Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

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

Cloudy copper-amber, foaming head. Lots of lacing. Nice floral and grapefruit aroma. Smooth if highly resiny and thick mouthfeel. Doughy bready cookieish malts, buttered scones. Hop flavors are surprisingly restrained, but the finish is plenty bitter and peppery. Outstanding balance and drinkability.

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.

Amber coloured. Very hoppy. Very bitter. Dry finish. This is a really great brew. Full bodied with a very long lasting aftertaste of fine hops.

2004 Mondial de la Biere Ratebeer Gathering at Tiggmtl’s. Amber/orange colour with a frothy off-white coloured head. Slight caramel aroma quickly overtaken by cascades of grapefruit, tangerine, pine, and almost limy aroma. Nicely balanced, with a big sweet malt backbone of cereal and bready flavours followed by a huge piny and grapefruit bitterness plus a light touch of alcohol. Medium to full bodied, almost but not quite sticky or syrupy. Thanks again to CaptainCougar for this beauty.

oooooh, now this is my kind of brew!! Copper orange, light tan head with lacing that sinks down the sides like a setting sun. Aroma is super fruity citrus hops - pow! Thick bodied - sure, there’s malts, but who gives a c$%p about the malts!?!?!? (they are thick and sweet - kind of like a lozenge) This is about the hops, dude! Can hops provide balance to each other? We’ve got here citrusy grapefruit, lemon-lime, sure apricots (it’s funny - somebody at work gave me a handful of fresh dried apricots today; so yes, I recognize some apricot here), pine sap, oak, and many more hop flavors. Very nice stuff.

Beautiful amber/orange color. Lasting, dense, creamy head. Huge aromas cause my eyes to cross involuntarily. Sweet and sour orange, grapefruit, coniferous hops. There are some high alpha goodies involved here. Flavor is nicely sweet with a bracing bitterness. Lots of soft fruity malt. Big, slick palate that’s scrubbed clean by a late, lingering bitterness. If I can say anything bad at all about this, it’s that it’s not too complex. But that’s fine. Man, I want more of this.

This beer rocks! Beautiful, crystal clear, copper ale with a small, creamy, off-white head. Nice retention and excellent, cumulus lacework. The aroma is sweet, fruity bliss. Notes of grapefruit, pineapple, fir, sugar cookies, apricot and toffee. The flavor is very heavy, malty and moderately bitter from start to finish. Well-balanced for an Imperial IPA. Full-bodied with a syrupy mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Lengthy, bitter, grassy finish. World class beer for sure!

Nice thick, chewy, greasy, hoppy beast of an ale. It’s what you expect from a highly rated imperial IPA. It’s got a monster aroma the instant it’s opened, and the flavor doesn’t dissapoint. Even with all the hops there is still a nice amount of sweet malt flavor to keep it very drinkable.