Hop Devil - Victory Brewing Company

I'll start this post out with a shout out to Mike and Amanda for turning me on to Victory Brewing Company. As true Philadelphians (and, consequently, huge Philly sports fans...always a good thing in my book) they stay true to supporting local companies. Victory is a Pennsylvania brewing company and, as such, their beer should be available all up the east coast I'd imagine. You should definitely check out some of their other efforts, some of which I'll make an effort to review on here eventually.

Vitals:

Name: Hop Devil

Style: American IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 6.7%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Bottle Stop Liquors

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a deep ruby color, or possibly a rich rich amber. No visible carbonation, but there is good head retention; approximately 2 fingers of off-white (slightly tan) head. True to the name, the hop resins create a nice thick sticky lacing around the glass (get your mind out of the gutter).

Smell: This beer smells pretty darn good - spicy, piney hops and some caramel malts come through. The malts give it a nice sweetness that is definitely not present in all IPAs. The smell is somewhat understated for an IPA, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Taste: The hops definitely come through in a few ways in this beer. There is a certain earthy, piney and spicy (almost peppery) taste to the hops, which really comes through well and adds a degree of complexity not there in some of the purely hit-you-over-the-head-with-bitterness hoppy IPAs. There is a solid caramel malt backbone, which holds everything together nicely and offsets some of the hop bitterness nicely. Having said that, there is a lingering bitterness that bites for just a BIT too long for me. Other tastes are slightly bready and citrusy, but nothing I can outright identify. This beer also doesn't hide it's ABV very well; I would've guessed it to be a higher ABV if I was judging on taste alone.

Mouthfeel: This beer is thick, almost creamy for an IPA. The name again is alluded to with the mouthfeel, as the resins coat your mouth and keeps a layer on your tongue throughout the experience. This beer has an almost oily quality to it, which suggests a long boil with the hops.

Overall Grade: B+

Comments: Definitely give this beer a shot if you love hops, it will give you a pretty unique experience with some of the spiciness that it brings to the palate. I would buy this every now and then and break them out to two beers per time that I drank; this is definitely not meant to be put back all night (especially at 6.7% ABV). I wouldn't clamor for this on the regular, but I definitely give it my stamp of approval and, if you're a hop-head like me it is a must try.

Cheers,

Hurls