Wild Devil - Victory Brewing Company

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

2.17/5  rDev -43.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5

Poured in to Duvel tulip

A - Poured a medium amber colour with a lot (3 fingers) of bubbly white head that quickly dissipated.

S - Intense aroma of spices up front. No hops whatsoever. Smells like a strong Belgian Ale with a sour nose in the background. The sourness covers up any hops that might be present.

T - The sour nose is very present in the palate and dominates the taste. No hops at all, aside from a slight bitterness - but it is overpowered by the intense sour taste. I wonder if this is a bad bottle...

M - Light to medium body. Lightly carbonated.

D - Sour. Drain pour. Won't even consider buying this one again.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2010 00:50:26 | More by TheSevenDuffs

DennisD

California

2.35/5  rDev -39%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Appearance: Amber, Large decent head

Smell: spicey, farm

Taste: Sharp, funky, wheaty flavor

Mouthfeel: Medium

Drinkability: Okay. Not sure if I enjoy the wild ales but this beer seemed decent and according to the reviews there is a market for it.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2010 20:52:25 | More by DennisD

dfillius

Michigan

2.45/5  rDev -36.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

Poured into a wine glass. I love Hop Devil and sour beers, let's get it on!
A: Gentle pour yields 2 fingers of just off-white head with great retention. Hazy copper orange-gold liquid. Beautiful
S: Tart cherry, bright citrus hop. Wow! Layer of sweet caramel underneath. Really interesting and inviting. Dusty aspirin, a little cat pee?
T: Very dry and tart. Overwhelming wildness. Very funky. Horrible mediciney aftertaste, like a chewed up tablet of aspirin. No malt or hop is apparent!
M: Poor. Too dry and chalky and mediciney
D: Poor. I am forcing myself to drink another sip hoping it is better.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2009 22:54:12 | More by dfillius

jmccullough916

2.5/5  rDev -35.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

Served from a corked ad caged bomber. I noticed after pouring that bottling date is from 2009! Should be interesting to review a 3 yr old Belgian IPA.

A - Hazy copper gold. A very pretty beer that proves crystal clear beers aren't always the best looking.

S - Lots of Brett. Maybe a little hoppyness in the background.

T - Brett, Brett, and more Brett. What can I say? This beer has been overpowered by the Brett funk. I can't detect any hops or grain, only Brett.

M - Light and somewhat creamy with a small prickle from the carbonation. I was expecting a lot of carbonated bite because it foamed over when I pulled the cork and even more when I poured the first glass. Very enjoyable mouthfeel despite the overpowering Brett.

O - I suppose age has not treated the Hop Devil kindly because the Brett has overpowered the taste. It's really a shame. I wish I could've tried this one fresh.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2012 00:54:36 | More by jmccullough916

Jesse13713

Ohio

2.58/5  rDev -33%
look: 2 | smell: 1 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Bottled on April 22nd, 2009. Quite disappointed in the dating since this was a new sight for me at the store. Poured into my Maudite tulip.

Appearance - Four full fingers of head that dissipate quickly into the glass. Soapy and very porous head qualities end up creating a clumpy froth in the end. The beer itself is murky pale brown that is quite bland looking. Opaque and appears to be thick and heavy. All in all, I am not too impressed with this beers appearance.

Smell - Uh oh. This smells like a baby's soured diaper. Well that's not any good at all. The slight tart citrus in the background is just completely masked by. . . well. Waste. This smells just absolutely horrible. A tart Belgian yeast smell lingers but is unpleasant.

Taste - Thankfully the taste is better than the smell. A very Belgian-like feel to this beer overall. Very full of yeast and lemongrass. Slightly sour and tart from start to finish. Not nearly as hoppy as expected; especially being derived from Hop Devil. Despite my love for sours, the slight tartness couldn't save this beer for me. It's just very rotten tasting overall. I did enjoy some redeeming qualities; such as the slight spice and brett yeast used.

