Victory Brewing Company - DirtWolf

It's been a while since Victory has showed up on this blog. If memory serves me correctly, it's been about three years. Coincidentally, that was also the last time Victory did anything really noteworthy beer-wise. They've been really quiet for a while, but it may be that they were just biding their time before releasing something that would rock the beer world. And that beer was DirtWolf.

Pretty much as soon as DirtWolf was released, the threads on beeradvocate started popping up: "Is DirtWolf better than Heady Topper?" "Is DirtWolf the next Pliny killer?" "I'm trying to find a surrogate father. Umm...is DirtWolf available?" Ok, one of those is made up, but the hype around this beer was incredible. It surged into the Top 250 List with a full head of steam. So let's check this one out and see if it's worth the hype. At #204, DirtWolf.

DirtWolf pours a slightly hazed golden color with a good amount of visible carbonation in the glass and a smooth, one finger cream colored head. The smell impressed me straight out of the bottle with notes of candied grapefruit, mango, menthol, pine, some musty and earthy hops and caramel malt. It wasn't as strong a smell as I was hoping for, but Victory chose some good hops to use in this one (Chinook, Citra, Mosaic (Hot Hop of the Moment Alert!), and Simcoe) so the smell is pretty solid.

The taste opens with some pine and floral hop notes with a sharp drawl of pine sap across the palate. Some mint, caramel malt and sticky floral hop resin show up next before another smattering of pine on the finish. On the first bottle, I didn't notice it quite as much, but on the next few, I started getting a decent kick of booze on the finish as well, which was a bit of a turn off. The mouthfeel is a bit heavy, but there's sufficient carbonation in here to break it up a touch.

Overall, this beer was good. It wasn't Pliny or Heady or anything on that level good, but I enjoyed it. Maybe I've gotten too used to all of the West Coast style IPAs, with all of their citrusy and tropical goodness, but this one just didn't blow me away. Does it deserve to be known as a good beer? Sure. Is it Top 250 worthy? Not so sure about that one.

Final Grade: B+

Top 250 Beers Tasted: 133

Victory Brewing Company - Hop Wallop

Hop Wallop (besides being one of the better names I've seen in a while) is a well reviewed double IPA that I've been wanting to try for a while. However, because it's so difficult to find east coast beers in Southern California, I didn't think that I would get a chance to try it any time soon. The makers of Hop Wallop, Victory Brewing Company, distribute to a wider range than most breweries, but I was having a tough time finding them out here. Then I finally found Hop Wallop at a local liquor store, along with some other offerings from Victory that undoubtedly will be popping up on this blog in the future.

Hop Wallop pours a perfectly clear amber color with a decent two-finger cream head. On a side note, this was the first time I used my new Russian River tulip glass and it was a good beer to break it in with. Hop Wallop left some nice lacing down the glass as I drank it.

The beer has a pretty solid double IPA smell. Floral hops hit the nose right away followed by a strong malt presence and a slight earthiness. I tried for a while, but couldn't figure out what was creating the earthy aroma.

The taste isn't the hop bomb I was expecting from the name, but it's still pretty good. The stars of the show (as they should be in a double IPA) are the hops and the malts and they're constantly jockeying to take the forefront of the taste. The taste starts with some malt sweetness, then takes a hard turn and brings a big hit of floral hops, and then fades out on a smooth malty note. The finish is surprisingly gentle but not to the point that it just dies. It leaves the slightest malty hint on your tongue that definitely leaves you wanting more. The balance in this beer is near perfect.

Final Grade: A-