Sunday, February 19, 2012

Mammoth Brewing - Devil's Post Pale Ale

From Mammoth's website:
Sometimes good things take a little extra effort. For this beer we used volcanic rock, heated them up over a lunchtime grill and used those rocks to help with the boiling process. The result (apart from lots of steam) was the creation of caramelized sugars which give this ale its unique flavor. This beer was made in honor of a local geologic wonder, the Devils Postpile, which just celebrated its 100th year as a National Monument.
Pale Ale, 7.5% ABV


Appearance: Cloudy orange-amber, thick head but not a lot of retention.

Smell: The nose is very floral, with a sweet undertone from the malt. There's also a bit of dankness to the smell, like marijuana.

Taste: Floral hops also dominate the taste, with some nice citrus and residual bitterness. This is a pale ale that definitely drinks like an IPA! The malt backbone is pretty understated, but it offers a nice roasted, caramel flavor. Given how old this bottle is, I can only imagine how hoppy this would have tasted fresh!

Mouthfeel: Pretty full-bodied with a sweet finish.

Overall: This was bottled in July 2011, so I'm drinking it almost certainly past its prime, which is too bad. Altogether, this seems like a pretty solid beer, and I was fascinated by the process involving volcanic rock. The Devil's Postpile is really a beautiful sight and this was a nice homage.

3/5 based purely on what I had, since I can't score a speculation, but this score should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt due to the old bottle.

2 comments:

  1. You should definitely try this one again, but fresh. It's my favorite of MBC's seasonal beers. The flavors I got were hoppy, roasty, and toasty.

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    1. Thanks! I'll definitely be wanting to grab it closer to its bottling date when I'm up there next summer.

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