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!

Victory Yakima Glory

I used to live about 30 minutes from Yakima. I went to college in that area. That is really the only reason I moved that far over the mountains from home. When it comes to making a beer that captures the essence of the area... I wonder if these people have even been there.



This is the sign that you see after the second Yakima exit and right before you are heading out of town. By Palm Springs, I think they are referring to the amount of Cocaine that comes through this town. If you are hungry get off after this exit and you can hit up IHOP, Denny's or a few other spots with some good and cheap food... I think this Denny's serves beer for what ales (lagers, actually) yah! Anyway, but yeah.

The tenacious grip of big, juicy hop aroma and character slides smoothly into rich, dark malts. This heavyweight battle between fresh, Yakima Valley hops and dark, roasted malts is resolved harmoniously as the flavors merge to deliver complex satisfaction with a warming edge. Bask in the “glory”­ of the bright and brassy hops!

There are some CDAs out there I can really get behind but this style is just so poorly made. Deschutes knows how to do it right, but they live in the area known as Cascadia, so they better! I have even heard reports of IPLagers... I won't get into that.

So, Yakima Glory, a deep dark amber on the pour with an off white head. The hop aroma come off pretty light and grassy and earthy. Though on the first sip you see a very aggressively hopped ale. The bitterness attacks you immediately and you taste the grassy, dirty hop flavors. Very warming on the finish and a citrusy layer comes in then as well. It does have a nice light, easy drinking mouthfeel but everything together detracts from it.

I guess they were going into the whole west coast hop thing with but they failed to balance it correctly with the beer. Not my style of beer. I do like IPAs but you can't just go brewing them without thought. Too many people do that. Especially if you are trying to copy the style/pay tribute to an area. It gets better as you drink on but it is still not something that I think I will be visiting again.

Cheers!