Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

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

Fruit aroma. Citrus notes in the flavour. Great bitter, but still soft, finifh. Complexity is the word apropriate to desribe this beer. Extremely refreshing, fantastic brew.

Pours a deep glowing ruby with a very tight frothy head. Great lacing. (really surprising considering it’s not bottle-conditioned) Aroma of chewy maltiness with a nice subtle smack of cascade hops and alcohol. (not unlike Hog heaven) Slides over the tongue with the grace of crystal malt and a nice hop flavor. Flavors of anise and biscuit malt along with a resiny finish. Bitterness is there but not bitting as I like it in the style. The mouthfeel is as good as any I’ve experienced. Very creamy texture to the liquid but not overly sweet at all. Slight hints of diacetyl. (certainly not offensive, actually quite welcome) A wonderfully strong beer that could just as easily be put in the Barley Wine category. I would say it would actually be more appropriate there as the balance of malt and hops is near perfect. Great brew no matter what you call it.

Bottle - Big grassy hops and a touch of malt. One of the best smelling brews that I’ve found. An amber color with a small and quickly dissipating off white head. Big and malty and full of grassy hops with a touch of pine in the finish. A big assertive brew with plenty of alcohol, this is a really big beer. It does taste of the 9%, but I like the extra alcohol in an IPA. Drink it as young as possible for the biggest hop kick. A beautiful beer and my current favorite.

22oz Bomber No Date This is one excellent brew. In my opinion it ranks up there with the best California IIPA’s. It poured a clear orange tinted amber with a thick full head. The aroma is potent with grapefruit, pinapple and piney hops. Alcohol is also very much present and to an extent detracts overall. I also smell the malt which has a nutty grainy like aroma.Very much like Dreadnaught, and in some ways reminds me of Marin/Moylans and Yulesmith as well. The body is full and smooth. The flavors are hoppy fruity malty alcohol and despite the latter, delicious. This Ale finishes with a cruel bitterness that hopheads will desire. I do. Excellent retention leaves a well laced empty glass. Top 50? If this belongs there so do some other great IIPA’s. Thanks to Snowtiger who sent me this sample.

What an awesome beer. Deep amber color with a lasting off-white head. Nose is ctric and hoppy. The flavor is initially fruitty, especially cherry, then a bitter grapefruit taste hits you. Palate is thick and satisfying. Sticky, sweet after-feeling. Lots of alcohol well hidden with the bitterness.

Amber with a big and lasting off-white head. The hoppy aroma includes grapefruit, peach, melon and pine. Huge hop bitterness well balanced by malt and with citrus and pine hop flavours all over the mouth.

(Stockholm Beer Festival 2005) Hazy orange, nice creamy offwhite head. Very hoppy and spicy aroma, orange and with floral notes, dry and with citrus and grapefruit. Very, very hoppy flavor, dry, grassy, pine notes and some malty notes can also be found next to the almost extreme hoppiness. Great to feel how almost no alcohol comes through.

Gorgeous pour. Golden orange, lasting white head. Amazing aroma of floral piney hops, very green and fresh, citrus fruits, with a great malt presence. Flavor is rich with fresh hops, with some ’nutty, toffee-like malt character.’ The Commercial Description pretty much tells it like it is. Bitterness is high, but kept in line by the malts. Great, great beer. Clearly the best this brewer can offer us.