Hop Devil Ale - Victory Brewing Company

francisweizen

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Handpull from the Drafting Room in Exton. Orangey copper colour, bordering on red this time around. Hmmmm, darker on cask are we? Head is small bits of white, lacing is not good. Aromas are less hoppy and more malty than I seem to recall. The taste is actually a bit more calm than the devil on tap, but it is no less amazing. Hoppy up front with a very bready malt flavor in the middle and a clean finish. Mouthfeel is cask goodness, drinkability does not waver. Three serving types and three 4.5's across this board. Perhaps Victory should rename their flagship brew "Consistent Devil"

Serving type: cask

11-16-2004 16:51:59 | More by francisweizen

thecoldesquire

West Virginia

4.55/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This is an excellent beer.

I had tried this on tap a few years ago. And saw that it was on cask at The Sharp Edge in Pittsburgh this weekend, so I had to get one.

The appearance was an excellent amber, with a nice and creamy half inch head. A little cloudy

Smell was a nice piney/citrusy hop aroma.

Taste: Excellent balance of American hops and malty sweetness.

Mouthfeel: This is where the cask conditioning really shines through. The beer was nice and creamy with a full mouthfeel.

Drinkability: I could have had several of these.

Serving type: cask

08-30-2004 18:36:05 | More by thecoldesquire

HappyHourHero

Indiana

3.98/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Off-white colored head disappeared to a ring and some film and left no lace. The beer was golden amber in color and fairly transparent. The aroma was of spicy hops. Smooth, light, and refreshing beer. Mostly piney hops in the aroma with a decent bite.

Serving type: cask

03-21-2004 01:51:53 | More by HappyHourHero

Billolick

New York

4.3/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours dark auburn, with a puffy off white head. frothy, leaves a ton of lace. On cask , so the mouthfeel was very soft and smooth. very pleasant. Sweet malt on the tongue, back ground of citrusy hops. Grapefruit. Flavors are vibrant and well defined. This beer tasted FRESH. Well crafted and served. well worth the high marks it receives.

Serving type: cask

02-20-2004 12:36:48 | More by Billolick

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.83/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Caramel amber huge creamy off white head leaves evenly strewn rings of lacing. Aroma: Buttery cascades caramel covered whole hops great aromatics. Balance is what makes this beer works so well that smack of hops with a great sweet bready smelling malt backbone. Taste: INSANE, great tasting beer very much heavenly mixture the hops are accented by the cask serving type the warmth of the beer with the creamy texture carries the flavor so well. If you love this beer on draught and the bottle find it on cask well worth you beer hunting. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied creamy texture so hop resins gliding along the palate. Drinkability: Freakin' amazing, simply effortless to enjoy.

Serving type: cask

02-18-2004 04:21:02 | More by WVbeergeek

AllThingsNinja

Massachusetts

4.58/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

As a fan of IPAs, I was thrilled to see HopDevil on cask at the Sunset. It had a slightly hazy orange color, and modest white head. The hops were intense but balanced by a very sweet malt presence. I enjoyed the fruity notes, hints of a spice, and the overall drinkability of the beer. It was truly delightful.

Serving type: cask

02-08-2004 12:56:00 | More by AllThingsNinja

UnionMade

Colorado

4.88/5  rDev +18.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A wonderful hand pulled pint at Mug's Ale House in Brooklyn.
The beer arrives in a tall nonic pint. The liquid is a deep ruddy amber, topped with a short, creamy ivory head. Good clarity, with excellent head retention and gobs of lace sticking to the glass in rings.
The aroma reveals pungent grapefruity hops. Very citric, with some pine and herbal notes. A solid malt backbone with a sweet toastiness playing beneath the hops. A touch of caramel malt, with fragrant appley esters. Unbelievable balance, with every nuance in it's right place.
The flavor starts out with rich toasty malt. A light caramel flavor rides through, hoisting the hops through the finish. Just enough appley fruitiness comes through the middle, with a touch of pear. A robust grapefruity hop flavor edges it's way in rather early, quickly stealing the show in the finish. Light herbal and pine flavor comes through, but it's mostly a display of citric american hops. Moderate bitterness, but the balance never wavers. A touch of sweetish yeast in the aftertaste, with plenty of citric hop flavor. Very soft carbonation, just a light tingle on the tongue. Full bodied, with a very creamy cask conditioned mouthfeel. Top shelf.
IPA doesn't get much better than this. One of my all time favorites. I find myself craving this more than any other beer when I'm thirsty for a pint. This gets my gold star and red pencilled "great job!" with a big circled A+.

