I can’t believe in just 31 sessions of The Hopry three of them have been from Founders. First I drank their Breakfast Stout, then the Cerise, and now I’m sharing this lovely work of hop art known as Devil Dancer. I guess that’s an ode to how much I love this brewery. This beer has definitely been the most suited to what I love in a beer, which is loads of hops. The second component of this review also brings back another old friend – the Fourme D’Ambert. This is a remarkable blue cheese that pairs perfectly with the caramel malt and hops from the Devil Dancer. My thought was that if the traditional pairing of Stilton and Barley Wine worked so well together then this certainly must be a match made in heaven. Well, fortunately I was right. But I must warn you; this is a lot of flavor in the mouth at one time either separately or together. LOL! The thing about Devil Dancer is that it isn’t just your average Imperial IPA. They put Triple IPA on the bottle for a reason. Fresh, this beer will just give your mouth a workout. It will attack your tongue, annihilate your taste buds, and leave you feeling like maybe you’ve been beaten up by a hop monster (or devil). But as good old John Cougar used to say, “Hurts So Good.” This really is a hop lovers dream. I only have a couple left for a beer and cheese party and think they may have lost some hop character, but luckily I left this one in the fridge and it retained a lot of its original character. So again folks…REFRIGERATE YOUR HOPS!!!
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This beer can be found in these states.
On the iPod: Fleet Foxes
Brewery: Founders
Beer: Devil Dancer
Style: Imperial/Triple IPA
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
ABV: 12%
Rating: 97/100
Posted by kelly on January 7, 2010 at 8:23 PM
Thanks for this review, I gotta get my hands on it here in MN!
Posted by thehopry on January 8, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Hey Kelly – You may have to wait until next year as this is one of those beers that’s released only once a year. I just happened to get lucky to find one last four pack and as I mentioned below most of the high-end hops have already died out since they weren’t refrigerated. But yeah, it’s a really good beer. Especially fresh and especially on tap.
Posted by Mike on January 7, 2010 at 8:28 PM
I knew you’d like this beer. It’s HUGE isn’t it. I saw some 4 packs yesterday. They want $22. If i wasn’t waiting for Hopslam and Nugget Nectar i might have grabbed one.
Posted by thehopry on January 8, 2010 at 8:29 AM
Yeah, it’s a great one. Sad to see it gone from the shelves. I have three more sitting in the fridge but they have pretty much lost most of their high-end hops. That’s okay, though, because they’ll be gone after this weekend once we do our beer & cheese tasting. It still tastes good with the cheese and I think that’s all I care about at this point. As for the price of your beers, I can’t believe how much they charge for stuff. Is there somewhere else you can go or is everyone the same price? Or are they the only ones in town? Maybe that’s why they charge so much? Dunno…
Posted by theReaper16 on January 8, 2010 at 2:44 PM
“This one tastes like hops and it tastes like really good hops.”
Succinctly put.