Victory Wild Devil RE-Review

I've gotten back into Belgians of late after a detour to the land of IPA's. Yes, I know this is an IPA, but it's very different from your classic IPA. I've reviewed it before here, but this one has been cellaring for 6 months or so and I figured that the time might have mellowed some of the bitterness and brought out some of that sour fruit, funkiness of "Brett."

Yes and yes. Time had definitely brought out the funk. I like this beer a lot more now. Similar to a Belgian IPA which is a little sweeter Wild Devil brings a tinge of sweetness on the backend that makes this one enjoyable.

Stone Dogfish Head and Victory Saison Du BUFF

This was one of the first beers of the PRE bachelor Party Weekend and it was a GREAT one. This is a collab brew from Stone, Dogfish Head, and Victory brewing companies. Though not in that order these three brewers are in my top five of all time.

BUFF stands for Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor, and let me tell you there was a LOT of it.   Saison du BUFF is brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme and the same recipe will be brewed three times during 2010 at each of the three breweries. Stone(April), then Victory(July), and finally Dogfish(August). Obviously this one was done close to home at Stone since it's only June.

This is a crisp satisfying beer that has a lot of spice, black pepper, coriander, and reminds me of Thanksgiving(Rosemary, sage, parsley). There are underlying notes of lemon, pine, a little citrus, and a little bread. I know what you are thinking. do I really want to be drinking a roasted turkey? Trust me, you do. This beer is immensely complex and satisfying at the same time because the aromas and the taste coincide and are recognizable without being overwhelming. There's none of this, "what am I smelling? What IS that taste"? You know it and you like it.

I will be picking up more of this to drink and for sure will be looking out for the next two batches to compare. That will be an interesting experience. Will they be different? What do you think?

Victory Brewing Wild Devil

OK so I actually drank this one a LOOONG time ago, but She Who Shall Remain Nameless who was supposed to be guest reviewing for me is seriously slacking! lol! You know who you are!

I do have to give her HUGE props for bringing this one because I had really been wanting to try it since I had recently had Wild Devil's more tame NON-Bretanomyces brother Hop Devil which I was very happy with.

Wild Devil is an IPA that is entirely fermented with Bret yeast which gives it a sour, wet blanket, gamey, leathery smell. This sounds offputting I know but the affectation is very slight. This is nowhere near the sourness of a true sour. In actuality if I was given this blind I would have to really work at picking out the use of Bret because there wasn't a whole lot there.

Compared to Hop Devil the Wild had a lot less IPA character to it. There was some pineyness in there as well as some grapefruit but overall it was definitely a tame IPA. It tasted more like a good Belgian than an American IPA.

I enjoyed this bottle a lot. More so for the comparison in fermentation since everything was supposed to be the same but the yeast. It's always nice to stretch the boundaries and give myself a reference point for certain flavors and aromas.

Again, I have not been let down by Victory. Though it wasn't over the top, Wow!  It was a good sipper.

Victory Brewing Hopdevil

I won't lie, I picked this one up because I liked the picture and the name. I mean what's not to like about a devil made with hops cones? Awesome. It helped that it was brewed by Victory which I've enjoyed in the past but really it was all about Beelzebub.

This was pretty well balanced leaning towards the bitter side. Just enough malty sweetness to render it a 1 or 2 bottle drinker if I had bought a six-pack.

Appearance: Dark copper, hazy, large slightly off-white head

Aroma: Pine, but not as much as some of the more recent IPA's I've been tasting. Some grapefruit and a little floral. Nice smell. It didn't smell like a Hop Hand Grenade like so many of the West Coast IPA's.

Taste: Really good. Not as balanced as the Deschutes Hop Henge(#1 IPA in my book). It didn't have that malty sweet note that tones down the bitterness but it wasn't an all-out taste bud assault either. Somewhere in a nice place in the middle between Hop Henge and West Coast IPA from Green Flash. Believe me, you do NOT want to be more bitter than that West Coast IPA was, unless of course you don't feel like tasting your food afterwards.

Overall: 3.5/5 This is probably my 3rd favorite IPA of all time. Hop Henge #1 and Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA #2. Really good company to be in.