Serving type: cask

01-13-2004 10:20:52 | More by UnionMade

saltydog

New York

4.38/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

The day before tasting the bottle for review, I had this cask at Mugs Ale house. I like the beer much better on draft; the lower carbonation smooths the flavors out substantially. Appearance: Reddish orange, clear, thin head, but fairly retentive. Aroma: very subdued due to low carbonation, but hops are apparent. Taste: Big hops, but malt is apparent, not as overpowered as in bottle. Mouthfeel is very smooth at low carbonation. Very drinkable.

Serving type: cask

11-05-2003 02:30:52 | More by saltydog

mydeadguy

Massachusetts

4.7/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had it on cask at Sunset in Allston.

Haven't had the bottled version in a while (and liked that quite a bit), but this beer is absolutely fantastic in a cask.

Poured a clear, deep golden orange, with little to no head. The scent was remarkable, hop resins, pine, citric acid, slight alcohol.

Taste was phenomenal. hoppy, but not overdone or out of balance, resinous, slightly astringent, a slight warming from the alcohol. Really, I cannot say enough good things about this.. Medium bodied, smooth, refreshing, a joy.

Drinkability, let's just say they could park my barstool next to the beer engine and I would pour this one all night. Get your ass to Sunset, even if you hate the place, because I don't know of anywhere else in boston to get this amazing beer..I'm getting thirsty just typing about it..

Serving type: cask

10-12-2003 18:16:50 | More by mydeadguy

cerevisiaephilus

Michigan

4.58/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I think this is my favorite way to enjoy HopDevil. I had it up at Zeno's in State College, PA. The lack of carbonation makes this particular devil particularly smooth and definately TOO easy to imbibe. Excellent hoppy beer. Lots of american hops, citrusy etc. But the malt profile of this beer is also remarkable. A very complex malt flavor that adds to this beers overall pleasantness.

Serving type: cask

09-08-2003 20:26:28 | More by cerevisiaephilus

bmills1608

Pennsylvania

4.47/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Wha-wha-WHAT!!!

First and foremost, cask conditioned HopDevil is totally different then on tap or the bottle. It's almost like a totally different beer, wow, I was very surprised at how this tasted.

Served in your typical, chunky American pint glass. A rather murky light brown color. The bar was dim, so judging the color was a bit tough, but cloudy and murky for sure. Head was off white, frothy, thick and creamy as hell. Sheets of lace were left on the sides of the glass as I drank.

Taking a smell, I was initially confused, "where did the cascades go?". Aromas of sweet bread, tons of herbal smelling hops, rich, almost fudge-like malts and exotic fruits exploded from the glass. The floral/herbal aroma is what I think surprised me more then anything. No citrus/grapefruit this time around.

Taste was above all - fruity. Melons, oranges and herbs danced around on a thick and solid foundation of malt. The malt character, like the other versions of HopDevil, had a big say in the cask version as well, but this time, it was even heavier handed, slapping the hops around and making it clear to them that in this version, malt rules, but only by a nose. The hop character is there, just more mellowed and less brittle and crunchy hard as in other versions. The citrus hammer that bottled or tap versions of HopDevil usually wield, was just not here. The finish was herbal and smoldering with soft bitterness. Mouthfeel was rich, smooth and fantastic, so creamy and rich.

Overall impression - This just goes to show you the huge difference cask conditioning can make in a beer. This beer was young and ALIVE. Fantastic.

Serving type: cask

08-05-2003 17:22:42 | More by bmills1608

pezoids

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This was an extra cask that was put on the bar at the Firkinteeth event at the Grey Lodge. Good thing, too since it was fairly early and there were only two casks left out of the original eleven! This version of Hop Devil poured out a murky amber copper color and was topped with a small creamy white head. Beautiful aroma of flowery hops and a nice maltiness. Taste was very creamy. Nice bitterness with the presence of alcohol. Perfect blend once again of malt and hops. Very flavorful. I have had this beer many times in different forms over the years and this was another excellent version.

