I just tested two beers from a batch of American Devil IPA I brewed about four weeks ago. It turned out to be a decent ale. It’s not as extreme as most IPAs I’ve had, but very hoppy compared to the Mr. Beer West Coast Pale Ale, which was the first one I brewed with my new Mr. Beer kit.

Before I get into the review let me explain what I did to ensure a more consistent carbonation. In the Pale Ale I primed using the Mr. Beer suggested method of adding sugar right to the bottle during the bottling process, then aggitating to mix it up. This time I pre dissolved about 1/3 a cup — based on the standard 3/4 cup for a 5 gallon batch — into about two cups of water in a sauce pan.

Deviating from the standard Mr. Beer method for a moment, I poured the sugar mixture into a 2 gallon cooler/jug (with a spigot on it, similar to the one you see there on the right) and transfered the beer into this jug from the Mr. Beer fermenter. For those beginner brewers who are unaware, this is what is known as “racking,” basically transferring the wort from one vessel into another. Typically it is done through pumps or hoses and gravity. In this case we don’t need a hose, just line up the top of the cooler/jug with the Mr. Beer spigot and drain away. You may notice some splashing but that’s okay, it will give the yeast some oxygen to work with while the beer conditions in the bottle.

Once you’ve transfered the wort to the new bottling vessel, you can stir it up a bit with a clean spoon if you’d like, but during racking it probably mixed in well enough on its own. Now you’re ready to bottle as usual. So, on to the flavor review…

My final American Devil IPA has a slightly lower % ABV than Mr. Beer claims it should. They claim it should hit 4.6%, but this batch only got to the mid 3s for me, somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5. The West Coast Pale Ale batch was about 1% lower than it should have been as well. This probably has something to do with the amount of oxygenation through aggitation. Seriously, you can only slosh the wort in that Mr. Beer fermenter so much without having it slport out from under the lid.

Next time I’ll plan a yeast starter and pour that into the fermenter first, making sure to pour aggressively when I transfer the wort from the brewpot. A little aggressive stirring will also help I’m sure. Too much oxygen is not a problem prior to fermentation.

That aside, the IPA pours a nice deep, nutty amber color (if it’s possible for a color to be “nutty”), and retains a nicer, creamier head than the West Coast Pale Ale, though the head was equally short lived in my experience.

The nose is a nice balance of malt and hops. The flavor is nicely hoppy and a bit nutty, no doubt from the darker roasted barley malt used to acheive the darker color. There is a nice hop bite and lingering, bitter tingle, which is nice. While reading the American Devil IPA flavor profile at the Mr. Beer website I learned that they used a lager malt in this brew. Interesting. Maybe that’s why the flavor was not as distinct as other IPAs I’ve tried.

In all this is a nice kit to try. A very rewarding brew. I hope my tips and suggestions help you out. Post a comment and let me know about your experiences with Mr. Beer!

Tags: american devil ipa, beer brew kit reviews, beer kit review, homebrew ipa, ipa beer kit, mr beer, mr beer kit, mr beer kit review, mr beer review

This entry was posted by The Brewologist on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 11:19 am and is filed under Brew Reviews, Product Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.