Real Ale Devil's Backbone Review

Name: Real Ale Devil's Backbone
Style: Tripel
ABV: 8.1%
IBUs: 35

Now I'm moving on to the last few beers from my Texas beer package. This beer is from Real Ale Brewing Company, based out of Blanco, Texas, who've made an appearance on this blog before in my Surly Blakkr Review as part of a collaboration Real Ale did with both Surly & 3 Floyds.

Today I've got an original offering from them in the form of Devil's Backbone, a Tripel-style ale that gets its name from a "winding stretch of highway in the Hill Country highway."

Appearance - A very bright yet extremely hazy yellow color with a thin yet foamy head with good lacing retention. I'm not picking up on any carbonation but that may be due in part to the haziness

Aroma - Starts out with some Belgian yeasts, cloves & light coriander followed by some pale maltiness and some bitter hoppiness in the back.

Taste - Belgian yeasts and cloves upfront, followed immediately by bitter hops, cloves and pale malts. Bit of coriander too but not as strong as the nose. Aftertaste is mainly Belgian yeasts and Bitter hops.

It's a good drinkable Tripel-style ale but at the same time, it doesn't do anything I haven't already seen and plays it safe for the most part. Don't get me wrong: I like it......but I don't love it.

Real Ale Devil's Backbone - 8/10