Serving type: cask

06-17-2003 17:46:18 | More by pezoids

rugbycritic

New York

5/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This is absolutley one of my unabashed favorites. As a unredemptive hophead, it doesn't get much better (bitter?) than this. A fantastic expression of the brewer's art; an apoplectic melding of malt sweetnes with lupulus bitternes and aroma. The cask conditioned presentation steps this one up into the valhalla of brewing. If you've only had the draught version of this wonderful brew, the cask is just that more so. The lower conditioning level lets the melange of flavors burst forth on the palate, unencumbered by the bubbliness of carbonation.

As you can probably tell, I am a huge fan. This merits the 5 x 5 as indicated above. I really don't think that there is much room for improvement on this one.

Serving type: cask

06-02-2003 07:06:28 | More by rugbycritic

beerman599

Connecticut

4.93/5  rDev +20%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

i had this at the Connecticut real ale festival and it was wonderful a stand out among standouts a true historically correct IPA with great body mouth feel and balance.hop heads and malt freaks alike will love this one. if you can find it on cask its a must!!!

Serving type: cask

05-03-2003 18:50:09 | More by beerman599

dwarbi

New York

4.8/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I had this on cask at Copperfield's. I've had it on tap and in bottle, but the cask blew me away.
Beautiful, perfect head. The beer was a reddish copper color. Smelled peppery, but not enough there. Hoppy, too, of course. Tasted very smooth, hoppy, and a teeny tiny bit bitter. Excellent beer.

Serving type: cask

05-02-2003 23:00:46 | More by dwarbi

PatandDavid

Massachusetts

4.38/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I had this on cask. More than one. It's great on cask. I've had it numerous times on draft, and loved it's big hoppy-ness, but on cask, all the rough edges are smoothed away and it turns into even more of a session beer.

Beautiful amber color and head when first poured. Like a said, a great session beer, even at 6.7 (althought that's pushing it). You still get a mouth full of hops, but it seems even more balanced at cask and at that temp.

Recommended, especially on cask for a change. This is good stuff.

pat

Serving type: cask

04-24-2003 08:32:04 | More by PatandDavid

QXSTER1

Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

I've had Hop Devil numerous times in the bottle but never on cask. It's a different animal altogether. Even poured a lighter copper than the bottled version. Nose was of subtle hops but not overpowering and the head was a perfect white, dense, creamy wonder that stuck to the glass leaving tons of lace.
The taste at cask temperature seemed softer and more sophisticated. The hops were still featured but with more nuance and complexity. The firm malt background folded into the rounded citric character of the hops moreso than the bottled version. It was definitely like drinking a different beer with both being outstanding. The bottle version is an in your face hophead's delight while the cask was it's more profound cousin.

Serving type: cask

10-20-2002 06:21:02 | More by QXSTER1

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

It's amazing what cask conditioning can do! I'll assume everyone is familiar with the standard Hop Devil (if not, check out the standard reviews first). The color remains the same, but the head holds to the end of the glass and gives a solid wall of lace. The cask version also has a much lighter nose - I guess that's mainly because the limited carbonation brings it up less. Smooth hop & malt aroma. It has a light silky mouthfeel. The flavor expresses a soft malt of light, sweet biscuity caramel, and a more balanced grassy hop flavor and bitterness. So English! A totally different beer! You wouldn't think the bottled version could do this. Similar, in many ways, to Young's Dirty Dick. I'm sure that the standard draft or bottled version would stand up to some spicy fries, but the cask version gets a little lost. Absolutely worth trying. No wonder it did so well at the 2002 GBBF!

Serving type: cask

08-23-2002 17:11:12 | More by NeroFiddled

rotsaruch

Pennsylvania

4.9/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I feel bless and cursed in living so close to Victory - less than 15 minutes away. As usual quality is exceptional with all their brews, but this weekend the finest balance, smoothest drinking HopDevil was available on the hand pump. The hops were there with fruity flavor and delicious bouquet and malty finish. It was considered desert after a great round of golf.