Mouthfeel / Drinkability - An extraordinarily dry beer that leaves the tongue asking for water. As soon as I swallow, my mouth feels as parched a desert; like the liquid just disappeared into nowhere. Light bodied and appears too heavily carbonated at times. I was excited for this beer, thinking it would be different and unique. But it was a huge letdown for me. Not sure why this was even on the shelf. Perhaps they found it in the back? Either way, If I see a newer release I won't hesitate to pick it up and compare notes. But the taste itself does not appear to be skunked or infected.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2011 19:51:04 | More by Jesse13713

allergictomacros

Ontario (Canada)

2.63/5  rDev -31.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Massive head over clear copper liquid. Nose is cherries and sour funk. Wow this is bitter. On the dryish side with a chalky earth and intense bitterness. Acidity is much lower than expected. Otherwise, getting the barest hint of some grapefruit. I'm a little underwhelmed by this one - the unbalanced bitterness obliterates any subtleties. I'm not loving this.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2009 12:47:09 | More by allergictomacros

eclipse54

Idaho

2.65/5  rDev -31.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A corked and caged 750 mL bottle recently sent from inlimbo77; thank you! Bottled on 09/21/2011, so over two years old at this point. "Poured" into a DFH signature glass...

To start, it’s vastly over-carbonated as so many others have said. Upon popping the cork, it began gushing out of the bottle. Luckily, I was prepared and and able to start pouring/collecting into a glass right away. On the pour (of actual liquid, mind you) a massive amount of head develops, so much that 99% of the glass is nothing but foam. I had to let the foam settle into liquid before drinking.

Once it had settled to a manageable amount, the liquid was a translucent golden orange color with some copper hues. The head is an eggshell white that is very foamy/sudsy, and does hang around for quite a while.

The aroma is of tart citrus, primarily lemon, tart apple, sour pear, some faint peach, and just tart fruits in general. Behind that is quite a bit of straw/hay, various other light grains, some grass, and barely an inkling of hops. Plenty of yeast to be had as well; it smells more like a saison than any IPA, though it is not offputting.

It tastes of tart fruits, primarily pear and lemon, some grains, straw, hay, a funky yeast flavor, pine, and various floral grasses. Hops have almost completely mellowed out and vanished, and this is pretty mild and lackluster in flavor. Not bad, but not amusing either. A bit of a chalky/soapy aftertaste to it.

Mouthfeel is thin and watery after the excess in carbonation had finally been dispelled. It seems so much of it was in a rush to escape that no carbonation bothered to stay dissolved. It finishes clean with a slightly dry aftertaste, and iis very appealing in that respect.

Overall, this isn't much of an IPA anymore, which I've tried to reflect in the score. I will say, though, that it does make for a pretty decent brett-inoculated saison, having plenty of tart fruit esters and light grains. I find it curious to see how, over the course of a couple of years, this one has changed so much to seemingly warrant a reclassification. That said, don't shy away from trying this one in your travels as there's plenty of enjoyment to be found in it, but don't expect it to be an IPA of any kind.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2011 01:46:37 | More by eclipse54

TexIndy

Texas

2.75/5  rDev -28.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a 750ml corked and caged bottle into a tulip. No dating info. Was a hazy orange amber color with carb fount in center from the etching. It had a massive 4 finger fluffy off-white head that very slowly settled into a foam cap. Some lacing.

The aroma was more on the wild ale side with a big dose of funky brett. The IPA side was there as well but secondary. My favorite style is wild ale closely followed by anything hoppy so really expected to love this one. But, for me, they just didn't blend well. The IPA aroma muted the brett and the IPA aroma seemed off. The taste followed the aroma and was a mess. The IPA side was much stronger in the taste but the brett gave it a weird taste. Hard to drink it. Mouthfeel was medium with lots of carb and a horrible after-taste.

Overall, this one is a mess. Some things shouldn't be combined and I'd put wild ale and IPA in that category after tasting this one. Maybe I got a bad bottle otherwise it just didn't come thru. Can't recommend. Rotation - avail in TX but one and done especially at $11.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2009 01:54:18 | More by TexIndy

nrbw23

Ohio

2.78/5  rDev -27.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

A- Pours a hazy golden amber color with a huge off white head. Head was crazy big. Head has good retention and leaves some layered lacing.

