She Devil IIPA
Browning's Brewery

 

 

 

Reviewed from notes:
Received this in the 2nd noob bif:

Appearance: amber brown with 1 finger off white head

Smell: citrus hops,

Taste: malts, hops,

Mouthfeel: mild carbonation, bitter, dry

Drinkability: not a bad IPA but just not outstanding. enjoyed.

Cheers,

The CPJ

On tap at the brewery poured into pint glass (2009 Kentucky Derby trip). Poured medium orange with a short cap of white head. The aroma picked up sweet orange peel and grapefruit with warmer spicy pine and warmth on the back. The flavor found sweeter caramel paired with grapefruit at the core with pine and citrusy bitterness around that struck me as a tad raw. Alcohol amplifed the bitterness primarily and helped leave a warm citrus and caramel finish. Tasty overall. Heavier-bodied with only OK balance on the palate.

On tap at The Monkey Wrench in Louisville, KY.

She-Devil poured a bright, orange-copper color with a big, foamy, cream-colored head that lasted the duration of the beer and laced the glass nicely.

Bitter citrus, pine, and soft caramel mingle with big, sweet malt aromas foreshadowing a monster American IPA. The aroma was obviously meant to be a warning for the meek.

She-Devil is a beast. The big malt body barely holds the hop explosion in check. Rich flavors of toffee, caramel, and fresh-baked bread are counterbalanced with notes of grapefruit, pineapple and dry, bitter citrus zest, citrus oils and pine resin. The complexity of flavors linger and intertwine throughout the experience.

Large amounts of malt and oily hop resin create a full-bodied mouthfeel balanced by vibrant carbonation that allows the beer to finish crisp and not too heavy.

This is a beer to sit down with and enjoy. It's too big to be a session beer for me - both in body and abv - but it has outstanding drinkability and it really shines on draft.

From a 1 pint 6 ounce bottle dated "2010." I'm tempted to try it again just to see if I might have gotten a skunky one. Dark brew. Thin, quickly yielding head. Sweet molasses scent. Sour and bitter molasses/licorice taste. A bit like unsweetened chocolate. I detected no citrusy or piney hops. Only the licorice aftertaste is redeeming. Not recommended for American IPA fans. Very disappointing.

Picked this up at Whole Foods on Nicholasville Rd. while in Lexington.

Pours dark orange-red (or red-orange) with minimal head and lacing.

Smells of citrus, pine, and guava.

After figuring out the smell was guava it is also apparent in the taste. Lots of guava followed by citrus and pine.

The feel is on the lighter side, but it works for this beer.

I'd say the drinkability is quite high. It's refreshing and interesting enough to drink the whole bomber.

Appearance - good orange/amber pour with a few fingers of caramelish white foam. Decent stick around the sides but plenty of open space too.

Aroma - mango/pineapple style citrus, followed by big caramel, sticky and fruity. This AIPA smells like a fat barleywine!

Taste - nice biscuity base, light caramel in support. The hops are more citrusy at first, sweet but a little thin. On the swallow, the bitterness develops, but it too is a bit lacking on depth and flavor. It isn't lifeless, it's just that a good bit of oomph that would be expected following the rich sniff just isn't there. Perhaps a victim of dilution. Still, it has nice balance, even a touch of toastiness on the finish. To be fair, the smell set me up for a huge taste, but the profile is more in line with an IPA than a barleywine.

Mouthfeel - some decent smoothness, pretty crisp, nicely done.

Drinkability - this could be an interesting one to age, but it really is rather versatile. Nothing unusual develops with warming, a very consistent beer throughout. Not too high of an abv, it's okay for several pints; also has some nice variation of flavor, ought to be a popular pairing for many dishes at Browning's Restaurant.

Found this in the cooler at Party Town in Florence, KY and was intrigued. Loved the art work and the fact that it was $5.99 for IIPA bomber out of Louisville, KY.

A - This thing poured like a bomb in a glass and actually overflowed on a hard pour. Once things settled down it was a dark orangish brown with fantastic lacing left behind.

S - Orange, pinapple, mango, wow - what is in this thing? Even apples?

T - Carmel sweetness along with dominant apple flavor which was a nice suprise out of this beer. I don't know why it tastes like apples but in a way it sort of reminds me of a strong woodchuck which isn't a bad thing.

M - Medium bodied. This beer is easy to drink.

D - Very high considering the ABV. I could go for another one of these at the $5.99 price point.

I think BEERchitect hit it on the head with this beer - although it wants to be a pumped-up APA, the hops profile is much more in line with a British IPA, and perhaps just a more "bitter" Bitter. Much as I want to support my local brewery, this beer just didn't seem all that well put-together. Hops were monotone with not much interesting going on. Perhaps it is one of those beers that does not transition to bottle well.

Browning's She-Devil is a solid hoppy beer that seems more English than American but with a lot of toast and caramel flavor, yet finishing crisp and refreshing.

She-Devil opens with a much darker than expected borwn-coppper-mohogany hue. A mild haze shows evidence of dry-hopping. A modest carbonation gives a light but withstanding head that is persistent while leaving traces of lace behind.

Piney and resiny hops take the forefront while deep, deep caramels and toffees follow closely behind. A nutty, woody, and somewhat vinous must comes through at times but seems to disipate soon enough. Fruity esters are light and blend well into the malt aroma.

Flavors of hops do not dominate as they do in the nose. Instead the strong toast and toffee notes balance the hop flavor well. Bitterness, however paint a different picture. Aggressive pine and resins intensify into a true 70 IBU impact on the back of the tongue. A long linger of hops eventually fade and I once again am able to appreciate those toffee and toast flavors that shows earlier.

