Hop Wallop - Victory Brewing Company

frank4sail

New Jersey

4.93/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Golden peach crystal clear color with lots of little bubbles in the glass.. Beautiful jewel (it shimmers in the glass) of a beer. Rich thick white head on the pour leaves within 5 minutes (due to abv). But there is a constant white sheen and nice lacing effect on the glass at all times. Fresh grapefruit rind and orange peel nose. Smells like you are in a citrus grove in Florida. The inital smooth sweet malt taste is quickly slammed on the tongue by a huge excuse the expression "wallop of grapefruit hop juice". If you were not a hop fan like myself you would freak.. The grapefruit sting then is mellowed in the finish with a touch of lemon and a malty smoothness comforts the abused tongue. Balence in the abuse. Medium to fuller body with a nice smooth lively mouth. Very flowery and floral upfront as well.

This brew lives up to the talk... Victory please don't change a thing, except offer it for wider distribution... It was worth my quite long drive to get it.... A very pretty, flavorful, satisfying brew.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2003 03:09:38 | More by frank4sail

Maestro

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +14.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I skipped out of work today for about 45 minutes to pick up the last case at the local distributor. It is about 10:30pm and I just filled a pint glass. The nose is amazing with a very strong, rich hop character. The head is quite good. It gets thin but leaves a very thick lacing, like a milkshake. The beer is golden in color. I'd love to switch it with somebody's BUD and see what happens. The taste is outstanding. There is a very clean, crisp bite. The taste is rich and has strong grapefruit-like tastes. The alcohol isn't noticeable because the hops cover it up. I haven't had an IPA this good, ever. I hope that they make more of this. I guess I am one of the lucky guys to get one of the 300 cases produced.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2003 03:41:03 | More by Maestro

nomad

Kansas

4.53/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

from a day-old keg of the very first batch of Hop Wallop:

A very pale orange color, the complete clarity of this beer is impressive. On top it is crowned with a thick frothy head that is compact and goes nowhere for quite some time. Leaves plenty of thick, clumpy stain in rings around the glass, as the lace is thick wide and slow to fall. A treat to peer at.

Smells of big, fine pale-ish malt with fruity and floral scents surrounding, choking it with hoppiness - scents of grapefruit, tangerine peel, and bitter floral accents lurk around every corner. Earthy dry herbs progress further forward and a grainy presence comes through with time. Plenty of fruit and even more florals, in sum.

Tastes of straight hop flavors: grapefruit with attendant husky bitterness, an edible hop leaf presence, and citric spikes and floral chewiness. A small apricot presence pops up here and there, and does much for balancing sweetness despite its size (relative to the abundant hops, that is). Definitely a syrupy sense of hop oil with a little warming up, too. Way in the background you can taste pale malt holding all this up, but it knows its merely supporting role. At times darn close to spicy, I could feel the warmth of alcohol down to my stomach. The moderate mouthfeel is full and coming toward syrupy smooth, thirst enducing as are most Victory beers.

The impressive part is found in the finish, which is only moderately bitter in the far back of the mouth, residing with some length but not nearly as much strength. Needless to say, an immensely drinkable beer. Big on floral and grapefruit hop flavor and relatively low on bitterness, I find this rare for a harvest/hop-focused ale. Much less noxious than many West-Coast hop monsters but with comparable amounts of flavor. IPA, harvest, and blonde ale rolled into one, its not much like anything else I've ever had. Unique.

**Not to be confused with subsequent years of this beer**

Serving type: on-tap

12-19-2003 03:07:07 | More by nomad

Edwin

Pennsylvania

4.68/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

After reading the insane hype on this while at work, I called and reserved a case of this brew. Got to the store and they had sold my case. Needless to say I was not happy (Jaysus, you dirty bastard :) ), but I took it with good humor and kindly asked the guy to call another beer store and see if they had it. They did. Good ol' Glen Miller's. I fought rush hour traffic and finally got my hands on this case an hour and a half after setting out to buy it. I have waited for it to cool a bit and now is the moment of Zen...

In the immortal words: "Momma said knock you out."

Every sip makes me smile. This is the no-diversion hop explosion I have been waiting for. I am giddy writing this review. I whole-heartedly felt that my $42.00 was going to go completely down the tubes. I could not have been more wrong.

Appearance: More gold than I had thought it would be. A golden delight that completely fools you on the style. A nice, white head with some lacing left over.

Smell: The smell is of hops. Not much else, as I don't think their intent was to include anything else. A great hop smell that is every bit as good as advertised.

Taste: Effin' great. If you like hops and Imperial IPA's, this beer is your bitch. This is the girl that you take to the prom and don't hook up with because you are too afraid to lose her, but she ends up wanting it bad anyway and your night quickly goes from good to great. The taste is of hops, hops, and...um...hops. Some more beer goodness in there, but no fruitiness or other flavors. Perhaps a slight alcohol tinge on the end. An outstanding hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Mellow, but with a slightly bitter hoppiness that hop-heads will not only love, but savor. A smoothness that you will not believe.

Drinkability: If you are into hoppy beer, you will drink more than 2 of these in a sitting. This brew does not ask nicely, it DEMANDS you drink a few and love it. It goes down easy and the flavor is so nice that you will constantly find yourself having more. Only thing you have to watch is the 8.5% ABV.

In conclusion: DRINK THIS BEER. I am convinced it will solve world hunger, bring peace to the middle east, make models like me, promote me, and make my penis grow. It's pretty darn good.

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2003 00:00:47 | More by Edwin

dmarch

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Ahh, Victory tests the Imperial IPA waters. Just tried it the first day it was available. Very pale in color, almost making you confuse it for a lager. Thick white head. No caramel character whatsoever or any kind of malty sweetness for that matter. I came looking for hops and I definately found hops. Not sure of the hop varieties, but there is a very predominant grapefruit character, perhaps a bit more grapefruit than I'd like, but I really enjoy the in your face hoppiness. Good job Victory. Looking forward to the next batch.

Serving type: on-tap

12-18-2003 01:45:34 | More by dmarch

rotsaruch

Pennsylvania

4.58/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Well, I feel I am one of the fortunate ones to have this unusually facinating brew from the Boys at Victory at premiere debut of Hop Wallop at The Drafting Room in Exton, PA. I had an opportunity to enjoy it both on draft and in the bottle. Old Hop Wallop (Steve German, Victory's Director of Sales), the Sheriff (Matt Guyer), the Deputy (Jack Curtin) and Miss LuLu Belle Lager (a.k.a. Miss Victory) were in attendance. What a group!!

The style of this brew is simply described on the bottle as a very hoppy ale. Believe me it is hoppy happiness!! The appearance is this burnt, setting sun color. There are no carmel malts in this beauty. The head consists of a dense white foam with a pronouce lacing from start to finish. The hops aroma is unmistakable; a noticable fusion of a floral, fruity fragrance. There is this disturbingly delicious hop taste that awakens the palate with a noticeable grapefruit and spicey flavor. What is this combination of hops that have been added at the various stages to provide this unique compliementary flavor? I know there are two of them, but who really cares after enjoying the beautiful sensation of joy. The pale malt provides an excellent, tantilizing hint of sweetness. The mouthful consists of this delicious slippery, smooth velvet feel. If your a "hophead," this is one drinkable brew. The only scary aspect of this brew is you will never know its 8.5% abv until you have the second one. Then, you feel like Old Horace "Hop" Wallop and feel that hoppy happiness glow. Hope you all have an opportunity to try this one.

Serving type: on-tap

12-17-2003 03:42:40 | More by rotsaruch