Name: Devil's Breath
Brand: Adroit Theory Brewing Company
Availability: InStock

Adroit Theory Brewing Company has brought back a beer that first went out under a different name. Devil's Breath, released this afternoon in Purcellville, is a Belgian tripel that the brewery says began life as Ghost 173. Adroit Theory describes the new version simply as its take on a classic-style Belgian tripel.

The label copy is doing rather more than that:

As fleeting as a maiden's kiss or the moment when dusk becomes twilight. The barest remnant of a dream... or a nightmare. It leaves you restless, edgy, unwilling to turn away, unable to move closer. Yet it lingers and beckons...

The tasting note the brewery lists on its tap room menu is plainer, and more useful: light and semi-dry, with floral notes and a hint of Belgian spice. That last part is characteristic of the style rather than an added ingredient. A tripel's pepper-and-clove character comes out of the yeast during a warm fermentation, not out of a spice rack. That is why a well-made one reads as spiced without anything having been added.

At 8.3 percent it is the mildest of the three cans that Adroit Theory packaged this week, and something of an outlier on a current lineup weighted heavily toward 12 percent dessert stouts and smoothie sours. It is also the second Belgian tripel in a single release, arriving alongside the cranberry edition of Il Libro Di Cagliostro.

Devil's Breath is available on draft and in cans at the taproom, with 30 cases packaged.

Editor’s Take

Adroit Theory has built an identity on names that read like track listings off a record somebody's parents confiscated, and then hung Devil's Breath on the mildest beer of the week. The release copy promises restlessness, nightmares, something that lingers and beckons. The tap room menu, describing the same liquid, goes with light, semi-dry, floral, a hint of Belgian spice. Both are true. Only one of them is going to move cases.

Which is the whole appeal of a well-made tripel anyway. The style has always been a bit of a smuggler: pale, dry, briskly carbonated, and tasting considerably lighter than the number printed on the container, a trick Belgian monastery breweries have been pulling on visitors for a very long time. At 8.3 percent this is the most restrained thing Adroit Theory packaged this week, and on a board where the stouts run to 12, restraint counts as a rest. Put it beside a pot of mussels, or a roast chicken with too much butter on it.

Source & Editorial

JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.

Devil's Breath Revives Ghost 173 as a Classic Belgian Tripel

Adroit Theory has revived a tripel whose original version went out as Ghost 173. At 8.3 percent, Devil's Breath is the gentlest of this week's three cans and the straightest beer on a menu stacked with dessert stouts.

Source & Editorial