Devil's Due
DuClaw Brewing Company

Devil's DueDevil's Due
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From:
DuClaw Brewing Company
 
Maryland, United States
Style:
American Strong Ale
ABV:
11%
Score:
91
Avg:
4.08 | pDev: 7.6%
Reviews:
24
Ratings:
142
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Dec 03, 2023
Added:
Dec 09, 2014
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  37
The perfect balance of Retribution Imperial Stout and Devil’s Milk Barleywine, Devil’s Due is black, full-bodied, and smoothly drinkable. Its seductive swirl of dark chocolate, coffee, smoky malt, and citrus fruit flavors, infused with notes of charred oak, vanilla and caramelized sugar, disguises a strong, warming alcohol presence (11% abv) that reminds those who dance with the Devil that eventually, a price will be paid.
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Ratings by Mcooly:
Photo of Mcooly
Rated by Mcooly from New Jersey

4.04/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Jan 16, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.26 by DrStiffington from New Jersey

Dec 03, 2023
Photo of hoptheology
Reviewed by hoptheology from California

3.76/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Got a 12 oz can, dated 10/31/18, and poured into a Carpe Brew Em snifter.

Pours a bit garnet from the can but forms a dark black body with a creamy beige half finger of head, stable.

Aroma seems to bring a wonderful mix of half and half stout and barleywine - which ends up being a whole lot of apricot and pomegranate strangely enough. The whiskey barrel is there, hints of what I'd call red or garnet malt, some ethanol, and some piney hops manage to poke through and tickle the nose hairs.

Flavor comes off tasting very clay-like. There's flavors swirling but just like the nose, it seems to boil down to a singular, focused flavor. Leading up to the clay, I get some herbal cough drops, dried fig, grass, a little bit of caramel, mineral, piney hop (which builds on the palate the more it is sipped), a bit of oak, and then finally, it just equals clay.

Feel is hot and burning with lots of resins building, a good bit of carbonation and then creaminess, and then drying heat on the finish with lots and lots of resins.

Overall, a lackluster beer that seems to incorporate the worst elements of their Devil's Milk and their flagship stout. I'm glad to get this one out of the rotation.

Price paid : $5.99 / can
Would buy again : Nope
Aug 01, 2020
 
Rated: 3.83 by SpaethJam from New York

Jan 22, 2020
 
Rated: 4.15 by Manta200 from Kentucky

Dec 03, 2019
 
Rated: 3.87 by Mikexw from New York

Jun 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by jschott75 from Illinois

Mar 30, 2019
 
Rated: 3.82 by Taphouse_Traveler from Florida

Jan 23, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by oriolesfan4 from Maryland

May 16, 2017
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

4.67/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4.5
As I continue to winnow through the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody, I am finding beers that I do not even remember purchasing! In fact, I have so many DuClaw beers hanging around that I am embarking on a horizontal tasting for the next few days. This should be interesting.

From the bottle: "This blend of Retribution Imperial Stout & Devil’s Milk Barleywine-Style Ale will claim your soul with a mix of chocolate, coffee, smoky malt & notes of charred oak, vanilla, & caramelized sugar. The Milkman cometh, so pop the top and ... settle your debt!"; "Respect_the_Fluid".

Yeah, I'm getting into the big boys as this horizontal begins to wind down. The bottling date is 12/08/14, making it just over two years old. I helped it to celebrate its near-birthday with a Pop! of the cap, followed by a gentle pour. An in-glass swirl raised a finger of foamy, dark-brown head with decent retention. Nose smelled so strongly of smoke that I began to worry that the fire alarm might activate. Color was Black/Opaque (SRM = 44), allowing ZERO light penetration. Warming, the nose began to give off scents of dried, dark fruits; leather; heavy smoke & a woodiness that was simply amazing. Mouthfeel was medium and I frankly expected more body in such a beer. The taste was ... what is the opposite of miraculous? A miracle would be evocative of Heaven, while this was meant to evoke Hell. It would be like trying to equate Angel's Food Cake with Devil's Food Cake. Totally opposite ends of the spectrum. The taste was truly dark and dense with an amalgam of flavors and tastes that made me think of a Brueghel painting. It tasted like an unholy orgy, involving forked tails, protruding tongues and more sins than have been enumerated to date. Where to start? Coffee; chocolate; leather; dark, dried fruits; smoke; wood and caramel all made an appearance. OMFG! Oops. This is of the Devil, so no invoking of his counterpart. Well, be that as it may, this was mighty tasty! Finish was dry, more as a result of so many things going on at once, accompanied by a mild heat. I think that this is a good point to put on the brakes & hit the rack.

Tomorrow ... the grand finale to this horizontal! It has been an interesting run, but other breweries await their chance at me.
Jan 10, 2017
 
Rated: 4.25 by paulish from New York

Nov 09, 2016
Photo of dbl_delta
Reviewed by dbl_delta from Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Bottle dated 12/08/14 (and cellared for almost two years) into pint glass. Pours a very dark ruby brown with a modest tan head. Initial impression is reminiscent of dark chocolate pudding, with notes of caramel, bourbon, vanilla, brown sugar, and dark fruits. Very complex. Very smooth. Very drinkable. Alcohol is not at all evident in the taste, but makes its warming presence known after the fact. Retired? That is really too bad!
Oct 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by AD17 from New Jersey

Mar 28, 2016
Photo of brentk56
Reviewed by brentk56 from North Carolina

4.39/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Appearance: Pours quite dark, like espresso, with a rocky beige head; impressive lacing and legging

Smell: Chocolate fudge, caramel, pine, vanilla and dark fruit, all ensconced in Bourbon

Taste: The Bourbon, chocolate fudge, vanilla and caramel flavors swirl together, on the front end, with the pine and dark fruit (raisin and fig) building through the middle; after the swallow, the piney bitterness builds a bit but the mellow flavors from the stout bring up the rear; nougaty and slightly smoky in the aftertaste

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation; some warmth in the gullet

Overall: Tremendous complexity accrues from the interplay between the barleywine and the stout; the flavors keep swinging back and forth

Thanks, Shaler_Tate, for the opportunity
Mar 08, 2016
 
Rated: 3.67 by CharlesK from Pennsylvania

Jan 18, 2016
Photo of BullDoza
Reviewed by BullDoza from Texas

4.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: Pours dark, translucent brown. Settles very dark. Black. Deep brown on the edges. Little to no head. More a light khaki colored film or ring.

N: Bourbon. Plenty bourbon straight away. Vanilla and chocolate. Caramel - like burnt sugar. Also, a mushroom like earthiness; there's the barrel. There is a lot going on here, and I like it.

T: Chocolate and a little vanilla sweetness up front. The barrel is there in the form of bourbon-y heat. The taste is where the barleywine character comes in to play. Tons of dark fruits. Black cherry and raisin. The barleywine used has to be an American, because there is definitely a hop presence apparent in the bitter on the back of the palate. Good, but I do wish there was more of what the nose brought.

F: On the lighter side of medium. Thinner than I prefer my BA stouts, but not offensive.

O: Stout on the nose. More barleywine on the taste with the dark fruits and bitterness provided by the hops. Definitely unique, and a pretty successful blend of, what the bottle says, is two beers: an imperial stout and a barleywine.
Nov 13, 2015
 
Rated: 4.06 by BeerOps from Illinois

Nov 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by scottiethebody from California

Oct 25, 2015
 
Rated: 4.25 by Kurmaraja from California

Oct 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.03 by tranquilocigars from Florida

Oct 03, 2015
Devil's Due from DuClaw Brewing Company
Beer rating: 91 out of 100 with 142 ratings