S- Smells pretty yeasty overall. A bit of spicey hops and a bit of funk.

T- Taste is pretty boring. Not very hoppy at all. This one just seemed like a hot mess of yeast and a very tiny bit of funk.

M- Medium in both body and carbonation.

D- Found this one rather hard to drink. This one just seems off.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2010 09:10:18 | More by nrbw23

drewba

Illinois

2.78/5  rDev -27.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

A - Pours a very effervescent golden orange. The head is colossal, two inches of head over the beer. The lacing is sticky and full.

S - Tart lemon, grassy funk, piney hops.

T - The lemon tartness maintains for the whole taste, the grassy and brett funk hangs around in the middle and the finish is a dull hop flavor; some grass and pine

M - thin body and massive overcarbonation is rough, not good.

D - I do not want to continue drinking this. It's worth noting that I had this fresh and the gross amount of hops + the funk made this a drainpour. At a few months old, it isn't quite a drainpour as the hops faded a lot.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2011 06:12:40 | More by drewba

cameraman

Kentucky

2.8/5  rDev -27.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured a deep amber color with an inch high head, which is cream in color. The head laces slowly down the sides of the glass and settling to an eighth of an inch high. A strong malty and bread fragrance comes out at first, with touches of yeasty spiciness and some sour scent as well at the end. The typical Belgian spiciness comes in at the front of each taste. A sour flavor begins each taste, then a spoiled citrus flavor, followed by grapefruit bitterness, then it finishing with strong pine and grassy flavors that linger for some time. A heavy to medium bodied feel, with the foamy feel of carbonation on the back of the palate. This beer seems to have potential, but I am having trouble trying to find that something, it seems like it is lost. Hop Devil is a great beer, but there is something not so wild about this beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2009 00:41:37 | More by cameraman

tempest

Pennsylvania

2.83/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Had a small glass at the Acadia Cafe in Minneapolis during an IPA tasting. I have to repeat the sentiments of Emma from Abe's Cold Beer, "I respect what they're trying to do, but..." The poor beer just doesn't work. It doesn't really have enough hops to resemble an IPA, and there isn't enough wild fun to be a respectible sour ale. Instead it's stuck with an odd clove and plastic taste that's none too pleasant. Pass.

Serving type: on-tap

05-27-2009 16:43:30 | More by tempest

albern

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -26%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I'm parting company with the reviewers who raved over this beer. This tasted like a Wild Ale and the Brett yeast was just overpowering. The sourish vinegar taste from the yeast was just too much to bear. The beer looked good with a nice amber color and a thick creamy and frothy head that laced and retained well.

The nose has a bit of the yeasty funkiness to come, but it is not until the beer is tasted that the true character emerges. This is really not an IPA, Belgian or otherwise, and there are no candied sugar fermentables to offset that really hard to take yeastiness. There was slight booziness to the beer and the mouthfeel was a bit taut and harsh. I didn't finish the one I had at the party and do not foresee revisiting this one either.

Serving type: bottle

08-09-2009 22:40:45 | More by albern

sweetbrew82

California

2.85/5  rDev -26%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

750 ML into a goblet/ Bottled on April 22, 2009

P: Orange-tinged amber with a gargantuan head of tan foam. It sits atop with the puffiness of a cumulus cloud and has a pretty thick and frothy texture to it. Shows good retention and even better rockiness as it sinks and leaves some chunks of lace behind.

A: The nose is quite interesting. I get citrus and floral hops, caramel malts, some fruity notes, and that Brett-derived horse blanket, leathery kind of character. Much more funky than I would have thought for being bottled only four months ago.

T: The taste is equally interesting, but in a less pleasant way than the nose. Citrus hops hit me with flavors of grapefruit, orange, and lemons while a pinch of pine needles jab at the bitter region of my palate. Some earthiness is noted in here as well. The caramel malt is heavily-toasted and plays a more sizeable role than the nose would lead you to believe. But, I think the Brett funk just kind of muddles things up a bit for me. It seems a little too forceful with notes of hay, horse blanket, and sweaty leather which kind of trample on the rest of the flavor profile.

