Shelf life of Founder's Devil Dancer?

I was shocked to just come across a Founder's Devil Dancer 4-pack at a local grocery store this late in the season with it only being brewed in June. I purchased it but am considering returning it because the date of bottling was listed as 05.24.2012. Is 6 months time too long for the beer to still retain it's full flavor and hoppiness? I would love to keep it but the steep price tag has me questioning whether or not it is worth the risk.

If it was sold at a decent price I would keep it and drink it. It's not going to be as hoppy as it would be fresh, but it has enough of a malt backbone that I think it'd still be good.

IMO, this beer tastes completely different fresh than with a few months on it. I'm not sure what it would taste like with six months on it, but I'd return. Then again, I strongly dislike this beer even when fresh.

Caveat emptor its yours now

I got my first lot of this beer this year and I've heard it can age well. I got a half case and I drank 6 and saved 6 which I'll try sporadically to see what happens. If I were you, I'd have 1-2 now and then the others in 6 months and a year out just to see what happens.

There's a shit ton of Devil Dancer, KBS (well, 3 bottles at least in the back room) , and Old Curmudgeon still available by me in Brooklyn. Picked up the OC last night (brewed in May) and it tasted fine.

With that high an ABV and IBUs it reminded me more of an american barleywine after half a year with the hop profile mellowing big time. I enjoy it fresh or aged. I may be one of the few who REALLY like Devil Dancer.

I would guess an overly sweet malty mess by 6 months.

I'm not sure DD is worth the price when it's fresh, but it'd be interesting to try at this point. If you want to take it back due to it being "expired," go ahead and try. I'd tell you to take a hike if I was the retailer, but good luck to you.

I had a 2010 90 minute once it still had a hop presence. It tasted like if you took a barley wine and an IPA and mixed them half and half. devil dancer is a triple so while the hops will fade it's not gonna be perceptible unless you have a fresh one to do a side by side.

Edit: Ill take it off your hands if you don't want it I'd trade New Glarus for it.

I had a 1 year old devil dancer and i actually liked it more then fresh, hops were still present but the malts came out a little more , and alot of the alcohol warmth died down, it was actually more balanced.

This beer doesn't profile the hoppy goodness you might expect from your standard popular DIPA's out there anyways, so I wouldn't even think of it along the lines of a pliny, hopslam or whatever is always talked about fading away. Fresh it's boozey as all hell and just drips of resiny hops, not a flowery/fruity aromatic beer at all...I appreciate it for what it is either way, but my personal opinion is it's better with a little age anyways so I'd just give it a try. I've had bottles with several years of age and they were perfectly decent beers.

I plan to try one that is five years old tonight

http://www.guysdrinkingbeer.com/adventures-in-cellarsitting-founders-devil-dancer/

Just drank one of mine today (haven't been home since the purchase). Still tasted like an IPA, but very malty. I'm assuming the hop character packs much more of a punch when it's fresh

I would keep it, like FEUO said with that high of a ABV and IBU's it will be fine maybe even better then fresh. Give it a go, I say!

Let's be honest, though it is labeled a Triple IPA, Devil Dancer is a barleywine in the american style.
It's good fresh imo, but better with 6+ months of age imo.

I think the fresh devil dancer is quite the shit show, just too hot, overwhelming and barely drinkable. So many better TIPAs and american barleywines out there.
For the ABV, it should have a strong enough malt back bone, so when aged, theoretically, it will mellow out the hops and booze and get those rich and sweet malts to come foward.
I'm a big fan of american barlywines, and hopefully time will make this beer less palate wrecking and something I can sip and enjoy. I'm aging some bottles for 2yrs. as an experiment. i haven't given up on this brew yet!

how was it man?

And you just left without ALL of the KBS???

i had one with a year on it and loved it! the hops were surpringly present. good stuff

I bought myself a 4 pack. They're $10/bottle so I'm being economical here.

Honestly, DD is hot enough that I wouldn't feel bad about leaving it on a shelf for a year.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Beer tends to be expensive here in PA, but $6-7/bottle or $20/4-pack is around what I'd pay.
Sorry bro, DD isn't worth $10/bottle, fresh or aged.

I have a couple of devil dancer left from about a year and a half ago. Just opened one up and its still very hoppy and tastes great.

Agreed.

On my shelf, forever. A perfect example of American excess. A real dumb beer if you will

Looking back at my review I might have gotten an older bottle since I noticed a not very strong hop presence and a candy like malt consistency.

If you got the four pack aged for say 20 bucks I would say it would be worth it.

DD isn't $10. KBS is. I think DD is $5/bottle.

Now that makes sense.

Can I buy the KBS from you?

Some DD just popped up locally after sitting at some distributor somewhere, which was convenient since I had missed it fresh. Hadn't had it in a couple of years.
Honestly taste's like a poor man's 120 Minute. Thumbs up!

We can do a trade, if you want. Message me and let's chat

Anyone still have the 4pack box that devil dancer came in? I thought it said something about dancing with the devil... Being complex as hell... And good for years to come. The shelf life doesn't support that though... Hmm.

Just treat it like a Barleywine. It's got the malt and ABV to back it up.

Its fantastic aged, at 3 or 4 years its phenomenal.

Ages well but definitely a barleywine after a year.

Yup. Pretty standard operational procedure. Take that IPA and nurture it into a beautiful, unsuspecting barelywine.

Great review, thanks for posting it!

This. Completely unbalanced once the hops fade out. Even if you think of this as a barleywine like many of us do, still too sweet and boozy. There are plenty still on the shelf around my way.