Hercules Double IPA | Great Divide Brewing Company
Brewed by:
Great Divide Brewing Company
Colorado, United States
greatdivide.com
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Alcohol by volume (ABV): 10.00%
Availability: Year-round
Notes / Commercial Description:
HERCULES DOUBLE IPA is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, fit for the gods. HERCULES delivers a huge amount of hops from start to finish. Its hefty backbone of nutty, malty sweetness balances its aggressive hop profile. 85 IBUs.
Added by filabrazilia on 04-11-2004
HISTOGRAM
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Ratings: 4,210 | Reviews: 1,591
4.35/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.28/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
7/1/17...pours rich copper with heavy white foam. Creamy layer, malty hoppy nose. Toffees. Heavy hearty bitter. Thick layered mouthfeel. Chewy. Almost woodsy. So fresh and absolutely outstanding.
195 characters
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
7/1/17...pours rich copper with heavy white foam. Creamy layer, malty hoppy nose. Toffees. Heavy hearty bitter. Thick layered mouthfeel. Chewy. Almost woodsy. So fresh and absolutely outstanding.
195 characters
4.34/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
I have several Great Divide bottles hanging around & what with today being NBS (Week 653), I decided to make this the last (for now) beer in my latest brewery horizontal. There is an upside to The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody & the opportunity to conduct & CANduct such horizontals is it. Amazingly, this one is a CANQuest (tm) entry!
From the CAN: "Great Minds Drink Alike"; On the reverse side of the CAN, a circus strongman hefts a massive barbell with one hand, all in silhouette. Stunning graphics!
A month-old CAN?!? That kind of freshness CAN only mean one thing - an inverted Glug, following the Crack! The finger of dense, foamy, light-tan head quickly formed & began to fall away, leaving great lacing in its wake. Color was Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose smelled cool and minty, like standing in the middle of a pine forest during a snowstorm. Actually, there was some caramel malt in the mix, but the hops were prevalent. Mouthfeel was big, thick, viscous & if I thought that the earlier Hibernation was hot, this erupted like a flamethrower in my mouth! Phew. This was no playin' around time. The taste was really cool and minty and when coupled with the inherent heat, I felt like I had been gargling with it. Minty fresh & eye-opening. The malt had not yet begun to come forward as further proof of its freshness, but I did get a subtle nuttiness as mentioned in the "Notes/Commercial Description" section, like peCANs or almonds. Man, this was tasty! Dangerously so as I sucked down half of the CANtents without a moment's hesitation or a seCANd thought. I suddenly found myself slumped backwards in my chair, a clear sign that I should take my foot off of the gas. The cool, minty heat rendered it very dry on the finish & while it would probably smooth out with age, it should probably be CANsumed fresh.
1,880 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
I have several Great Divide bottles hanging around & what with today being NBS (Week 653), I decided to make this the last (for now) beer in my latest brewery horizontal. There is an upside to The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody & the opportunity to conduct & CANduct such horizontals is it. Amazingly, this one is a CANQuest (tm) entry!
From the CAN: "Great Minds Drink Alike"; On the reverse side of the CAN, a circus strongman hefts a massive barbell with one hand, all in silhouette. Stunning graphics!
A month-old CAN?!? That kind of freshness CAN only mean one thing - an inverted Glug, following the Crack! The finger of dense, foamy, light-tan head quickly formed & began to fall away, leaving great lacing in its wake. Color was Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with NE-quality clarity. Nose smelled cool and minty, like standing in the middle of a pine forest during a snowstorm. Actually, there was some caramel malt in the mix, but the hops were prevalent. Mouthfeel was big, thick, viscous & if I thought that the earlier Hibernation was hot, this erupted like a flamethrower in my mouth! Phew. This was no playin' around time. The taste was really cool and minty and when coupled with the inherent heat, I felt like I had been gargling with it. Minty fresh & eye-opening. The malt had not yet begun to come forward as further proof of its freshness, but I did get a subtle nuttiness as mentioned in the "Notes/Commercial Description" section, like peCANs or almonds. Man, this was tasty! Dangerously so as I sucked down half of the CANtents without a moment's hesitation or a seCANd thought. I suddenly found myself slumped backwards in my chair, a clear sign that I should take my foot off of the gas. The cool, minty heat rendered it very dry on the finish & while it would probably smooth out with age, it should probably be CANsumed fresh.
