The Devil Went Down To Oregon Dark Rye Ale
Devils Backbone Brewing Company

The Devil Went Down To Oregon Dark Rye AleThe Devil Went Down To Oregon Dark Rye Ale
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From:
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
 
Virginia, United States
Style:
Rye Beer
ABV:
7.2%
Score:
84
Avg:
3.67 | pDev: 10.63%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
25
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jan 08, 2016
Added:
Jan 21, 2015
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
A collab with Ninkasi Brewing.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.7 by RBorsato from Virginia

Jan 08, 2016
Photo of Westyn
Rated by Westyn from Texas

2.58/5  rDev -29.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
The rye is way over pronounced in this beer. I've never had a Ninkasi that I didn't like, but this was close to it.
Jun 30, 2015
 
Rated: 3.71 by sheenisgod from California

Jun 16, 2015
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Reviewed by obywan59 from Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
A deep coppery orange-red when held up to a bright light, with a 1 1/2 finger whitish head that dissipates rather quickly leaving no lacing.

Rye and sweet malt with doughy bread. A hint of alcohol at times, making it pleasantly medicinal.

Sweet malt upfront, but the IBU's soon dominate. I agree with the assessment of grapefruit rind on the finish. Almost woody at times.

Moderate bite, lightly creamy, and good retention in the end.

The bitter hops are the predominant taste, the prickle of carbonation the dominant feel, but from the aroma, to the sweet character of the taste, to the creamy, retentive, almost syrupy mouthfeel, it's the malts that tie it all together.
May 26, 2015
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Reviewed by Jason from Massachusetts

3.61/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
12oz brown bottle, sample from the brewery.

The 60+ IBUs are there though there is a very sturdy malt backbone that not only holds this brew together but carries my palate into the finish wanting another sip. Dark and toasty with a hint of caramel. Rustic rye and mild fruitiness in the middle. Toasty finish, mildly warming. A pretty bold rye beer.
May 16, 2015
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Reviewed by HattedClassic from Virginia

3.73/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
The beer pours a nice off-white head that takes quite a long while to dissipate. The beer itself is a nice clear orangish-brown color.

The beer smell has a very strong rye and malt note. The malt note is sweet, almost toffee. The smell also has a floral hop note to it but it's fairly light that it gets overwhelmed by the malt smell.

The beer taste strongly resembles the smell but that the hop bite is a bit stronger, such that it adds something to the taste. The sweet malt toffee taste is still there and the rye complements it rather well by giving a slightly smoky note to the aftertaste.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly smooth and borders on creamy. The biting carbonation gives it tiny tickle.

Overall, a fairly good beer and worth getting.
May 07, 2015
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Reviewed by Beejay from Virginia

3.66/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
A: Pours golden, in the glass it is a dark brown which glows ruby when held to the light. Small light tan head on top.

S: Lots of malty caramel, and a subtle smoke aroma. Slightly earthy smell in the finish. I'm not picking up a lot of hops on this, odd for 65 IBU.

T: The hops come out a lot more in the flavor. Earthy bitterness, spicey notes, and dark malt grain. The finish is a long lingering bitterness that is reminiscent of grapefruit peel.

M: Medium, with active carbonation. The carbonation gives it a much lighter feel, while the body gives a little bit of a creaminess to the texture. Long bitter cling in the finish.

O: Overall pretty tasty. But I wish there was a little more aroma from the hops, and that the rye character was a touch more prevalent. Still a good beer.
May 07, 2015
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Reviewed by Pantalones from Virginia

4.06/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Second bottle of this one from the collaboration variety pack. Bottling date of February 14th, 2015 -- that's Valentine's Day, isn't it? Hmm.

Nice dark red-brownish color to this one. Seems to be mostly clear, though not completely going by the visibility of my phone's screen through the glass. A whole lot of little bubbles rising up from the bottom, though the beer is dark enough that these are very hard to see without shining a light through. Head is pretty thin, and soon shrinks away into just a ring around the edge and a few little "clouds" scattered on top.

Nice bready smell. Reminds me of rye bread, to be specific, which would make a lot of sense considering that this is a rye beer. Not especially strong smell-wise, but what's there is pretty good.

Taste is a stronger, richer version of the smell -- definitely a whole lot of that rye-bread sort of thing going on here, also some sweetness and just a little bit of a lingering hoppy bitterness on the end, occasionally accompanied by the slightest "leafy" hop flavor, though I noticed this more in the first bottle I had. I haven't had any other rye beers so far, but I would have to guess that the rye is the element that stands out the most here, just going by how much it's reminding me of rye bread. Sweetness comes out a bit more in burps, and almost seems to be hovering near the Belgian-style "cotton candy/bubblegum flavors from the yeast" territory there! And toward the end of this glass, I'm almost starting to pick up on a bit of that when drinking too -- I didn't really notice it until it came out strong in one burp, and now I'm getting just a little bit of that every time. There's a definite bit of spiciness in there too, seems to build as I drink more and hang around on my tongue a bit after drinking. I would never guess that this was 65 IBUs (in "IPA territory") if not for the label telling me -- the hops present seem to be there to balance the sweetness more than anything else, and they do that job pretty well without adding any strong, noticeable hop flavors in the process. I liked this pretty well at first, but I'm finding myself going back and repeatedly bumping up the "taste" score higher and higher as the glass empties. Very tasty beer, and really different from most other beers I've had -- seems like rye is an interesting grain that makes for a very nice change of pace from the usual, whether in bread or in beer.

