Devil Made Me Do It IPA
Haines Brewing Company

 

my first from these guys, a fine ipa but maybe a little old school as they go, a color approaching light amber on it, and quite a big of maltiness to support all the hops, as bitter as they are flavorful or aromatic here, a robust brew that seems familiar right away. it doesnt hold much head from the tap, one of those beers where i cant tell if its the beer itself of the pour, like my pint glass was filled to the absolute brim, no room for any head, not sure if it can generate and hold one or not, its not flat to drink but its not pretty in the glass without it. the color is rich copper and its not quite clear but definitely not a hazy. the hops have a fresh pine vibe to them, but there is enough crystal malt to this that they seem more bitter than anything else, all on the finish. there is a little sweetness in the mix from the grain but its not sugary and the finish isnt sweet, the body is medium and balancing, and there is more carbonation here than it looks like there is. the ferment is close to all the way clean, but there is just a little something soapy to it that i get when this warms up a little, its minor though, and overall the execution here is above average. i was hoping this would be a little different, more unique and memorable, could also be more refined than it is, but its robust beer and it seems like it suits the rugged landscape and seasonality of where its made.

This was poured into a mini snifter. The appearance was a nice looking hazy amber to orange to red color with a sliding stringy lacing from a thin white head. The smell had a nice strong sweet to light spicy bitter blend of sticky citrus hops to sweet to bitter malts. The taste mainly copied the smell in the flavoring. On the palate, this one sat about a light to medium on the body with a fairly decent sessionability about it. The carbonation was there somewhat...good. Overall, I say this was a pretty good AIPA that I could bang again.

 

 

 

 

I've been visiting Haines for the past five days or so and have been to the brewery twice now. Everything I've tried has been very tasty and Paul the Brewer has quite the slick operation going. Very impressive.

Devil Made Me Do It pours a golden-amber color with not much of a head out of the growler. The body is a little cloudy, but it seemed abnormal to Paul when he poured it, so I am not taking too much stock in that. There is some lacing left on my pint glass as the beer goes down, fine, sinewy, sticky lacing.

The aroma is straight up citric hop juice and some piney dankness. There is a bit of a biscuity pale malt balance and just a little caramel smell, as well. I swear there is some sort of a faint briny, salty character in the aroma, as well. Mostly, though, it's bitter citric and dank hop odor.

The taste is pretty derivative of the aroma, with pine and grapefruit hop flavors providing the main flavor. A slight caramel and biscuit maltbill comes to my palate, but the overriding character is hop goodness. There is also a hint of brine showing through... not sure what that is from.

The mouthfeel on DMMDI is light to medium bodied with a really nice, dry bite from the dank, grapefruity hops. The carbonation is pretty much spot on. I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe just the tiniest bit more of malt balance would round out the feel.

Overall, this is a hoppy, heavy hitting American IPA. Very nicely crafted and a serious, bitter, dank hop bomb. Any hop lover would appreciate this beer.

Not sure how old the growler is, and it had to travel by sea to get here. So it may have been affected.

Clear, active, golden amber, modest white head with little retention and patchy lacing.

Pleasantly grainy, touch of malty sweetness, with floral and citrus hops. Quite balanced.

Malty sweet, a touch grainy, medium piny bitterness, with fairly robust citrusy and floral hops. Balanced and smooth.

Rich and malty, medium viscosity, some dryness and mild lingering bitterness.

Goes down really easy, is quite tasty, and quite balanced. Not especially complex or nuanced, but pretty damned good.

Had a pint of this while in Haines, at the Fogcutter bar.

Clear darkish copper. No real head, but a slight ring. A few randomly rising bubbles.

Nose is mildly grainy hops. Very light. Taste is cereal grains and hops, lingering hop syrup. Decent malt character. Much improvement over the nose.
Mouthfeel falls short; it feels quite flat. Decent drinkability.

A: A nice deep red color, even for an IPA. Really impressive head and head retention.

S: Floral, citrusy hops with a bit of spicyness.

T: A little too heavy with the hops (again, even for an IPA), making the taste a little too front-heavy and unbalanced. Still tasty, with a nice malty finish.

M: Really coats the pallate with a kind of oily hop feel. Really crisp, and some nice bitter pucker.

D: Kinda suffered in this dept. Since the beer was a little off-kilter (unbalanced), it didn't go down particularly smooth. Probably worth getting again, but I'll go to a more reliable IPA if I need a sure crowd-pleaser.

Also had this one at the Alaskan Beer Festival. This is a great brewery which puts out small batches of very tasty beers. The IPA was true to style and was very well received. I don't have much else on it due to the fact that this one was sampled late in to the night.