HopDevil
Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
Where: Downingtown, PA
Beer: HopDevil India Pale Ale
Style: American IPA
IBU: N/A (Estimated 80 IBU)
ABV: 6.7%
It's Friday night, it's snowing, and my work has been cancelled for the evening. I guess it's time to have a beer, so I popped the top on a Victory HopDevil India Pale Ale that I picked up at The World Market as part of another mixed sixer. I haven't tried many Victory Beers, but they are definitely on my list.
The HopDevil poured with a rich amber color and a nice creamy tan head. There is an immediate aroma of caramel malt followed by a strong floral hop character. The beer is very hoppy in bitterness, flavor, and aroma, but the Victory website doesn't give up any real information about what gives this beer its kick. It just speaks of American whole flower hops which could include quite a few common varieties used in this style of beer.
When a beer has this level of hops in it, you really do need to let it warm up a little before you really begin to taste any significance of the malt backbone. These pale ales traditionally have a rather simple malt bill consisting of a standard two-row and crystal malted barley. This particular beer really comes alive at 55°.
January 29th, 2010 - 22:38
John – good pick. A few years ago a relative from Philly brought down a case of mixed Victory beers. Hop Devil was included. The case lived a short life.
January 29th, 2010 - 23:35
I want to see breweries start making new specialty beers that are based on malt complexities rather than overpowering amounts of hops. It seems to me that ALL new specialty beers are hop heavy.