Founders Devil Dancer

A beer review. It's only been - what? Two months or so since I wrote one? The thing is, I've said this before. I'm not so much reviewing beers as I am writing about their tastes. So if you haven't tried a beer and are wondering what it tastes like, you could easily check my blog and see. Of course I'm saying all this in justification of writing about a beer other than the ones I'm selling. It may sound defensive, but it's actually just explanation.

Founders is one of my favorite breweries. I really like the beers of theirs that I've had. Recently someone told me I had to try the Devil Dancer. It's a triple IPA, and it came so highly recommended that as soon as I saw it was available at Hawthorne's, I was there buying a bottle.

The pour is a amber orange. The smell is that of hops - piney and citrusy - which shouldn't be surprising given that it's dry-hopped with 10 hop varieties for 26 days. There are undertones of alcohol, as well, and some sweetness. What came through for me in the taste was a lot of the alcohol (the ABV is 12%, after all) and I think that's why I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I've had other big beers that don't taste as boozy as this one does. Although the taste was overwhelmingly that of alcohol, I also got some malt sweetness. It just didn't seem to balance it out as much as some other beers I've had.
This is definitely a bitter beer. While I usually don't mind bitterness, that, along with the big alcohol bite, resulted in my not enjoying it as much as I have other Founders beers I've had.

Devil Dancer is a seasonal beer. I may not consider it one of my go-to beers, but I've heard so much about it recently I knew it was something I wanted to try. A lot of other people really like this beer (see above: it came highly recommended) and you may want to grab a pint (or bottle) if you see it while you're out.

Philly Beer Week 2010 - Days 5 - 8

Beer Week is drawing to a close, although there are still 2 good days left. What a week it's been! Yesterday was one of the best for me, but I'll get there in a minute.

After staying in Monday night, I was ready to go again on Tuesday. I started with a great event at Smokin' Bettys - Broads & Brews. It featured women owners and brewers from Stoudt's, Dock Street, Flying Fish, and Philadelphia Brewing Company. It was really interesting to meet all these great women, drink their beer (of course), and be able to talk to them about their start in the business.

From there I went to Zavino's Wine Bar (where they also serve beer). Although not part of PBW, I did drink some Dogfish Head. Ended the night at Varga Bar. I know I said before I'd write down all the beers that I had so I could correctly identify them, but I didn't do that at Varga and I honestly can't remember what I drank. I can, however, remember what I sang - a very mumbled version of "Wonderwall" and a very good version of "The Scientist". Suffice it to say it was a very fun night.

Wednesday was pretty devoid of any PBW festivities. I went to a BYO for dinner and had a Sierra Nevada Torpedo. After dinner went to McGillin's, which was the ending point for a bar crawl with local brewers that had been going on. I hadn't gone on the bar crawl, but was glad enough to be there when we were able to get pitchers of the Flying Fish Exit 6 (easily one of the favorite beers I got to try earlier in the week). Was there for the Flyers game, which while a great game, ultimately ended in a Flyers loss and the end of their Stanley Cup run. Still, made for a good evening.

I took Thursday off. Needed time to recharge my batteries. It was well worth it when I was able to go for a run Friday morning and get an early start.

As I mentioned earlier, Friday was a great day and I got to try some really different beers. I went to Monk's for their Belgian brewers lunch. I tried the St. Bernardus Abt 12, Abbaye Val-Dieu Grand Cru, and Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru. All very different than what I typically drink and all very good. It was really interesting to meet the brewers, too. I love everyone from Belgium that I've met and it makes me more anxious to get there ASAP.

From Monk's, I went to Jose Pistolas for their Weyerbacher lunch (having not eaten at Monk's, it was time for some food). I had the Weyerbacher Verboten (loved!) and the Saison.

After I had my fill of chips and tacos, I headed over to Hawthorne's for a Brewdog meet-the-brewer event. What an event it turned out to be! I got to try two of the most extreme beers out there - the Tactical Nautical Penguin, which comes in at a whopping 32% ABV and the Sink the Bismarck, which comes in at... wait for it... 41% ABV!! I think this may be the strongest beer in the world. I only had a taste of each, but believe me, that's all I needed. I got to also try the Tokyo, which seemed fairly tame at just 18.2%, and the Punk IPA, whose 6% ABV hardly seems worth mentioning. Incredible beers from an incredible brewer.

The day didn't end there. Up next was Supper. Not a PBW event, but great happy hour specials got my attention. 1/2 priced apps (selected ones) and a 1/2 priced featured beer, which yesterday was the SlyFox Pikeland Pils. After a couple of those, headed over to Good Dog, where there was a kick-the-firkin (I think it was a firkin) competition being held. It was a SlyFox bitter vs. a Southampton beer (I don't remember which it was since I didn't have one, but I think that was a bitter as well). I believe my friend got the last SlyFox pour, handing them the win.

Whew! What a Friday! Actually, I wound up going to Continental after for some food, and then my night was officially over.

On tap today? Devil's Den at noon for the Franziskaner/Spaten lunch. Then off to watch the USA in the World Cup. Not sure what - if anything - will come after that, but it's a beautiful day here in Philly and I can only imagine fun times ahead.