Devil's Blood IPA
Bull & Barrel Brew Pub

12 oz can from Halftime. Medium to dark amber, small tight, beige head. Malty aroma, pipe tobacco, leather. Old school bitterness is first on the taste, malts, woody, piney. While bitterness is light, it is persistent.

This 12 oz. can may be the last B&B beer I get to drink because The Bull & Barrel Brew Pub sadly closed it's doors a week or so ago, yet another covid casualty.
A small eruption of over charged foam escapes the can upon opening but no gush, no mess just some beer eager to get out.
Deep amber color, clear with a dense, clotted cream head of slightly off-white, lace dripping foam with tenacious retention of fine bubbles.
The aroma is what I look for in an IPA, caramel malt sweetness and resinous, piney hop mix amicably and invite my nose in for more. Some hints of cherry, brown bread and tobacco. Not in your face but balanced and welcoming.
Malt flavors of toffee on cooked multi-grain cereal up front segways neatly into evergreen hop bitterness. Hops dry this out a bit but the malt sweetness holds it's own in a balanced and very drinkable way.
The body is medium, not over sweet or tongue pinchingly bitter, this achieves the balance and depth of flavor IPA's demand.
The finish is dry, hoppy and satisfying.
I should have bought another can or2.

 

 

 

Canned on 9/19/18

Pours an opaque, dingy orange (at best) and something resembling sewer water (at worst), but is capped with a bountiful off-white head; great retention and comprehensive levels of thick, soapy lacing coats the walls tenaciously. The shade of this beer may not be the prettiest, but once you’re past that, it’s quite enjoyable to take in.

Aroma brings plenty of honeyed, malty grapefruit with a dense pine backbone and light citrus; faintly boozy yet surprisingly inoffensive malt tones deeper in the bouquet reveal easygoing but detailed floral tones. A bouquet that is nicely balanced, even considering a minor aggressive streak that gives it most of its character.

Taste shows tons of grapefruit with plenty of herbal, honeyed sweetness accompanied by good bits of pine and floral tones; assertive yet flaky malty tones leave an impression on the finish. The profile is consistent, smooth, and is flavorful in spite of its mostly one-dimensional nature.

Mouthfeel has a great medium body with plenty of slick maltiness balanced against hop-inspired bitterness; extremely well-integrated carbonation; slightly sticky malts guide the hoppy prickliness through to a nuanced finish that is both dry and faintly candied.

Even with a few months on it, this beer showed a very enjoyable West coast style profile with fleeting bits of depth that may have been lost a bit to time. For what I tasted here, though, I liked everything from the straightforward structure to the deeper floral notes and aggressive profile upfront. Overall, some really nice stuff here.

Had it from 12 FL OZ can. Unfiltered. Light brown, bit hazy. Softly carbonated with medium head. Strong citrus triple hops make 70 IBU. Overall solid staff.