Mouthfeel is pretty nice, too. Bubblier than the small head would suggest, and feels pretty substantial, with a little lingering stickiness on the lips and tongue afterward. The lingering bit of spiciness on the tongue mentioned above is as much a feeling as a flavor, and it's an interesting one to have around. Not noticing much mouth-warming or other signs of alcohol, though I do wonder if some of the sweetness might be coming along with the high ABV (similarly to the SnowBlind doppelbock from Starr Hill, where there was a lot of sweetness and also an alcohol-type flavor but they blended together so nicely that it actually worked.) Thinking about it a bit more, I think I may be getting that here, too, just with less of the warming sensation in the mouth that came with it in that beer.

Overall, this seems to be one that's grown on me between the first bottle and the second -- I was really surprised by it (in a good way) when I first had it, but then was even-more-amazed by the other beers I had afterward, and then here I am coming back to this one for my second bottle and it's impressing me all over again. I never really noticed any of the other flavors floating around among the sweetness in this one the first time, the "wow, this is like liquid rye bread! oh, and some hops on the end" thing was the main thing that stood out to me, but this time I got that and more. I find it really interesting that three of the four beers in this pack are definitely hop-forward and then there's this one with its dark, sweet, rye-bread-spiciness and yeast-flavors thing going on which is just so different from the others (though there's still enough hops to make their presence known, they're just not in the spotlight so much.) After drinking this second bottle, I kinda wish I could find a six-pack of this beer or at least something similar, because I'd like to have it more than one more time!
May 04, 2015
 
Rated: 3.76 by PGVG from Virginia

Apr 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.77 by Boone757 from Virginia

Apr 15, 2015
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Reviewed by Treyliff from West Virginia

3.61/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5
12oz bottle poured into a pint glass

A- pours a dark and clear chestnut brown color with a small creamy off-white head that retains nicely after the pour

S- spicy, peppery & earthy rye aroma with some undertones of sugary sweet malt

T- peppery rye adds some spice up front, along with some earthy notes. Quite sweet on the mid-palate with notes of brown sugar and brown bread, malty finish with more earthy spice on the linger

M- medium viscous body with moderate carbonation leads to a creamy thick mouthfeel that continues to the finish

O- nice spicy rye, but seemed a little too sweet at times
Apr 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.1 by MisledTitan from England

Mar 29, 2015
 
Rated: 3.93 by Nlawrence301 from Maryland

Mar 29, 2015
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Rated by beerrat from Virginia

4.63/5  rDev +26.2%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Taste on the strong side light bitter after taste.
Mar 27, 2015
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Rated by Sludgeman from District of Columbia

3.43/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
A slightly heavier version of the Devils backbone Vienna lager. Had a hard time tasting the rye.
Mar 27, 2015
 
Rated: 3.84 by williahd from Maine

Mar 26, 2015
 
Rated: 3.73 by Gatordaddy from Maryland

Mar 24, 2015
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Reviewed by cjgiant from District of Columbia

3.58/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Bottle dated 2/14/15:
Pours an interesting copper color - almost like a golden lager mixed with a brown ale (unfortunately also looks a bit like some of my oxidized home brews, not that I think this is oxidized). Head is a bit thin, larger bubbles.

The nose isn't very strong, but is malty (not surprising from a DB beer), honey and a bit of caramel malts. There is a hint of spice, and also a hint of woodiness, which is a surprise - maybe I am mis-interpreting the rye. (Note: I initially got like a cherry tartness, but I didn't get it later, so I ignored it for the review).

Taste starts off with a light sweet spice, and isn't overly sweet as I would have expected from the nose. A typical DB beer here as well, balanced with a bit more malt flavor (caramel, rye spice) than hops bitterness. I liken it more to an English Rye Pale Ale more than an American version. Feel is decent, good carbonation and a medium body.

Another solid beer, but not exciting. The rye is interesting in this, as is the English style I perceive in the bitterness.
Mar 21, 2015
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Reviewed by argock from Virginia

3.57/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12 oz brown bottle into a clear glass tulip. Bottled on 02.13.15 on bottle neck. Purchased in the DB Adventure Pack at Wine Warehouse (Charlottesville, VA).

A: Dark ruby with 1-2 finger light beige head with good retention and scattered lace all around the glass.

S: Dirty herbal grassy aroma, lightly floral and plummy

T: The flavor is slightly sweet medium caramel malts with an earthy herbal edge and finishes moderately bitter with more grassy flavor in the finish. Medium bitterness and not much alcohol presence.

M: Smooth coating feel with light carbonation and medium body.

O: Kind of an oddball in this mixed pack -- not a big blast of flavor, mellow if anything.
Mar 14, 2015
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Reviewed by AndrewMichael from Virginia

3.52/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
12 oz bottle poured into a stemmed glass. Bottled at 10:12 on 02.14.15. Darker than expected but nice rye spiciness with a lingering bitter aftertaste.
Mar 13, 2015
The Devil Went Down To Oregon Dark Rye Ale from Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Beer rating: 84 out of 100 with 25 ratings