Low carbonation and bold toffees gives the beer a heavier and sweeter effect on the mouth than what I think is ideal in an IPA. Still, the beer cleans up and rides into a minty and herbal crispness late. This is not enough to impress but it does help a bit.

She-Devil has the hop bitterness, flavor, and body to qualify as a good IPA; you just got to think English rather than American when gaguing expectations. The good news is that the beer is consistent from end to end.

Poured a big burnt orange color with a nice dirty white head. Nose is weaker than I expected with grains and maybe some hops. Taste is bitter from beginning to end with a caramel malt presence, bready and a big dryness. Mouthfeel is thick but still bitter and really dry with some floral and citrus notes hiding in there. Drinkability is average.

Pours a slightly hazy copper color, with an enormous head, every pour, it took me 4 to get it into the glass. It's kind of annoying, but it doesn't detract much. The head is off-white, and pillowy, leaving bits of lacing. The nose is full of powdery malts, crisp hops, but not too awfully powerful, and some very light esters. I get a pretty decent smell of bready malt and some crystal malt in there, and the hops I'd say have a light leafy, resinous, maybe a bit grassy presence, not much in terms of citrus or the other typical smells. The malt sweetness sort of dominates, which is nice, since it claims to be an imperial pale ale, not a DIPA. The taste comes with some sticky, bready malts, mixed in with a nice grassy sort of citrus rind presence. Not a whole lot of bitterness in my opinion, but also, not a whole lot of hop flavor. There are some esters in there, which give it a kind of dry fruit peel sort of character, a bit tart and bitter, but the hops kind of pick it up and don't let it fall too far out of balance (in terms of estery tastes I mean). The malt presence is actually very nice, bready, a bit toasty, some decent sweetness. It's all there. There's a light sort of grassy, piney finish, with a bit of bitterness, and the malt gets a little slick in the finish. The beer is close to medium-bodied, but doesn't quite make it all the way. The carbonation is kind of light, but nice. Overall, it's fairly enjoyable. There's a good balance (don't let the label fool you too much, it's a harder hitter than most, but not for an imperial pale ale/IPA - actually, IPA might be a pretty good category for it). I enjoyed it - but it was kind of slow starting. I enjoyed it more towards the end.

A - Hazy golden brown with rocky, fluffy off-white head. Excellent retention and even better lacing. Huge chunks of foam lingering on the glass.

S - Stron pungent aroma of big citrusy and tropical hops. Orange and pineapple primarily with hints of tangerine and mango. A light caramel sweetness lingers in the back.

T - Strong caramel sweetness up front with some spicy notes as well. The hop blast comes through quickly with notes of grapefruit and orange. Excellent bitterness without being overwhelming. Taste is more DIPAish like the bottle says than just straight IPA like it is classified as.

M/D - Medium bodied and a touch light on the carbonation. Leaves a very light chalkiness in the mouth which, while not a great feel, does not take too much away from a very good beer.

22 ounce bottle, bottled in 2008. Served in a Sam Adams BL glass, the beer pours a hazy golden orange color with about an inch frothy white head. Head retention and lacing are both pretty good. The aroma is nice, it smells mostly like pine hops, but there's also citrusy (orange peel, grapefruit) hops and sweet malt too. Taste is similar to the aroma, the pine hops are strongest by far but I can also taste citrusy hops (orange peel, grapefruit, pineapple), caramel and bready malt. There's a malty sweetness that comes out once the beer warms up, and there's also a good bitter hoppy aftertaste that lingers around a while. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth, dry and a bit oily/slick. Drinkability is good, it's enjoyable to drink. Overall I think it's a good, solid brew. I'd recommend this to others and I'll pick this up again the next time I come across it.

an almost apple flavor is the first thing that hits my tounge, that fades to a rich malt and a robust citrus style hop finishes off the beer nicley, the after taste is one of strong alcohol. this is a beer that i am happy to have tryed but its not a beer that i think i will seak out in the future, cool lable though.

i had the 2007 vintage, think that i would have enjoyed the 2008 much better, i love my hops fresh

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a 20oz imperial pint.

Vintage Beer Bottled: April 2008

A: Pours a lovely looking hazy and bright peach color capped with an amazing light-orange head that does a fantastic impersonation of meringue. The foam shows off excellent retention and leaves a lacy mess inside my glass.

S: I'd have to say that the dominant aromas at work here are fresh cut pine bough and fresh cut grass. As it comes up to temp I began to notice a few more things going on here. Mango, caramel, plantain, herbal/floral hops, and toasted malt all drop by and say howdy.

T: Sort of a one trick pony at first pour. Very piney! During the warm up process, this beer came alive. Juicy tropical fruit (pineapple and mango), toasted malt, white pepper, lawn clippings, fried plantain, apple, herbal hops, vanilla, and caramel.

M: Very dry and bitter. Perhaps too much? Thankfully the hop astringency is offset by the juicy and sticky fruit flavors. Very prickly and peppery.

D: Drinkability was very good. Proper serving temperature is paramount to fully enjoying this beer. Do not serve too cold!

Pours a very translucent, hazey amber color with some pretty sticky lacing. Hard to see the bubbling in this brew. The aroma has some heavy notes of evergreen and some orange peel and lemon zest. The taste hasa bitter bread dough flavor. Lots of caramel toasted malts with a strong blend of douglas fir pines and limey, grapefruity citrus.Not too mention the herbal hop notes that bring a note of chammomile and carob into the mix.The palate is resiny and sweet for an IPA. Can only have one bomber for the day with this beer.

Received this in the BIF Race of 2008.

A- Good looking beer, cloudy yet opaque orange with a large head even with a light pour.

S- Very estery with slight hint of citrus

T- Very fruit, banana and light orange.

M- Very smooth with no carbonation detectable. Lots of malt.

D- Very drinkable, had no problem finishing off a bomber.