Hop Ranch
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

 

2014 vintage; drank 4/14/14 @ World of Beer.

Yellow murkiness.

Bright white head; thick lace.

Fresh marijuana & pineapple nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Pineapple, marijuana & pine needles. Just a hair too bitter, but good.

 

 

 

Excellent IPA,pale golden with thin head, wonderful citrus head. Light and airy despite being a double. This is an every day beer, and super high quality to boot.

 

 

Bought a single, slightly past prime, but great DIPA all the same. Uniquely berry, pungent, oily, and peppery.
a) Pours bright amber-straw body with a splashing lacing, lasting head.
s) Big tropical, berry, and herbal hops. layered on raw honey and honey comb malt base.
t) Follows tropicals juicy, ripe fruit, with mango, passionfruit, pineapple, and gooseberry notes. Pie. glazed with honey. Levers into the peppery, earthy, scatting finale with as much cannabis as you can imagine.
f) Medium-bodied, oily, medicinal yet dry, bitter and cleansing. Astringent as in sassafras and spruce and orange peel.
o) A great DIPA deserves to be in any DIPA blind taste off.

 

 

Hazy gold with a dense white on finger head. Very good amount of fine bubble lace.
Smell is floral dank with some sweetness from the malt.
Taste is dank hop oil with plenty of bready malt.
Mouthfeel is medium with just enough carbonation. The finish is medium dry and bitter.
Overall a very smooth beer for this style. This particular beer is about three months past the best by date.

 

 

My local ale shop gets seasonals and then, if they have any left when the ale goes out of season, they discount it big time. I like trying the bargain brews so I got a 4-pack of Hop Ranch for $4.99. This is a winter seasonal, so I wasn't expecting anything because many winter ales are dark, heavy and warming - not exactly what you want to drink on the porch in the Georgia summer when the temperature's in the 90s. Surprise! Hop Ranch is more of a summer ale, but there's still quite a there there. Light in color, very hoppy but with a nice malt balance, and a 9% ABV that's well-hidden by the lightness of body. Floral notes? Check. Fruity notes? Check. Malt - bitterness interplay? Check. My favorites are Great Divide Hercules and Dogfish Head 90-Minute. Hop Ranch is in the same mode, but with a lighter, more summery character. I just ran back to my ale shop and bought two cases!

Poured into a tulip, the appearance was a pure murky burnt dark copper color with a lasting finger's worth of white foamy head that glided off gently. Some messy lace.
The aroma had an earthy hop punch in the beginning punching some piney hop burn, some berries, maybe raspberry/sort of blueberry something or other as it's somewhat weak coming across.
The flavor moderately leaned into the sweetness of the prior mentioned aromas but lent a hand to a "dirty" sort of aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt on par.
Overall, I say pretty nice DIPA that even lives up to it's name with that "dirty" like aftertaste. Was that intentional, Victory?

 

 

 

Got this one deeply discounted at a grocery store in NYC ($5.99 for a 4 pack).

BOTTLE: 12 fl oz. Brown glass. Branded blue and red pry-off cap.

"Imperial India Pale Ale." 9.0% ABV.

APPEARANCE: Murky pale copper body of average to above average vibrance. Seems filtered but it does have some chill haze (or maybe just oat starch?). No floating yeast/lees. Head is white and frothy, sticking around for an impressive ~7 minutes (not too shabby for a 9% ABV brew).

AROMA: Hints of berries/currants. Tropical fruit - the Azacca talking. Floral hop aromatics. I don't find the distinct blueberry aroma typical of Mosaic-hopped beers, nor do I find pungent citrus typical of Citra hops. But Chinook and Azacca are well utilized here.

Aromatic intensity is average. No off-notes, overt booze, or yeast.

TASTE & TEXTURE: Has some rind-like bitterness and white grapefruit pith, along with some quinine-like bitterness. Pale malts are present but can't withstand the hop assault, leaving the drinker with an imbalanced bitter beer that tastes overhopped and a bit boozy. I'm usually keen on Victory's hoppy ales, but this one is a miss for me.

No blueberry from the Mosaic, but then it's just dry hopped with Mosaic so that explains the berry being present only in aroma. Chinook contributes some nice floral notes, but the hop bitterness eclipses the hoppy flavours to its detriment.

Smooth, wet, unrefreshing, boozy, coating, full-bodied, well-carbonated. Not oily, gushed, astringent, harsh, rough, or scratchy. This texture doesn't elevate the beer as a whole or accentuate specific notes. Decent execution.

