Friday, August 22, 2008

Victory Hop Wallop Review

Picked up a six pack of this on my monthly beer run yesterday. Only Victory beer I really have any experience with is their HopDevil IPA. A very good beer, well balanced and very drinkable for an IPA. Figured that I would give this one a try. My first thoughts when reading over the bottle where why would Victory make a year-round IPA and then a seasonal one, they can't be that different can they? I was a bit wrong and that point. Where DHF 90 minute is a bit more of an evolution from the 60 min the Hop Wallop is more a complete reinvention from the HopDevil. Whoa, you can smell the hops as soon as you open the bottle. Pours actually a tad lighter in color than the HopDevil, mostly dark golden color with a hint of copper. Nice full head that sticks around for a bit and hangs to the side of the glass while drinking. Did I mention it reaks of hops? Floral notes, a hint of pine just hits you when you stick a nose in to get a sniff. Taste is amazing as well. Again the hops are extremely dominate, barley a notice of malt and the alcohol (8.5%) is only noticeable at the very end. Nice bitter and aggressive to start and finishes with a more mellow bite. If you are a hop head then the mouth feel is excellent, you can feel this beer hanging around in every nook and cranny in your mouth. I plan on stocking up on this stuff while available this winter so that I can make it through next spring and summer with an adequate supply. An excellent brew. 4.5 pints out of 5. This definitely pushes me to try the rest of Victory's beers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Picked some of this up at Tower in Buckhead on a whim (all I really wanted were the bottles) - I agree, definitely far different from the Hop Devil IPA. I like this a lot, big hop flavor balances the bite of 8.5% nicely. The Prima Pils is still my favorite Victory beer though.