There’s no doubt this is a big-beer IPA just by the aroma. Hops — citrus, pine and floral — dominate the nose, though malt is detectable and the aroma is somewhat reminiscent of barley wine. Not suprisingly, the flavor is also dominated by hops — both citrus and floral. but again, the malt backbone is quite noticable — raisins, caramel, spice. Still, this is one bitter, hoppy IPA from beginning to end and long afterwards. Medium to heavy body, somewhat syrupy and cloying. The alcohol makes itself known in the flavor and though it didn’t get in the way, it didn’t help. I think this beer tries to have too many big things going on all at once and never quite gets it all balanced.

Pour is a nice thick looking red with a white head. Aroma is of citrus and pine hops. Flavor is bitter hops and lots of malts. Swallow is creamy but then you get the alcohol burn on the back of the tounge. I thought the hops would make more of a presence in the taste but the malt stands out here. Overall its ok but there are some IIPA’s out there with more body and hop presence

A hazy amber beer with a small disappearing orange head. The aroma is super hoppy - with lots of alfa acid - lovely but overpowers any other aromas. The flavor is like chewing on fresh hops giving the impression of lots of alfa acids, hop oil, and a bitter end. Nice one.

A vigorous pour into the center of the glass managed to cause the formation of a half inch head of dense cream which faded quickly into a soapy ring. Deep red/ amber/ orange color. When cold this gives off a sweet fruit aroma. Warmer caramel notes come on as it warms and it builds it’s complexity. And you will be sitting with this one for a while! A real warming sipper! Massivly sweet balanced with massively bitter hops with a lacing of whisky alcohol and a long bitter finish. We’re ranging deeply into into the Barleywine category with this one. Mine appeared to be bottle conditioned so this might be a nice one to experiment with in the cellar too. Thanks to Wohlfs for this one!

XBF05 draught. Deep red/orange body, lightly transluscent, with a large off-white head. Great aroma! Juicy, fruity, fresh hops. Tropical fruits abound, backed by a hint of caramel malt. Aroma dosent seem to prepare for what’s to come. First sip. This goes beyond getting slapped in the face with bitter hops. This has someone taking a cricket bat and repeatedly winding up and driving it in to your face. Looking at others’ comments about this one, I’m not surprised to find little description of the malts here. That’s because there’s little thought of them in this beer. Some lightly sweet caramel that is just horribly overtaken by bitter hops. As I swallow the beer, I cringe and snap my head to the side; like doing a shot of whiskey or tequila. Gross alcohol burn exacerbated by bitter and astringent hops.
Is this a novelty beer? Did they brew this as a joke, like cave creek chili? Because there dosen’t seem to be much here dedicated to quality brewing. True, it’s not poorly brewed in the sense that it has infections, or DMS, or skunked hops, etc. . .but it is poorly brewed in the sense that there is no attempt at balance. Medium-full body, some syrupiness on the aftertaste (or is that pine sap?), moderate carbonation.

2005 bottle had this on 10/25/2005. A 4 is generous for the appearance. While there is some spotty lacing, the head is not well-retained, though it stays at a slight cover. Bottle conditioned and only lightly filtered however, so I’ll let it slide. I also think I’m being generous in the aroma. There are high alcohol esters, sharp and too overbearing, with not as fruity and complex a hops bouquet as I would hope for. The flavor is good enough to start, this bottle having more dry/toasty malt than I remember, with almsost a cigar like smokiness in the background. Towards the middle of the bottle, as it warms more, it gets way too alcoholic, with the sharp, perfumey and bitter hops overpowering and being quite one-dimensional. Poured out the last third of the bottle, but it still gave me a headache. This is a far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far cry from Pliny.

On tap at Founders. This is an intensely hoppy, chewy I2PA. Pours deep red-brown, relatively clear, with a thin cream-colored head. Biting citrus/pine hops aroma. Grapefruit and pine hops are especially dense in the flavor, with chewy, sweet malt contributing notes of caramel and cherry. Alcohol was nicely hidden by the strong flavors. Very good, but not unique by any means.

This was again on tap for Founders' Harvest Celebration, and the beer is up to 13% ABV! There isn't much change in the beer's other characteristics, but the "old" version is now strangely being called "Devil Dancer I3PA 2003." Hmmm...I don't think anybody recalls this being around in 2003. Oh well! Look for it in bottles soon.