The Devil Went Down To Oregon
Ninkasi Brewing Company

The Devil Went Down To OregonThe Devil Went Down To Oregon
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From:
Ninkasi Brewing Company
 
Oregon, United States
Style:
Rye Beer
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.76 | pDev: 8.51%
Reviews:
31
Ratings:
146
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 02, 2018
Added:
Dec 24, 2014
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  38
Collaboration with Devils Backbone Brewing Company

It might be a sin, but take the bet and you won’t regret this beer from start to end!

In a collaboration spanning Oregon’s bountiful Willamette Valley to Virginia’s heartland, Steve Crandall and Jason Oliver of Devils Backbone Brewing took the bet and gave the Devil his due when our founding brewer, Jamie Floyd, came ‘a-calling. What the trio first described as “a sort of West Coast, German-Style Roggenbier” turned into an Imperial Dark Rye, offering an elevated alcohol percentage and a crisp, lager-like finish from the Alt yeast fermentation. Give the Devil his due!
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Ratings by maltlikker:
Photo of maltlikker
Rated by maltlikker from Colorado

3.96/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Jan 18, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by 1971bernat from Virginia

Jan 02, 2018
Photo of ygtbsm94
Reviewed by ygtbsm94 from Utah

3.81/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Nose of caramel, earthiness, rye malt, dates, apples. Taste moderate spicy rye, bread, dark fruit, nuts, molasses, brown sugar. Medium to full body with a slight bitter finish.
Feb 10, 2017
 
Rated: 3.94 by token_23223 from Virginia

Jan 09, 2017
 
Rated: 3.65 by smithj4 from New York

Dec 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.73 by dbrauneis from North Carolina

Dec 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.68 by metter98 from New York

Dec 18, 2016
 
Rated: 3.77 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Aug 18, 2016
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.78/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Beautiful pour on this, medium brown with nice fluffy head, lots of sticky lacing. Aroma of hops and sour malt, rye grains coming through. Taste brings in the rye in full, slightly sour, hops temper the sourness a bit, full taste spectrum. Some hop bitterness lingers.
Jul 19, 2016
 
Rated: 3.75 by Gkruszewski from New York

Jul 04, 2016
Photo of VelvetExtract
Reviewed by VelvetExtract from Massachusetts

3.31/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Bottle. Darker brown. Smelled and tasted quite sweet. Raisins and caramel and spice. Some alcohol. Somewhat oxidized. Flavor was lingering and sweet with dark fruit and a bready finish. Medium bodied with a sticky ending. Almost chewy. Not very good.
Apr 26, 2016
Photo of Eamonn-Cummings3
Reviewed by Eamonn-Cummings3 from New York

3.77/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 22oz bomber into a bulb pint glass.

Look is a dark amber mahogany with little to no head.

Lots of sweet malt on the aroma. A little over powering.

Taste is rich malty dry with a nice rye pepperiness.

Beer comes in a little strong on the sweetness but pretty good.
Feb 03, 2016
Photo of papat444
Reviewed by papat444 from Canada (QC)

3.79/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 22oz bottle.

Pours a brass colored body with reddish tints in it. Average head but sheets of lacing make it real nice. Spicy rye is still quite present and i enjoyed this even if it has a bit of age.
Dec 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.99 by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

Nov 29, 2015
Photo of BodiesLexus
Reviewed by BodiesLexus from New York

4.21/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Bottled last December-ish. Strong rye beer should hold it's own for 10 months I figure. I won't let any faded hop components get in the way of an honest tasting.
Beautiful looking dark amber, or garnet red, ale with thick-ish 1.5 finger white head. Head retains a stately 1/8" bubbly cap that remains throughout, and lacing appears persistent if not sticky. Looks say it means business.
Smell is darker than expected. Lots of molasses, burnt barley, some dark grapes or cherries. Damnit, this smells incredible -- mix of scotch-ale-style burnt barley that's sweet on the nose, together with a bitter amber dankness, like 'black cherry smoke' (if that's a thing), with dark syrup.... Amazing smell.
Taste is in the same range of factors, but less so. Robust sweet vienna/amber base. Tad of tart cherry and floral twang in the middle. Finishing smooth but anonymous. Searching for the molasses and sweet/charred malts leaves me wanting.
Really robust red ale with some prominent darker notes. It's on the sweet side (which works for my tastes), but the huge/complex nose didn't totally come through on the taste. I can't complain, it's a fantastic strong red ale. Would have again and again if they ever did it.
Nov 08, 2015
 
Rated: 3.67 by GFD400 from New York

Oct 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by ZekeMillz from Oregon

Oct 19, 2015
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

2.88/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
BOTTLE: Bomber format. Busy label design. Branded black pry-off crown cap.

Reviewed live as a dark rye lager per the label.

7.20% ABV. 1075 OG. 72 IBUs.

No bubble show forms as it's poured.

HEAD: ~3 inches in width. Off-white/pale khaki. Adequately frothy and foamy. Appears soft.

BODY: Dark copper of average vibrance. Translucent, but nontransparent.No yeast is visible within.

Looks decent for a rye beer.

AROMA: Caramel. Rye's signature spiciness. Sticky sugars. Faint toastiness.

That's about it. It's a pretty reticent, simple aroma.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Rye's signature spice does kick in (especially on the climax), but it plays into the coarse dry feel of the beer - holding it back. Unrefreshing and overly heavy on the palate, with obvious overcarbonation and hints of syrupy notes. The mouthfeel is a bit of a mess, but the taste is much simpler and more straightforward.

Caramel. Malt syrup/extract. Amber malts. Bitter herbal notes. Rye malt.

These notes don't harmonize well, nor do they form a cohesive whole when combined. It's a decent beer of average flavour duration and intensity, but it does suffer from simplicity and shallowness, as well as missed opportunities for further intricacy and subtlety. This is a straightforward rye-dominant beer with little else to offer. Lacks the breadiness and savoriness/umami of great German roggenbiers.

OVERALL: Ho-hum stuff. Very forgettable. At bomber pricing, this isn't worth picking up. I have no desire for a second bottle. This checks the boxes of the style's conventions, but it comes up short when all things are considered. I'd steer clear of it; Ninkasi makes better beers at better prices. Not a bad brew per se...just uninspired and mundane. I like it, in that it's an average beer. Certainly drinkable for what it is, but unremarkable to the extent that I don't have any more notes about it.

C
Sep 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.97 by VictorsValiant from Oregon

Aug 28, 2015
 
Rated: 3.56 by Hopyard57 from New York

Aug 28, 2015
The Devil Went Down To Oregon from Ninkasi Brewing Company
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 146 ratings