Victory Wild Devil
Review Date
I've always loved
Victory Brewing Company's Hop Devil. It's a rare and unique version of a British
IPA. Well, maybe not completely rare and unique, since American brewers started
expanding on the style decades ago. It's not just that they throw more hops at
IPA than the British usually do, they also throw different kinds of hops,
too. But Victory goes beyond the hops; they changed the grain bill on it's IPA,
too. Replacing British malts with classic German malts made a difference, too. Far be it from the
enterprising folks in Downington, PA to stop there, however. Indeed, not content
to leave well enough alone, they decided to make well enough even better with
Victory Wild Devil Ale, a variant on their beloved Hop Devil that focuses on
the idiosyncratic character of Brettanomyces yeast. "Brett" yeast as it is
commonly known is famous for it's funky flavor and aroma. These traits are often
described as "funky" or "horse blanket", though never having tasted a horse
blanket myself I've always wondered at the latter. Suffice it to say you should
try the a beer brewed with Brett yourself to get a common point of reference.
I didn't seem to be
having much luck with my Wild Devil, or perhaps I should say my Wild
Devil ran wild, indeed. My first problem was getting the cap off (dry cork). I
had to fight with it and even though it's a twist-off style cork I was forced to
use a corkscrew to pry it open. When I did, I got surprise number two: a gusher.
My bottle started spewing foam like Mt Vesuvius, and my kitchen counter was soon
covered in the stuff. Indeed, after pouring some in a glass (mostly foam) the
bottle still wouldn't stop erupting. Finally, I got about
half a bowl-shaped glass of dark murky orange liquid capped with a thick, rocky
head of foam. The nose was delightful, however: so, so spicy with hops and
Belgian brett yeast character. Sipping the beer I get a moderate body of chewy
malt at first, but it's almost instantaneously overwhelmed by a truly delightful
funky brettanomyces yeats character. Then, the hops take over, grassy, bright
and citrusy, even more resiny, they're long, dry and herbal in the finish. It's
a Victory beer, so as you might expect there's a long dry, deep buzz of
bitterness that's deposited in the finish. Just a delightful beer
and an Orval clone, really. Worthy of five stars if half of it hadn't turned to
foam, it gets four all the same.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
Also From This Brewery
Wild
Devil is sold in corked 750ML bottles. Mine was bottled on April 22, 2009 and
purchased near the end of July. At $7.99 a bottle it's a good buy, too. Victory
says the beer is brewed with imported German malts and whole flower hops. It's
bottle conditioned and dry-hopped, I believe. Alcohol content is slightly higher
than average at 6.7% by volume.
