I never had a beer with a wax seal before. This one had a wax seal over a cap - I had really expected a cork. The label, even though Sierra Nevada is a big enough company to be known in pretty much every bar in the US, looks like it was printed out on someone's home ink jet printer - 10 years ago. So, it is an odd mix of intimidating craftsmanship and laughable guy cobbling stuff together in his garage.
It's a dark brown beverage. I mean DARK brown. The light brown head is really big, as you can see in the picture. As it goes away, it leave a lot of lacing on the sides, and it makes me just want more of the beverage. The aroma is strong enough to hit me from my chair, which is excellent. It has hops galore, a bit of spice, and maybe even some citrus.
First sip is more smokey than expected. The hops are still in here, slapping your tastebuds in the face with their bitterness, but the malt manages to hod it back, bro. It's good for a sip, so let's see if it's good for a gulp.
Tip-in is smokey, and the hops follows. What's interesting is that the middle manages to be full of flavor without a bitter bite in it. As the finish comes on, the bitterness is allowed to nibble at the back of the tongue, and then cuts back with a bit of grainy and bread. It's very different than most other beers I've tried, and it's a pretty good one. The finish could be a bit more mild, if I were to change
something. It echoes some of the best bits of the beer with the addition
of the significant malt.
As the beer warms, the harsh end of the finish gets more and more mild. The beer itself gets better.
4.0/5
Sierra Nevada Devestation Black IPA
Wednesday, July 05, 2017