1,880 characters
4.77/5 rDev +15.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
4.84/5 rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.16/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.7/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The hoppy punch fell short of expectations.
43 characters
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
The hoppy punch fell short of expectations.
43 characters
4.04/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Amber with a nice head and hoppy aroma. A very nice malty base upon which the hops provide a balanced flavor profile. This is a very enjoyable example of a DIPA.
161 characters
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Amber with a nice head and hoppy aroma. A very nice malty base upon which the hops provide a balanced flavor profile. This is a very enjoyable example of a DIPA.
161 characters
4.91/5 rDev +19.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.22/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
4.29/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
3.89/5 rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
4.01/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
3.7/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From the right side of the bottle: "BOTTLED ON: MAR 09 2017"
Appearance: The body is a dark copper color. It is opaque but large chunks of sediment are visible in the form of dark shadows. The head is short and white which quickly recedes to a white ring leaving no lacing.
Aroma: There is a light caramel and malt scent with a bit of pine.
Taste: It has a nice malty backbone which is apparent from start to finish. Up front the beer has this slightly sweet malt flavor which transitions into a grainy taste at the end. The malt flavor is very good. Accompanying the malt is a bitter pine flavor which is fairly strong. It is important to note that while the beer boasts "10.0% ALC. BY VOL." on the label the alcohol is very well hidden.
Mouthfeel: It has bright carbonation and a sharp, strong bitterness. The beer has a medium body and although there is sediment visible in the glass it has a clean finish.
Overall: It is a pretty standard Double IPA without any bells or whistles but that is what is enjoyable about the beer. It tastes the way one would expect a Double IPA to taste. One element that brings this beer out of the average rank and file of other Double IPA beers is the nice grain flavor in the finish. Another element that is noteworthy is the clean mouthfeel that delivers an exceptionally pointed bitterness. Although I wasn't a fan of the loads of sediment in the beer I would still drink it again and I would recommend it to others. Just ignore the sediment and let the flavor do all the talking.
1,525 characters
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From the right side of the bottle: "BOTTLED ON: MAR 09 2017"
Appearance: The body is a dark copper color. It is opaque but large chunks of sediment are visible in the form of dark shadows. The head is short and white which quickly recedes to a white ring leaving no lacing.
Aroma: There is a light caramel and malt scent with a bit of pine.
Taste: It has a nice malty backbone which is apparent from start to finish. Up front the beer has this slightly sweet malt flavor which transitions into a grainy taste at the end. The malt flavor is very good. Accompanying the malt is a bitter pine flavor which is fairly strong. It is important to note that while the beer boasts "10.0% ALC. BY VOL." on the label the alcohol is very well hidden.
Mouthfeel: It has bright carbonation and a sharp, strong bitterness. The beer has a medium body and although there is sediment visible in the glass it has a clean finish.
Overall: It is a pretty standard Double IPA without any bells or whistles but that is what is enjoyable about the beer. It tastes the way one would expect a Double IPA to taste. One element that brings this beer out of the average rank and file of other Double IPA beers is the nice grain flavor in the finish. Another element that is noteworthy is the clean mouthfeel that delivers an exceptionally pointed bitterness. Although I wasn't a fan of the loads of sediment in the beer I would still drink it again and I would recommend it to others. Just ignore the sediment and let the flavor do all the talking.
1,525 characters
Hercules Double IPA from Great Divide Brewing Company
Beer rating:
4.12 out of
5 with
4,210 ratings
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