Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

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

Hop aromas emerge before I even pour the beer. Beautiful copper color. Lines of small bubbles march slowly to a perfect one-inch off-white lumpy head. Aside from the expected grapefruit and pineapple, the perfumey nose also reveals lime jello, grape, marigold, allspice, and sweat. Ryebread smells lurk behind the curtain of hops. Flavor is nicely spicy and bittersweet, peppery, slightly jammy, and breadcrust malt. Fruity, but far less than I expected. Broad earthy bitter and citric aftertaste. Leather-and-lace mouthfeel of silky malt and electric carbonation buzz. Matches the buzz in my head. Hell, yeah!

Bottle pours a red like amber with a big tanish head and lots of lace. The aroma is grapefruit, pine forest, solid malt, and just very good. The flavor is an explosive hop show riding on a solid malt foundation. You get the grapefruit, pine, and sweetness that the malt provides. The body is fantastic. Overall, one hell of a beer! Thanks Ryan at Cellars for the heads up!

Pours an orange amber color, which by the way is very similar to the preceding beer I tasted, the dogfish head aprihop. Description says not for the faint of heart, well, I’m not faint of heart so in I go....Aroma citrus, and earthy malt with a very subtle spiciness. Initial sharp citrus hoppy flavor immediately countered by a smooth malty middle, followed by a very nice bittersweet and lingering finish. Very rich and full with a creamy mouthfeel. The alcohol is hidden very well. As this gem warms, these attributes are accentuated and even further improved. I find this to be an excellent IIPA, very satisfying in almost every respect. Readily available here in Cleveland and much cheaper than Dreadnaught. This one will be on the regular rotation when an IIPA is in order. Excellent

Minimal head which was gone in less than a minute.dark amber to golden orange in color.My nose took a big hit of hops and grapefuit,really nice.Flavor was almost exactly would you would want the aroma to taste like.Huuuge Hops and grapefruit.Brews like this have moved the Double IPA’s up my list as my second favorite behind Imp. Stouts.

Pours a dark amber color with a light tan head. Lots of citrus in the aroma. Lots of hops flavor. You can taste the alcohol more than in a normal IPA but the hops are still dominate. One of my new favorite IPAs.

This is a very very good Imperial IPA. lots of hops but not too overpowering in the bitterness like a Ruination. Tons of body, great color to it, very full in the mouth and goes down very nice. I would highly reccomend this beer to anyone especially hopheads.

a touch cloudy copper color w/ a big frothy white head that laces well and stays well. smells of fucking num.... a big citrus hop and a nice blend of carmel malts and maybe a little cloves or something a touch spicy in the finish of my nose. Palate is a bit creamy and coats well is a 3.5 really. Flavor is a big bitter citrus malt w/ lots of full matl backing a real good balance of the malt and hop but a bit simple. I chased a ruination w/ this and this was better in my opinon. Jim thanks for bringing this one.

Holy crap! Hoppier than a rabbit hutch, yet maintains a malty pseudo-Scottish smooth clover palate underneath it all. Pours beautiful amber-brown with an admirable white head. Two of us had to split the bottle due to intensity, but it is worth trying again.