Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

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

This will sure cure the craving for most hopheads! Awakens every sense of the body. Pours a murky copper color. Smells of hops fill the room. The beer is covered by a fluffy marshmallow-like head. The flavor is intense, very smooth and velvety. An unbelivable creamy IPA. The perfect represenation of an Imperial IPA.

The pour smelled of flowery pine, not pungent but pleasant, and yielded a huge, off-white head. It is clear and light orange in color, having some small, lively bubbles the entire time I quaffed. It yields bitter at first, but is nicely balanced overall with malts. It was creamy, almost frothy in my mouth, and finished with a smoother bittnernes. Great aroma and taste. My only critique is that it may be over carbonated.

Draught at Federal in Durham, NC. Slightly hazy orange-amber color with a creamy off white head. Citrusy, grapefruit hops, alcohol, and taffy dominate the aroma. LOTS of grapefruit. Slightly sweet with a nice bitter hop finish. Very good.

12oz bottle. Hazy and reddish amber. Finger width of bone white head. Spicy, citrusy hop aroma. Floral aromas. Slight nutty malt note in the nose. Full lively and sticky sweet. Malt character is mild by comparison. The nutty caramel malt notes are short lived before the middle burn and the hop finish that totally dominate the palate. Strong hop notes with with a spicy, citrusy, peppery hop profile. As it warms, the nutty malts last a little longer. The Alcohol is a little more prevalent. The palate becomes softer. Not soft, but more rounded. The hops still dominate, but become stickier. Great aromas, Great body. Great beer, start to finish. All Aspects!

Bomber Bottle (Damn thing was $10.00) Color is a golden orange, with a consitent head that remains over the entire pint. Intense floral hops and bitterness ride over a full, rich maltiness with a nice balance of sweetness and strength. Not as complex as some, but overall an entertaining and fortifying drink.

Slightly hazy amber. Nice thick off-white tan head. Leaves lacing. Aroma is caramel, sweet, hops. Palate is full bodied and smooth. In an odd way it finishes quick yet it has a slight lingering aftertaste. Certainly bitter. Flavor is of hops and caramel, much as was in the nose. Nice Imperial IPA. Love it.

Pours with a large creamy white head that leaves a lot of lacing on a cloudy orange body. Strong aroma of citric hops with floral undertones. Strong hoopy taste with the florals comming in first and the citric hops finishing up on a dry, alcoholic body. This is the sort of beer you can imagine Sean Connery or Michael Caine drinking as they build the British Empire!

This one greatly divides. You’re either a lover or a hater. It pours amber like mountian earth in spring time. An overwhelming complex combination of oil, toffee, grape, mud, smoke, citrus, caramel and alcohol makes it an intense experince. It’s almost too much, but still it remains within the boundaries of balance unlike many other Imperial IPAs I’ve sampled.