creamy finish. Good beer.

Best by Date of January 2007, Sampled March 2007
Pours a brilliantly clear, full gold color and is topped by an initially two finger thick, frothy, somewhat quickly disappearing, pale, off-white colored head. The aroma is a nice mix of grassy herbal notes offset by a ripe berry like fruitiness. There is a touch of warming alcohol aromatics that come to play towards the end as well as a hint of dry malt character and even something that reminds me of plastic.

The taste is lightly sweet, again accentuating a soft berry flavor. The finish has a grassy, almost astringent finish to it and there is a solid hop bitterness that runs throughout the flavor profile. While this beer does have some soft malt sweetness, the overall impression is dry. I think it is because this beer dries out considerably in the finish, where the herbal / bitter hop character comes into play. Quite simplistic malt and hop character here, coupled with the clean yeast & high alcohol it just doesn’t do it for me.

Still this is a much better beer than I was expecting, still it is a bit too green and astringent in the finish for me and with such a light malt profile, the alcohol comes through a bit more than I would like. I bet this would be quite tasty if fermented with a funky Belgian strain of yeast though.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson, AZ

Ok, this one is different...and just seems to be confused with it’s own identity. Immediate thought is that it is like an MGD on crack. Lots of cereal taste in the beginning with a bitter malt backing. Then, some slight hops come through that taste promising...but are drowned out by the rest of the crapiness. Boo.

very biscuit in nose with some earthy hops. taste is somewhat the same. a little sweet. not bad i dont think i would get it again