Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

It tickles me greatly to find such a good Imperial IPA so easily available. This beer has a great pine and citrus flavor, but with complexity and balance through some sweetness that reminds me of holiday treats such as nuts and pumpkin pie. I will certainly buy again to serve to friends.

Pours very dark orange, with a thin but lasting head that replenishes with every swirl, leaving some lacing. Great hop aroma mostly pine, and a little citrus, with some sourdough bread in there but very inviting but not too strong. Flavor comes out with a bang. Lots of pine hops and flan to start. Followed quickly by bitter citrus hops and dark caramel covered bread pudding and hazelnuts. Palate is thick without being sticky, almost slick. Finish is bitter hops and a little dry vanila.

Bottle BBE 1.5.09. Pours deep gold with thin head. Hoppy aroma. Catty, citrus, herbal and pine. Lemon and some caramel. Sugary. Very sweet and thic taste. Grape, lemon and caramel malt. Too sweet and sour/bitter.

Draught, københavner-smagning courtesy Cockney Pub. Creamy white good mostly lasting head. Deep orange nice colour. Moderate malty powerfull hoppy aroma. Great bitter flavor. Lots of hopps, but still slighty malty/sweet notes. Long great finish. Creamy palate. Great IIPA.

22oz. Pours a beautiful, deep golden color with a white head that hangs around for the pint. The nose is easily the biggest disappointment here. I get very mild hops and a bit of vanilla, but not much else. Body is a much better experience with bitter citrus, vanilla again, and apple finishing with a good smattering of malt. Soft and creamy, tending to caramelized flavors in the mouth makes the palate the best feature. Lacking the complexity to grant this an outstanding rating from me.

12oz from Sam’s, Durham. Picked up some of this after not having had it for a while, mostly bought it because my brother-in-law is a freak for it. I was reminded of what a delicious, fresh DIPA this is. Bright amber pour with evident depths, almost glowing with freshness. Rocky head attests to the liveliness of the beer. Big piney aroma, deliciously hoppy. Pleasantly bitter flavors mingle on the tongue, with some sweet malts in there providing decent balance. One tends to get overwhelmed by all the good IPAs and DIPAs out there, but Hercules sticks out.

bottle 660ml at Pikkulintu Helsinki shared with JK54B & FatPhil Thanks! 250808 color amber very strong agressive pine hops. Sticky full body grapefruit alcohol hidden well. It’s done, I am not interested about second one.

Tall lasting head. Lots of aroma. The commercial description above doesn’t really lie much; it is an elixir fit for the gods. And for me. I thought the purpose of IPA was to give the british soldiers in hot India a less sturdy ale than what they were used to, but this is the opposite. Strong in wort, hops and bitterness. Malty and with lingering flavor of grapefuit and multi grain bread, raisins and touch of chocolate. The only negative thing I can think of is the small size of the bottle.