Devil Went Down to Oregon Collaboration Brew
I felt that since it is getting cooler out that it would be a good night to have a dark beer since we are headed into that season. I love moving into the colder seasons and have some awesome brews, I am trying a collaboration brew tonight from two beer companies, I have not tried yet. Ninkasi Brewing Company and Devil's Backbone Brewing Company are the breweries that I am trying tonight. They collaborated on a brew called Devil Went Down to Oregon. Ninkasi Brewing Company was founded in 2006 and are located in Eugene, Oregon. I have heard great things about this brewery and I know recently as of a couple months they just started shipping to Pennsylvania. Devil's Backbone Brewing Company is located Roseland, Virginia and reading on the origin of their name is really fascinating. They picked the Devil's Backbone because of their location and incorporating history into the brewery. Devil Went Down to Oregon is an Imperial Rye beer, which incorporates Rye Grain into the beer, hence Rye Beer. Devil Went Down to Oregon has an alcohol by volume or ABV of 7.2% and an IBU of 65. This is my first step into Rye Beers, let's see how this goes and what this style has in store.
Appearance to Devil Went Down to Oregon
Diving into the aroma of this brew is something I looked forward to. I have never had a Rye Beer, so I did not know what to expect aroma wise. I think the first aroma that stands out to me is a sweet fruity aroma, followed by a spiced note. So far this style kind of reminds me of a Saison/Farmhouse Ale. Another final potent aroma is the malt backbone to the beer. As a beer drinker, I prefer the malt aroma rather than a bitter aroma like a India Pale Ale tends to have. You could say I prefer sweet over bitter if you wanted to. Color and appearance can leave a lasting imprint on some beer drinkers. Some might run away from dark beers towards lighter beers because they think they are going to be too heavy. I look at this beer and I am running towards it, trying to figure out this beer one step at a time. To me this brew has a deep amber or maroon color to it. The foam when I poured the beer left a thin layer of foam or head at the top of the beer and then quickly dissipated.
Taste the final hurdle to see if I like this brew or not. I think looking at this beer right now I am leaning towards liking it. First sip, I took I noticed a few different things afterwards. You notice the Rye malt upfront in my opinion. Followed by a bitter hop note then the beer came to a sweet fruity finish. I think the thing that I say I pick up is that this brew is a very smooth beer that can sneak up on you if you were to drink this too fast. I have drank half of this beer and I noticed the smooth finish, almost like a lager. I also have notice the fermentation in the beer and the ABV that comes with it.
Lookout for this Collaboration brew
Overall, I find this beer to enjoyable and a brew that you take your time to enjoy. If you have two of these, I think the night might be over after that. I like Devil Went Down to Oregon and I think I might have to check out some more brews in the Rye beer family. Collaboration brews have become the norm these days and I think that you will continue to see more of them to help spread brands. I also think the name for this beer is genius because you will end up going down to Oregon, even though they are in the Pacific Northwest. This brew is a special release from Ninkasi and is available from January to April every year. I think this beer could be a brew you look to cellar and age, if you wanted to.
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