Victory: Hop Wallop

So my last few post of Victory makes it seem like I have been slamming the brewery, i.e. Yakima Glory, Golden Monkey, & Storm King but in the first, I just thought that was poorly executed, the second, something must have been wrong, and the third... I guess it was just not my style? But I want more... I don't know how to explain it. I have never had Hop Wallop before and I was not expecting anything out of it. Big surprise to me.

The Legend Of 'Hop' Wallop

Horace 'Hop" Wallop headed West a broken man. For in the City of Blues a Miss LuLu Belle Lager had left him thirsting for more. Drawn by wild tales of riches to be had in the gold mines, Hop pressed on westward. His last nickel spent on a prospecting pan, Hop's hunger got the best of him. Two fistfuls of barley and three of some wild and wayward hop tossed in a pan with some clear water was to be his meal. But sleep overcame him and he later awoke to a bubbling, cacophonous concoction. Overjoyed with the beautiful ale that he had made, Hop realized the secret of the green gold he had discovered in those fresh hops. Celebrated far and wide, Hop Wallop lives on in the vivid ale with his words, "hoppiness is happiness.' Enjoy!

So, this beer was absolutely fantastic. I guess maybe I should have read the label before opening it, but I had no idea what style of beer this was meant to be. They just call it "VeryALEHoppy" on the label. Another thing I did not notice was, it is 8.5% alcohol. But we will get to that in a minute.

I got a lot of pine and citrus on the nose. Maybe a little bit of alcohol... Who am I kidding? The head died fairly quick on this one but it did leave a beautiful lacing throughout the whole glass.

Very herbal, piney, a lot of grapefruit and some tropical flavors in this one. A well placed sweetness on top of a malty body really helped to bring this one together. It was not overly bitter, but you could tell it was an IIPA. This beer really sticks to your mouth. A great level of carbonation and it drinks very easily.

Honestly, I think a little too easy for 8.5%. That is scary. I can imagine passing out 2.5 bottles in because I slammed them in about 3 minutes. I wish I could have found a bottling date on this one. Anyway though, great beer. 4/5.

Cheers!