Devil Dancer
Founders Brewing Company

Devil DancerDevil Dancer
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From:
Founders Brewing Company
 
Michigan, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
Ranked #1,913
ABV:
12%
Score:
87
Ranked #15,426
Avg:
3.9 | pDev: 13.33%
Reviews:
1,499
Ratings:
5,114
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 05, 2024
Added:
May 17, 2004
Wants:
  346
Gots:
  1,159
Triple IPA. Dry-hopped for twenty-six days straight with a combination of 10 hop varieties. 112 actual IBU; although it calculates to over 200!
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jegross2:
Photo of jegross2
Reviewed by jegross2 from Illinois

3.72/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Reviewing a fresh and year old bottle of Devil Dancer from Founders Brewing Company.
Fresh Score: 86
Year Old Score: 45

Bottled 06/17/11 and 06/01/12. Served in a snifter glass and enjoyed on 07/13/12.

Appearance: Pours a murky blood orange-red color. The fresh 2012 vintage looks a little darker in color than the year old bottle. The fresh bottle pours a thin layer of creamy tan color that settles to a pencil thin ring around the glass with okay lacing and retention. The year old bottle pours less head with less lacing/retention. 3.5/5

Smell: The fresh (2012) bottle has heavy notes of floral hops ahead of a strong caramel malt backbone. Some earthiness, lemon, citrusy pine and onion. Light booziness. Very balanced for such aggressive flavors. The year old (2011) vintage is super malty with strong doses of garlic and a little fruitiness. The 2011 bottle is much less balanced and aggressive in the nose and reminisce of a boozed up caramel-forward barleywine. Not getting any hops off the 2011 vintage. 4/5 (2012), 3/5 (2011)

Taste: The 2012 vintage is not as balanced on the palate as the nose leads on. Lemon citrus and piney hops, sugary caramel malt and a little onion. Earthy hops too. Very hop forward. Lingering spiced caramel malt flavor. The 2011 vintage is incredibly vegetal, caramel-y and barleywine like. Heavily laden with garlic and onion flavor with a ton of undesirable linger. This is a true palate killer. A little lemon in the background too. Strong lingering garlic flavor. Incredibly unbalanced and still quite boozy. This made me cringe as I sipped it. 3.75 (2012), 1.5/5 (2011)

Mouthfeel: Same mouthfeel to both beers. Medium-plus bodied, low carbonation. Oily mouthfeel. Bitter, sweet malty mouthfeel. 3.5/5

Overall: The 2012 kills the 2011 vintage. For what it's worth, the 2011 batch was not very good fresh either. I remember this beer being much more delicious when I first got into craft beer in 2009, but I only really liked IPA back then and had not really explored the depths of the IPA genre yet. This a very caramel-forward and hoppy beer that does not try to hide the hot booziness.

Recommendation: Casual beer drinkers should avoid this brew. If you like earthy hops and caramel-forward IPA or English-style barleywines, give this one a whirl. If you do decide to buy a four pack, DO NOT AGE ANY! Drink this one fresh.

Pairings: Indian food.

Cost: $19.99 for a four pack.
Jul 13, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of Whyteboar
Reviewed by Whyteboar from Michigan

4.37/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
The first time I was able to try this I was on Mackinaw Island and one of the pubs had it on tap. As the Grand Hotel only had Bells Oberon (this was in late September, it was brewed in March) this was sublime. But that was before I paid attention.
Now I’ve had it fresh and aged and both are great.
The pour is a reddish tinted amber and fresh it has a dense beige head that leaves rings of lacing.
The taste, oh my. Fresh it’s a menagerie of hops that assault your mouth with no intent on letting you surrender. Piney grapefruit, herbs and grass and some flavors I still can’t describe. To top that off, it’s somehow balanced with malty flavors and rein in the bitter and provide a nice base.
Aged the malty flavors take the lead and the hops not so much fade as morph into edging for the malt flavors so it doesn’t get too sweet. Weird the way that works, but tasty!
The feel is so good for the absolute attack of flavors; medium viscosity carries them all easily and makes this a slow sipper.
Jan 05, 2024
Photo of imscotty
Reviewed by imscotty from Massachusetts

4.6/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I am enjoying one of my 2012's right now. That's right, this beer is eleven years old. I think Devil Dancer ages just fine. Don't worry, I drink them fresh too.
I think the fresh ones have a bit of an oniony flavor. Not that I mind it. As it ages the onion fades, leaving behind all that piney, caramel, tarry beauty. Finish leaves a nice bitterness on the tongue. Lucious Mouth feel. Yum!

Yes, I confess, this is one of my old-time favorites. I do not get it very often enough now, Glad I found a dusty old one in my cellar.
Nov 06, 2023
 
Rated: 3.83 by scottyshades from Florida

Jul 02, 2023
Photo of buckthehog
Reviewed by buckthehog from Texas

4.76/5  rDev +22.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Drinking this triple ipa with my boys Keith and Greg on the patio on a hot summer night in Dallas brings back great memories. So dank and so dirty. Like the pine tar from George Brett’s bat mixed with the sweat from a Neanderthal woman. Physically and psychologically one of my favorite dirty bird beers ever. I love you Founders.
May 18, 2023
 
Rated: 3.73 by DOCRW from Kentucky

May 02, 2023
 
Rated: 4.16 by SoundMakesSense from Indiana

Mar 05, 2023
 
Rated: 3.73 by Slyde180 from Texas

Jan 21, 2023
 
Rated: 3.94 by carolinabeerguy from North Carolina

Jan 04, 2023
 
Rated: 4.23 by dms1767 from Nebraska

Oct 20, 2022
 
Rated: 3.34 by not2quick from Missouri

Jul 13, 2022
 
Rated: 3.06 by Danny27

Jun 03, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by doctorgary from New York

Oct 31, 2021
 
Rated: 3.61 by Urs from Connecticut

Jul 16, 2021
 
Rated: 4.13 by Sinister from New York

Feb 21, 2021
 
Rated: 2.93 by eagles22 from Pennsylvania

Dec 29, 2020
 
Rated: 4.14 by Sellen from Connecticut

Jul 05, 2020
 
Rated: 3.82 by AmeriCanadian from Tennessee

Jun 07, 2020
 
Rated: 3.27 by WickedBeer from Alabama

May 16, 2020
 
Rated: 3.83 by cgrunin from Texas

May 08, 2020
Devil Dancer from Founders Brewing Company
Beer rating: 87 out of 100 with 5114 ratings