Serving type: cask

07-14-2002 16:38:19 | More by rotsaruch

jackndan

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Hop Devil: cask conditioned: thick dense head, very long lasting. Deep reddish color, with slight Belgian lace. The cellar temperature really brings out the hops, but also lets the undercurrent of malt sweetness to present itself, especially in the aftertaste. Excellent taste, presentation and beer.

Serving type: cask

06-23-2002 18:47:43 | More by jackndan

Bierman9

New Hampshire

4.35/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cask review from 04MAY02...
On cask at NERAX.... pleasing copper color, with a small, fine head. Nose is hops, hops, and hops! Mmmm. Decent smoothness/body, overall. Flavor was hops from start to finish... Not as aggressive as the bottle/tap version, though. Felt it was mellowed a bit by the oaky cask flavors... Still an A-1 bier!!

overall: 4.4
appearance: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 4

*** ***

On-tap review of 09FEB02...
On draft, dark copper color, maybe a tad cloudy (?) but enticing. Fine creamy head which fades away.... Nose is pleasant, floral and attracting! Has medium-full body, and medium-smooth tongue....goes down nicely! Semi-sweet, malty (biscuity? really?) start which segues nicely into a smooth floral hoppiness!!! I like it!!!!
Sampled also from the bottle...same dark, copper color, but no cloudiness....other attributes are the same... A-1 IPA! Also enjoyed often from the bottle.... (4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5 = 4.50)

41

Serving type: cask

02-09-2002 19:27:20 | More by Bierman9

Immortale25

Florida

4.2/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured into a Due South Brewing Co. snifter. Bottleneck says Enjoy By Jul 19 2013.

A- Pours a dark amber color with a 1/4 inch off-white head that retains a bit before becoming a thin ring around the edge of the glass and small specs of surface foam. Semi-resilient lacing slides down the glass leaving a jagged ring behind.

S- Zesty, semi-citrusy hop aroma with a sturdy malt backbone. Somewhat sweet-smelling.

T- Moderate bitterness with some grass and pine notes. The substantial amount of malt is unusual for an IPA and very welcome since it provides a nice balance as well as some biscuity tones.

M- Pretty sharp from the hops with medium carbonation and a fullish body.

O- A quintessential east coast IPA. One that's just as enjoyable now as it was many years ago when I first had it.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 05:25:01 | More by Immortale25

devlishdamsel

Washington

4.23/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This is a keeper. I usually find myself not returning to Ipa's with the "piney" bitter aftertaste. This one is an exception. Poured into a teku, this has seriously awesome creamy head for an ipa and it retains well. Most ipa's have head which dissipates, but not this beer. The color is deep amber, almost red, full of dancing bubbles. The scent at first is piney and spicy but halfway through mellows out and a deep jasmine scent dominates. Quite lovely really. Perfect carbonation: not too much, not too little. A mellow yet spicy and resin like taste which rounds out to slight bitterness lingering on the back of the tongue, maybe a bit grapefruit like? A bit of hotness I suppose, but this is probably just accentuated by the bitterness! This is like drinking a juicy hop!, and an extremely drinkable one at that! I cannot wait to try this on tap!

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2013 02:11:14 | More by devlishdamsel

parejkoj

Minnesota

4.23/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Crystal clear deep amber, solid thick head that fades after about 5 minutes with a little lingering on the beer surface. Beautiful.

Smell: Very floral, almost reminds me of a quick whiff of rose with some lemony citrus to balance. Very nice. A little bit of malty sweetness.

Taste: Well balanced bitterness and malt profile. Grapefruit and citrus flavors up front. A little bit of pine or resin notes. A touch herbal. Noticeable alcohol. Very tasty.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, although as mentioned above, noticeable alcohol.

Overall: Very good. No upfront flaws apparent outright. Really enjoyable, it would be easy to drink a few of these. A well balanced IPA, which isn't always easy to find. Highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 00:07:41 | More by parejkoj

utopiajane

New York

3.46/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured a clear and vivid orange with a decent head that fell down reluctantly. Chunky lacing. Bright hops nose with lots of slick pine and sweet citrus. No malt to speak of on the nose. On the palate it’s got medium body and good carbonation. It’s bedeviled with hops but lacking in balance without a bigger malt character to back it up. Goes down oily with a good bitter aftertaste. A very plucky ale. Easy to drink and a clean, long finish.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2013 14:52:52 | More by utopiajane