Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

Red-gold color with small white head. A malty nose for an IPA, dominated by citrus and cookie dough. Very similar to their barley wine. The taste was similar, though the bitter citrus component faded as the beer warmed. Another quality brew from Great Divide, though it’s like a weaker derivative of their barley wine.

Aromas floral, foresty and citrus. Sweet brittle up front quickly countered and surpassed by hop flavor. Finishes a little bit bitter. Very good but lacking a certain something in the drinkability compared to some other IIPA’s I’ve had.

So I’ve had this beer four times in the last few months. Once bought in Amsterdam, once bought in Australia via the Netherlands and twice from nominally ’fresh’ bottles. The more times I drink it the less I like it. Unsurprisingly, the massive pine aroma is the major feature. Buckets of hop flavour and good bitterness. Malt behaves itself well, certainly not caramelly or overly sweet. Just nice and clean, though there’s an unusual milk chocolate element to the aroma. But it’s all undone by a really harsh soapy, salty, meaty, alcoholic (autolysed?) edge. Overbearing is the word, I suppose. It’s kinda hard going, but the hops keep bringing you back to it.

Bbe 5/08. Dark amber, quite thick lacing head. Nose is sweet caramel malts, flowery hops, exotic fruits, honey, orange zest & cointreau. Sweet and intense malty flavor, flowery hops. Finishes with strong grapefruity bitterness and warming alcohol. Medium to full bodied, slightly oily and smooth palate. Amazing stuff, though not that aggressive for a DIPA.

Pours to a dark honey color with a cloudy unfiltered appearance. Lightly sweet initial flavor with a slightly bitter, strong hoppy finish. Good beer.

Copper with a fluffy tan head. Sweet & sour aroma, a lot of resiny hops and apricot jam. Full sweet body, shows considerable warmth. Green citrus and floral hoppy flavour, a bit of solventy alcohol, loads of jammy flavours which is kind of nice. Very bitter towards the finish. Overall it feels sharp and serious, though perhaps a bit disjointed.

MMMM, great flower smell off the bat with this. It pours deep, dark golden. A whole plethera of flavor here. Hops, citrus, a little malt and definitely the taste of pine needles. I doesn’t leave the great IPA taste on my mouth that I wanted. Definitely a keeper!

Pours golden amber with reddish hues. Clear with some particulate and medium beige head. Sweet hoppy aroma. Huge burst of hops, dry, tangy, some pine. Some sweet malts to balance but hard to notice after the punch of hops. Great beer for hopheads.