M: The mouthfeel of Wild Devil is easily its best attribute. It feels medium-full in the mouth with a rich, semi-sticky creaminess that makes it very palatable, even if it is a bit over-carbonated.

Notes: I had a hard time rating this beer due to the unique nature of it. I just wasn't really feeling the Brett'ed IPA idea. Admittedly, it sounds interesting on paper, but the actual execution of such a beer was really awkward and not all that pleasant. The funk seems to drown out the hops and makes it feel kind of disjointed as a whole. Props to Victory for being brave enough to try it, though. It seems like a lot of other people are digging it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Interesting to say the least.

Serving type: bottle

08-24-2009 23:57:13 | More by sweetbrew82

voteforgoat

California

2.85/5  rDev -26%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

A - Amber/ orange colored brew. Abundant long-lasting foam.

S- citrusy, hops, a little of that rodenbach funkiness. Tried and tried but can't pin it down right now. Can smell the yeast.

t-hoppy, sour, a bit like a gueuze but hoppier. Some bitterness too. Like a pale ale mixes with a gueuze. Not much malt presence though. Long lasting, mouth puckering sourness, but not much complexity? No sweetness. A bit crazy and young tasting, like some home-brew I've had. Doesn't feel balanced. Feels like this wild devil needs to be tamed for a bit longer. Yeast flavor is strong.

m- fine

d- thirst quenching, but tastes a bit too uneven, bitter and sour so you can't drink much.

Serving type: bottle

01-21-2010 08:01:18 | More by voteforgoat

Naugled

New York

2.88/5  rDev -25.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

served in flute

Beautiful head, off white dense and long lasting.

Interesting combination of hop and funk, intriguing and makes you thirst

Flavor falls down in my opinion. Has great balance of hop flavor and brett funk, and you don't want to spit it out, but it is not an appealing flavor. It's like ketchup on ice cream, they just don't work well together.

Mouth feel is a bit thick and lingering and cloying

Not terribly drinkable, it's just not a good combination in my opinion. It's a well made beer, but falls down on flavor profile.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2009 17:39:03 | More by Naugled

paulieatworld

North Carolina

2.93/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

this was a tough one to review. there's been a lot of split opinions on this beer and it's an unusual style.

pours an off amber/blonde with immense creamy head.
smells quite strongly of belgian funk from the brettanomyces yeast.

on paper this is a cool idea. victory's basically taken the hopdevil and used german malts and super aggressive belgian yeast. the result???

my problem is that the taste just doesn't follow the intriguing nose. the brett funk is super strong and completely dominates, destroying the hop profile. hats off to victory for trying to tackle this, unfortunately it just didn't work for me.

the dudes at Great Divide Brewing brew a better version of this.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2009 02:16:52 | More by paulieatworld

philbertk

Washington

2.95/5  rDev -23.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Victory Brewing Company--Wild Devil Ale--2009-10 25.4 oz. Bottle. 6.70% ABV. 70 IBU's. (3.5 / 5.0) IPA--Brett. Big foamy lacy off white head. Hazed pretty rich orange gold color. Odd Brett hop floral citrus farmhouse ester front. Mild active sediment. Creamy dry sweet fruity mild sour crusty caramel hint body. Brett hop spice funky clean tangy citrus end. Odd but not bad. Sampled 6/4/2010. 2 @ $8.99 Each.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2010 21:45:37 | More by philbertk

etaggie09

Texas

2.98/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

After a little scare of the top completely shooting off and the bottle overflowing, this thing settles down enough for me to pour this amber tangerine dream. a cappuccino foam head has some great staying power.

I don't know what I was expecting, but this is a combo of a belgian sweet earthiness and some american hoppy notes. Has a little mustiness in the background too, which is interesting. Gives it a little touch of unrefinement.

