Tap Handle #155: Devil Mountain - Summer Mountain Brew

This is a great tap that was listed at #19 on my wishlist when I started the blog. I was happy to acquire it. Great detail on the steam engine, including a fantastic matte painting job make this a pretty tap. Some of the pieces are small and prone to breaking/chipping, so the tap should be examined closely for this potential flaw.


Devil Mountain was founded in Walnut Creek, California in 1987 by Greg Jones, operating out of an abandoned railroad station at the foot of Mount Diablo, with a 7 barrel brewhouse. The brewery was immediately recognized for its ability to create stellar products, using exotic combinations of ingredients to develop award winning recipes. In their first year of operation, the brewery won three medals at the Great American Beer Festival. Their tremendous early success propelled them to upgrading the brewery to a 23 barrel brewhouse with 7-8 varieties, but lease problems and increased competition forced Devil Mountain to look for a new, more centrally located brewery. They moved to Benicia around 1992, but as luck would have it, a tripling of sewer fees there forced them to close in 1995 and move to Cincinnati OH. For a time Devil Mountain was brewed under contract by Hudepohl-Schoenling (owned by Boston Beer Company) under the direction of its original brewmaster, Jim DeBoer. They must still be in existence in some form, because you can buy home brewing recipes of some of their varieties through Austin Homebrew Supply.

Summer Mountain Brew was a limited release, combining summer wheat malts with citrus and spice for a dry, crisp finish. It was not considered one of their top varieties, but was still enjoyable. There is no entry for Devil Mountain on ratebeer.com.

There is no website link to Devil Mountain that I could find.