Not a gestalt harmonious whole of a brew, nor an ordered or cohesive one. Hop selection isn't ideal, they went too big on the ABV, and depth of flavour is lackluster. Average flavour duration and intensity.

OVERALL: Maybe I'm not having it fresh enough since I got this on sale, but based on this bottle it's pretty wanting stuff in an oversaturated style. I'll reserve judgement until I can have it on-draught and confirm it's not old, but as-is it's an Azacca-hopped boozy mess that is anything but approachable. The bitterness of it turns me off.

High D+ (2.50) / NOT RECOMMENDED

 

Poured Hop Ranch into a Belgian Tulip.
A - Pours a light golden with two fingers of white creamy head with yeast floating around.
S - Dank hops, citrus, grapefruit.
T - Better than the aroma. Smooth citrus and grapefruit. Mid palate has some more dank hops.
M - Medium to full. Medium carbonation.
O - A good Imperial IPA. Cheers!

 

 

 

A: Bright yellow in color, with a large white head.

S: Hop aroma dominates with bright citrus, orange peel, a touch of tropical, and a hint of dank. Some light honey malt in the background.

T: Juicy orange, with grapefruit, and light tropical fruits. Honey in the finish, with a light biscuit flavor.

M: Medium in body with fairly aggressive carbonation, and a touch of a dry finish.

O: Overall a pretty darn good representation of the style. Smooth, juicy, bitter, and tasty.

 

 

 

 

Poured from the tap into a tulip glass at the Taco Mac in Atlanta. The appearance is a murky light yellow color with a small white head. The aroma is citrus and hops. The taste matches the nose.

OMG, the smell is downright nasty. Dang! What happened? Bitter right up front, oddish grapefruit rind, touch unripe tasting. Not impressed. I expect more from Victory, especially from an Imperial IPA. I'm really puzzled with all of the good reviews. Maybe I just got a bad one. It's not a date issue.

 

Appearance - Pours clear golden color with nice white head, spotty lacing around the glass.

Aroma - Very light citrus aromas, orange peel, grapefruit and pine. Just a hint of floral aroma as well.

Taste - Wow taste is much bigger than the aroma lets on. Big grapefruit, lemon, orange flavors. Nice hop bitterness.

Feel - Medium body and slightly slick, tingles the tongue with a pretty dry finish.

Overall - A very good DIPA, great citrus and pine flavors nice bite.

 

 

L: Hazy as all doubles should be. A little too yellowy for my eye, but pleasing enough. Thin head, disappears quickly. Needs more.
S: Fruit forward and then the hops. Citrus, not lemony though. Sweeter. More to the orange and mango side.
T: Balanced between the hops and fruit. Malt fades away quickly. Not boozy tasting for being 9%. Good, not epic.
F: You know it's a double. Full bodied, but not thick.
O: Would I drink this again? Definitely.
Is this my favorite double/imperial? No. It's more a cross between a double and a fruity IPA. If you have had their Dirt Wolf, think of this as its hazy cousin. I like both, but where DW is too clean, this goes too fruity. Good beer worth trying. Victory is a quality brewer. Even if you don't care for some of their beers, you can tell a lot of though was put into it. I think a lot of people would like this offering. Kind of tastes like a draft even thought I poured it from a 12oz bottle.

L: Attractive beer. Tons of readily apparent carbonation. Pours a nice head, settles down but nice disapears, great retention. Color is straw yellow/golden, mildest hazy.
S: Sweet, lemony, orange, zesty, floral. Somewhat faint though
T: Definitely bitter, but despite being robust, bitterness is soft, not sharp and biting. Hops here are pith, floral, herbaceous, spicy, very earthy. Some pine resin as well. I like the malts too, sweet and provide a nice backbone to this beer. Also not a lick of ethanol detected, which is impressive for a 9% beer.
F: As per Victory's standard, mouthfeel is on point. Smooth, silky, full yet light. Great balance between refreshing and engaging. I think the smoothness of the mouthfeel lends a great balance with the hop bitterness.
O: Not a crazy complex IPA, not a fruity hop bomb, but just the way I like IPAs. Perfect balance between hop and malt, refreshing and smooth yet tasty and in some regards, challenging. Hops present great complex earthy and citrus notes. All around an excellent IPA in my books.