A very strange thing has been happening lately. I am going out to a store in my own town and buying the same Ontario-made beer week after week. I wrote about Lake Ontario’s (not Lake Erie’s) Great Lake Brewing’s take on a winter ale a few weeks ago. That beer was a bit frustrating as, while I liked it, I had to buy it in a presentation pack for more than a bit too much. This beer, however, if anything is under-priced at $2.50 a tall can. Better than that, 666 has turned out to be a bit of a puzzle to my mind and in the brewer’s description:
Brewed with 6 select malts and 4 premium hops, it has a rich mahogany colour, reminiscent of early English pale ales. The wonderful hoppy aroma is revealed even before your first sip, followed by a hearty malty body, and culminating with a pronounced bitterness. Prepare yourself for a devilishly good time…
Hmm…six percent…hearty malt body…English hops. Is this a Burton, the elusive Georgian and Victorian bad boy of pale ales before the advent of barley wines? My only possible comparator could be Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome, itself a likely pretender, reviewed back here and happily sampled every year. The only thing I think might be against that 666 is claim of final hoppiness but I won’t know until I pop the caps.
As you can see, the Winter Welcome 2007-08 is much lighter, the dark amber orange ale sitting under white foam and rim. By comparison, the 666 is darker – chestnut with a fine rich tan rim and foam. On the nose the 666 speaks of roasty nuts with dark raisin, with a nod to oloroso sherry. The Winter Warmer leans more to orange marmalade but there’s plenty of biscuit in there, too. In the mouth, the two have about the same mouthfeel and, if anything, the Sammy Smith offering is more bitter: fresh green salad herb mixing with twig blended throughout the orange-kumquat biscuit malt. A sip of 666 is more about a rougher bitterness framing the darker dried winter fruits.
Martyn Cornell, the Zythophile himself, recently summarized Burton’s style in a few words – “a recognisably Burton Ale profile: red-brown, bitter-sweet, fruity and full-bodied, with a roast malt aroma.” It’s certainly hard to exclude this Canadian-Satanic joint enterprise of a beer from the categorization even if it were to turn out to be unintentional. It certainly is a lush brew, fruit-ridden with hop and a true roastiness within the grainy malt. Loverly. But is it Burton? Who knows? It fills a similar place in the pantheon but I would likely have to mail Martyn a sample. For now this side by side will have to do.
[Original comments…]
Ron Pattinson – January 8, 2008 9:42 AM
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com
How odd we should both post about Burton.
The 666 looks about the right colour. Strange that the brewery should describe it as a Pale Ale given that it’s brown.
I’m not sure what you could classify Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome as. It’s certainly not the right colour for a Burton.
Zythophile – January 8, 2008 1:17 PM
http://zythophile.wordpress.com
The give-aways for identifying a Burton Ale, apart from colour (dark amber/cornelian) are a definite sweetness coming through the hop biterness, and a distinct fruitiness, which is the real identifier. Sometimes, in poorer examples, you can get a tinny or metallic flavour, which I have seen remarked upon as a characteristic of Burtons in a book from the 1930s. Although modern drinkers wouldn’t categorise them so, even in the 1950s Burtons were described as “of the pale ale class”, apparently in contrast to stouts and porters.
Alan – January 8, 2008 1:20 PM
This may well be the beast, then…as it were.
irishkyle – January 8, 2008 10:23 PM
They way the bottles are placed in the picture and they way you describe the color of the beers does not make sense to me. “As you can see, the Winter Welcome 2007-08 is much lighter, the dark amber orange ale sitting under white foam and rim. By comparison, the 666 is darker – chestnut with a fine rich tan rim and foam”.
The Great Lakes 666 is the lighter colored beer and the Winter Welcome is much darker.
irishkyle – January 8, 2008 10:35 PM
Nevermind my post. The mistake was on my end of things.
Alan – January 9, 2008 9:56 AM
No problem. I am the possessor of a “right” and “the other right” so I do the same thing.
CanadianAmerican – June 26, 2008 3:45 AM
I live in Ontario, and this is my favorite Canadian beer at the moment. Unlike most Canadian brews, this beer has a bit of a punch.
steve hogel – October 16, 2008 8:50 PM
i was just wondering if the devils pale ale was still available
Damien – March 15, 2009 1:51 AM
i was wondering how i can order a case to try, im in thunder bay so if you can email me that would be great!!!
Alan – March 15, 2009 9:54 AM
You should be able to ask for it at your LCBO.
glenn beck – March 24, 2009 7:28 PM
where can i get this ale in nova scotia
John – March 25, 2009 10:54 AM
Devil’s Pale Ale is available year-round at most LCBO stores in Ontario from Ottawa to London to Collingwood (no Thunder Bay yet). Damien, ask your local LCBO about it – they might be able to transfer a case from another store for you.
Unfortunately it is not available in any other provinces at this time.
We’ve been tweaking the hops lately, resulting in a hoppier aroma and taste. Hope you enjoy it!
Alan – March 25, 2009 2:50 PM
Thanks John! It is a favorite of mine but will have to revisit given your tweeking update.
wk – June 21, 2009 12:22 AM
Come on! This is a cheap marketing ploy by calling it 666 – The Devil’s Brew! It’s aimed at the naive young teen easily swayed by any reference to 666! and -gasp-Satan!!!. The comments by “reviewers” are laughable – can’t you see it’s a gimmick. The beer by the way tastes like piss – Ok – I’ll play along – it tastes like the DEVIL’S PISS. OK!
Alan – June 21, 2009 9:54 AM
What a silly moo you are.
Craig – January 16, 2010 10:40 PM
This is by far my favorite ale. I avoided it for the longest time because of the “666 on a black tall-boy can” package which brought back memories of a Heavy-Metal youth where one would buy the highest alcohol percentage at the lowest cost which would mean you would usually revisit the consumed swill by about 3 am. I tried a can – what a shock – a truly great brew in the English strong ale tradition – tasty with a hint of heat, just enough to make it an enjoyable experience – not what I was expecting from 6.2 percent. Makes me wonder why the”HELL” it is packaged the way it is at such a low price – oh well, today’s heavy metal kids will have a truly fine “Burton style” pale ale to complement their head banging activities.
Alan – August 31, 2010 3:27 PM
Greg has revisited 666 and, sadly for me, the maltiness has been highjacked in a rethink of the beer.
ed – January 29, 2011 12:39 AM
This is an excellent beer, still available at the LCBO. It’s hopped like crazy, but in a good way. Just the right blend of bitter and fragrant. A good long boil with a nice finish, I guess.
Mark – May 7, 2011 7:50 PM
I love this beer. Unfortunately I have been unable to find it for months. Hopefully it’ll become available in the Hawkesbury area again.