Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Denver, Colorado USA

Date: March 14, 2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Trade
Appearance: clear orange, nice carbonation, small off white head
Aroma: fresh sweet grapefruit hop aroma
Body: nice body
Flavor: good sweet carmel malt flavor, more bitterness than hop flavor with a nice long bitter finish, a bit sweeter than what has become typical for this style, a welcomed change, good sweet grapefruit character to the end

Date: May 25, 2006
Mode: draft
Source: taco mac
Appearance: big fine head leaving lots of lace
Aroma: sweet grapefruit aroma
Flavor: flavor has lots of nice pine sweetness, long bitter finish, well balanced and not overly sweet

Date: June 07, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Vintage: 2004
thick sweet malty flavor aroma and flavor, just a bit of hops,

Date: June 07, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Vintage: 2007
the hops are back and everythink is as it should be, why would anyone age this beer,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.8/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Golden-amber colour. Woody, grapefruity aroma. Flavour is rich, mainly woody and citrusy hops. Long, dry and hoppy finish. Nothing spectacular about this example.

2008-08-26, draught at Cockney Pub, 9-5-9-5-18=48
Hazy amber color, yoghurt-like head. Strong aroma of fruity hops. Strong body, supporting extreme flavors, where the toffee reigns, the resiny hops as well, and it has the required sweetness. An angry monster.

2004-11-13, bottle, 9-5-9-5-17=45
Hazy orange - light amber color; creamy head. Wonderful aroma, hops, fruits (oranges, grapefruit, ...), herbs, ... Excellent malty body, quickly overwhelmed by a crazy hopping, rising and rising... The final is strong, aromatic and very long, with more than a touch of bitter oranges fruitness. Extreme!

Clear deep golden with medium off white head. Sweet and hoppy aroma with caramel and grapfruit notes. Hoppy flavor with caramel and grapefruit notes. Lovely.

Medium yellow-tinted beige head atop a clear amber body. Aroma is sweet, grapefruit, some spruce. Taste is medium sweet, strong grapefruit, pineapple, cookie. Finishes grapefruit and moderately strong alcohol. Full body with light stickiness.

Bottle from Belmont Station, Portland. Cloudy copper with beige head. Great aroma of strong hop, but some toffee too. Good malty structure to pull off the hops, which it does. Lovely flavours. I love the big hop finish, but it doesn’t seem to be unbalanced. Great big toffee malt carries it through and although bitter it isn’t astringent. Some sweetness from malt and alcohol. I loved it. Mind you I needed a drink after almost dying in car coming back from the coast.

1. Cask Handpump at the Falling Rock Tap House, Denver 09/10/2007 Hoppy and slightly malty aroma. White head. Fruity and hoppy with a crisp and very bitter lasting finish. 2. On Tap at the Great Divide Brewing Company, Denver 12/10/2007 Thick white head. Hoppy aroma. Amber golden coloured strong in alcohol and hoppy with a bitter and slightly nutty lasting finish. 3. From the Bottle at the GBBF, Earl’s Court 06/08/2009 Big hop aroma. Small white head. Amber coloured strong in alcohol and hoppy with a little dryness and bitterness in a crisp malt finish.

Bottled @RBESG’05
Hazy copper brown, small white head. Hoppy nose to extreme for hopheads. Sweet malty background in the extreme hoppy flavor, Great double IPA. A bit similar to Norrebro’s North Bridge Extreme.