Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

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

Great Divide Hercules IPA 22oz bottle 3 month recent bottling of review date 07/06 Slow pour in a tulip glass Poured copper with a thick fluffy, slightly gunky, yellowish long-lasting head Smelt of floral and citrus, a hint of pine and alcohol Taste was a deceptively fast accent to hops with a lingering hoppy finish. A subtle sweet maltiness in the background, but the hops soon take over, until the floweriness shows through, then the bitterness meekly strikes back again in a lingering tango with its short-lived initial maltiness. Mouthfeel was coating and alcoholic, making it fairly thick and agressive to drink. This is a fresh bottling. Hopefully, cellaring will improve, flattening the hopiness and alcohol, and conjoinging nicely with the maltiness. Overall, very satisfied with this beer as it delivers on all aspects, and shows promise for a year’s hold.

Bottle. Very good malty and meaty aroma with hoppy citrus orange accents. Thick. Color is opaque orange with foamy white head. Well balanced flavor. Moves from sweet to salty to bitter. Cream cheese yeast flavor with bitter hops punch. Creamy palate, rich and delicious. Appeals to my flavor sensibilites perfectly. Gos great with food as it opens up the palate.

Pours a deep orange color, rather uncharacteristic of IPAs i’ve tried, with a decent lacy off-white head. Smells of hops primarily with a litlte spice. Has the aggressive bitter hops taste that characterizes IPAs but has enough malt to temper it so that it tastes excellent. You can taste hints of citrus in it as well. One of the best IPAs I’ve had.

Great IPA. Found two four packs sitting on the back of a shelf at my local packy, and bought them both, since I like the Titan IPA from these guys. Aroma is great, and it pours a nice dark copper color with about a finger width of head. Taste is awesome, very hoppy, with a great start and finish. Nose is much like the taste. I will buy more of these if I can find them.

pours a classic ipa-ish dark amber, little darker than usual, slightly yellow white head that lingers a good amount of time, sharp hoppy floral smell with malts detectable. this is one of the maltiest but still great ipa’s i’ve ever tasted, a malty bitterness with a hoppy bite, great ipa.

This is a great representative of the Double/Imperial IPAs. Its nose is packed with fragrant hops, caramelized orange peel, summer peach, and fresh pine. There are also some other pleasant floral components that find their way into this one. It pours a stunning heavy caramel orange color and is brilliantly clear. A hefty two finger head appears with a subtle rocky top and stays for just a short while. The head is an off-white yellowish color and is rather frothy. This one tastes just as you would hope, with tons of bold flavor and the immediate punch of fresh hops. It is then followed by a nice mouthful of foamy head and a creaminess that carries the flavors nicely down the throat. The only thing this one is missing is nice bit of brightness to make it feel fresher. Obviously there is bitterness here, but one that is enjoyable. It contains a nice creaminess that so many of the superior IPAs have and it sticks to the mouth nicely. This is good, because it should take you a while to drink this one. If you are in to the more potent and floral IPAs like Bell’s Hopslam, this will be a great addition to your fridge. It is also much easier to come by than the Hopslam and others. I am definitely drinking a lot of these going forward, and I am glad I have found something to drink when I want to let my dwindling stash of Hopslam hide out in the basement.

This thing is epic. Poured a dark, deep golden/orange color. Good amount of a white head that lingers. The nose is huge on hops, citrus, and pines. Taste is light caramel, citrus fruits, and a bit of malty sweetness. The aftertaste is a little bitter and it definitely warms you up with the alcohol. Great beer, and my favorite Double IPA.