Hercules - Victory Brewing Company

mpyle

Maryland

4.22/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Received a bottle as a prize from the Spirit of Free Beer homebrew competition. Thanks, Victory!

App - Rich golden color, brilliant clarity. Pours a robust white head, creamy and with strong retention.

Smell - Wonderful hop aroma, a bit earthy and piney and spicy. A smidge of caramel maltiness.

Taste - Hops in control from the start, but sufficient malt to support the hop flavor. Finish is gentle, but turns significantly with a lingering, earthy hop bitterness.

MF - Medium body and low-medium carbonation, no astringency, and maybe a hint of alcohol warming.

D'ability - The bitter finish invites another sip. Big and powerful, but not overpowering. A really nice English IPA...hopefully they'll brew this one again some day!

Serving type: bottle

07-05-2009 18:22:09 | More by mpyle

RidiculedDisplay

California

4.05/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Beachwood BBQ. Oddly, Victory has yet to mention this on their website, and I haven't found any other information online. According to Gabe, it's like a "Double English IPA" - in other words, Victory took the concept behind American Double IPA's, and decided to double the hops/recipe for an English IPA style. The result is a really bitter brew from all the English bittering hops, but it works surprisingly well. Anyway, review:

Appearance: Poured with a one-finger head, which settled pretty quickly into almost nothing. Spotty lace is there, but very, very transient. Body color is what you would hope for from an English IPA - about as copper-colored as you can get, with occasional red highlights.

Smell: Grassy bittering hop madness on the front end, followed by slight fruity notes (from the hops) that resemble kumquats and over-ripe banana. Fresh mowed grass re-asserts the hop profile on the back end. It smells like it's described - an English IPA recipe amped up to 10.

Taste: Slight sweet lime or sweet orange hop flavor on the front end, sort of as if the sheer volume of bittering hops began to show through some more American hop variety flavors, but a lot more subdued. Very slight alcohol on the back end. Grassy bitterness lingers on the back of your tongue "for days" after swallowing.

Mouthfeel: Very well carbonated - doesn't feel too "heavy," compared to big American IPA's, sort of light and refreshing in its own way. Slight astringency.

Drinkability: Dangerously drinkable, because, while I don't know the exact ABV, one pint had me guessing between 7 and 9.5% from how I felt afterwards (buzzed/tipsy). Very easy to put down.

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2009 00:17:53 | More by RidiculedDisplay