Beer: Hop Devil Ale vs. Wild Devil Ale
Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
Victory's Devilish Pair
So last post I did an overview of Ommegang Ommegeddon and the world of Brettanomyces. If you read that post you will recall I was underwhelmed by the most recent batch which lacked a lot of the punch that Brettanomyces offers as either a primary fermentation or bottle conditioning (aka re-fermentation) agent. There is reason to believe that the bottle might have succumb to some sort of souring bacterial infection (sounds delicious right?) and I can add that when I attended a brewers panel at the Albany Pump Station last week, Ommegang’s Phil Lienhart more than hinted that it will be awhile before they release Ommegeddon again. I was not able to get a direct one on one answer, but the impression I got from his commentary was that the last batch threw more than a curveball in the brewery. But I digress, I wanted to quickly open another bottle featuring Brettanomyces in order to juxtapose the experience to Ommegeddon. The choice was clear, Victory Brewing’s Wild Devil Ale, a 100% Brettanomyces fermented portrait of their India Pale Ale, Hop Devil.
Victory Hop Devil is a particular favorite of mine. Those who live only for hops might roll eyes, Hop Devil is a true IPA (ie less Americanized) in the sense of its balanced approach, but it will not send you to a nirvana of hop flavor and bitterness. It is clean, well balanced and offers substantial malt character. Wild Devil takes Brettanomyces to the extreme in that it is not only added during either a conditioning phase (post primary fermentation) or at bottling, it is the primary and only yeast used during fermentation. The bottle of Hop Devil is fairly fresh with a best by date of June 12, 2010, my guess is that is was bottled on roughly December 12, 2009 (I think the brewery uses a six month suggested shelf life for this beer). The bottle of Wild Devil is not date stamped, but the initial bottles I had seen were bottled March 2009. It is a year-round beer for Victory and I purchased this particular bottle in December 2009. I will add this is one confusing aspect of Victory’s bottle dating (although they are one of the few breweries that goes to the effort of giving at least readable dates) some bottles have bottled on dates and some have best by dates. The picture below attempts to show the bottle date, just to the right of where it reads Bill & Ron (the founding partners of Victory).
Best By Date Stamped on the Label of Hop Devil
Appearance: Hop Devil pours a light copper to light amber (about a 9 SRM) with a dense and faintly tan off-white foam with plenty of lacing. Extremely good clarity. Wild Devil is more golden with hints of red amber, with yeast induced haziness. The beer pours very effervescent with a rocky head that stands a few inches, off-white in color. Note the pictures of each beer below. The color difference is more pronounced in the photos than to the naked eye. I am not a photographer but I think it has to do with refracted vs reflected light?
Aroma: Hop Devil is very balanced compared to most American IPA’s, a more orange and tangerine citrus character with some spicy mint and substantial malt. Biscuity and slightly sweet hints of caramel and Munich malt. No alcohol or fermentation flaws. Wild Devil’s aroma is the Brett you’ve been looking for, huge wafts of lemon citrus, lemon rind, pink grapefruit, spicy. Pomegranate and peach. The malt notes that balanced Hop Devil are very subtle and muted in Wild Devil. Slight cane sugar character and a lighter biscuity note. Orange blossom and floral as it warms.
Flavor: The Hop Devil hop flavors range from orange citrus to passion fruit and some mango. The bitterness is substantial but not overblown and harsh, but matched with a good malt base. Some light caramel, touches of granola and pure cane sugar. The Wild Devil is full of peach, mango, lemon and pink grapefruit. There is some malt sweetness remaining but it is dominated by the hop character and the fruity esters of the yeast strain. Earthy oak like notes emerge as it warms and a similarity that seems to always pop into mind with Brett beers, Chardonnay.
Mouthfeel: Hop Devil is medium-light bodied, a semi-dry finish with a lingering slightly puckering hop bitterness. Wild Devil is noticeably thinner, light bodied and sharp in bitterness. The finish is very dry and refreshing. Tart but not sour. Remember Brettanomyces is a sugar eating monster, and it is doing its thing substantially here.
The clarity and amber hue of Hop Devil.
The hazy effervescence of Wild Devil. Notice the apparent color variation too. Trick photography? It was not that pronounced to the naked eye.
Overall Impression: Always one of my favorite American IPAs the use of German specialty malts to balance the hop profile creates a well balanced and delicious brew.
Cellaring Recommendation: Hop Devil should be in your fridge at all times but consumed before the best by date on the bottle. Give one bottle a whirl in your next six-pack, let it sit 3 months past the drink by date. You will find an interesting but substantially different beer and also the reason why it should be consumed fresh, sans hops it is one-dimensional. The Wild Devil on the other hand. The jury is out somewhat you could say. But with 2009 being the first bottling year, combined with the substantial and wonderful things Brettanomyces has done to world-renowned beers such as Orval (among others) the prognosis is well wildly optimistic (sorry could not resist, here until Thursday, try the veal). In all seriousness, this is an utterly fantastic example of what character Brettanomyces can bring in the fermentation process. I can only imagine that Wild Devil will gain in complexity and flavor over three to five years. The interesting thing will be to see how the hop bitterness fades over time and how that adds or detracts to the overall character. My recommendation, get a half-dozen bottles and enjoy the complexity, this beer has some cellaring legs. Have you tried Wild Devil? Thumbs up? Thumbs Down? Does “Brett” freak you out? Share some comments at will.
Tasting Date: March 7, 2010
Next Projected Tasting: September 2010