I honestly don't know what to make of this. I get the feeling that everything that was in battle in the nose washes out and battles each other. Just seems like a softer version of Hop Devil, really. Not quite as brash, but I'd like a little more sweetness to balance it out a bit.

moderate to high carbonation gives a nice tickle. high drinkability, but all the flavor does is confuse me. I'm not opposed to drinking this, but I'm not excited to be drinking it either. I won't be getting this again.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2011 19:12:40 | More by etaggie09

bonkers

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I poured from a bomber into a snifter. It pours a deep amber The smell is pure funk, I really did not notice any hops. The flavor is sour and funky, I did not detect many IPA qualities. Wild Devil is medium bodied and had moderate carbonation. It is a sipper for me. IMO the brett took this beer over and it is more of a wild ale than an IPA. I did not detect any hops in this at all. This brew was a dissapointment.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2009 23:49:57 | More by bonkers

david18

New York

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Not as good as I was hoping for the Wild Devil is still interesting, especially for an "American Pale Ale" as this site states. I had it on draft at my favorite beer pub and it certainly was refreshing but there are better pale ales out there. Worth a try and another great try from this brewery but not one I'll by a sixpack of.

Serving type: on-tap

07-31-2009 18:49:32 | More by david18

TheMarkE

California

3.03/5  rDev -21.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3

Mixed feelings. Victory tried to make their fantastic Hop Devil with Belgian yeast, German malts, and American hops. The result is a unique combination of floral, citrus, and pine, but my bomber had an acidic taste that overrode everything.

Warning! Once you uncork Wild Devil it will explode like champagne. Be prepared!

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 23:15:43 | More by TheMarkE

KCHopHead

Missouri

3.05/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Sorry to hate on Victory, I like Victory brews but... I just had Saison-Brett which is by far the best Brett beer I've had.

Poured into NB Snifter via Baltimore.

A - Darker than expected, with thick foamy head.
S - Funky Belgian with some hops.
T - Grassy hops, Dry Tripel-like (but for 6.7% I expect wet), Brett funk.
M/D - Good carbonation but a little hard to get down.

Edited to bring this below the B average. The guy who just reviewed above me said he couldn't finish the bottle and neither could I. How do you give a beer a B- when you can't drink it.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2009 02:15:18 | More by KCHopHead

turnstile

Pennsylvania

3.05/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: Pours a hazy, golden/amber. It's super carbonated and the bubbles are huge; a fizzy three-inch head develops and slowly recedes to a surface film that hangs around for a while. The cork came out of the bottle with no hesitation. If I didn't have my hand on it, it probably would have broken a window.

Aroma: It definitely has that "farmhouse" aspect. Complex nose with strong notes of cherry, lemon, and menthol. Generally floral, barnyardy and sweet with a funky and vinous edge. There's a medicinal/chemical off-aroma there that also reminds of me of household cleaning supplies, which isn't exactly pleasant.

Taste: Dominated by harsh bitterness; piney, resiny notes poke through. Very dry, slightly sour and moderately astringent finish. I was looking forward to an explosion of hop flavor, but it really fails to establish itself with any certainty.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium body with coarse carbonation.

Overall: Victory is trying to marry German with American with Belgian, and the beer simply doesn't convey this. I'm not picking up on a German malt character or American hops - just overpowering bittnerness, funk and off-aromas. It's a struggle to get through this bottle, even when sharing it.

Serving type: bottle

07-08-2011 04:25:34 | More by turnstile

MisterClean

California

3.08/5  rDev -20%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottle purchased and drank at the Belmont Station, PDX.

A - Poured copper wth a 2 fingered white head. Dissipated moderately slow leaving nice lacing.

S - Funk, brett, notes of honey, toffee, spicy hops, and a nectar ester.

T - Brett, honey, breadiness, bitter, slight alcohol, and medicinal tasting. Not so good.

M - Full bodied, hop dominated, with some light alcohol.

D - Something went wrong to give the medicinal taste. Not sure what, but couldn't finish the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2009 03:46:49 | More by MisterClean