Wild Devil
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

750ml bottle into Duvel tulip. Bottled on June 10th, 2009, and drank May 3rd, 2010. As a sidenote, I like the tension between "I need this fresh, it's an IPA," and "Let it sit, I need that brett action."

Appearance: Predictably, the bottle was a mild gusher. Careful pour down the side of the glass yields a two inch, rocky, off-white head that dissipates slowly and leaves occasional spots of lacing. Beer pours a hazy amber.

Smell: Some grapefruit hops (still!), a grape note, and lots of brettanomyces influence--it's leathery, tangy, and funky. Beginning to think that putting brett in an IPA is a good idea. Smell develops with time and warmth, with some lemony funk and other notes emerging. Smell is drawing me in. HopDevil--which I only just tried, and it was fresh--had an aroma that was too faint. That's not the case here at all; in your face brett, just as I like.

Taste: First sip: immediate hit of hop bitterness, big brett flavors (cologne, leather, tanginess, funk), and HopDevil's respectable malt backbone. I'm immediately sold; putting brett into HopDevil isn't a good idea, it's a great idea. As I get deeper in, the tangy, funky flavors vary and intensify, while the big hop bitterness stays strong, and the malt backbone battles to not be overcome by the brett (it's losing the battle, but putting up an admirable fight).

What else is there to say? This tastes exactly like you'd expect and want it to, knowing the description of the beer. The brett is in your face, but there's a lot of HopDevil characteristics staying strong underneath it. If that sounds good to you, I guarantee that you'll enjoy this flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with lots of carbonation. The flavor is strong enough that the heavy carbonation isn't a problem. Lingering bitterness and tartness. No alcohol heat.

Drinkability: The alcohol is completely masked, and the taste is very good. The aggressive flavors and feel could be a bit much, but this is a beer I'll have no trouble finishing and will definitely return to.

Drinking Wild Devil reminds me of drinking Rogue's John John Dead Guy Ale. I don't like Dead Guy Ale. I don't particularly like HopDevil either (I like it more than Dead Guy, but it's one of my least favorite IPAs). Get experimental and throw Dead Guy into whiskey barrels, and suddenly I love it. Throw some brett into HopDevil, and the same thing happens.

Notably, it's not just that it's an IPA with brett. It's a very bitter IPA with (in my opinion) too big a malt backbone, with brett, and that combination works wonderfully. Despite my ambivalence toward HopDevil, I'm impressed that it stands strong underneath the huge influence of the different yeast.

Overall, this beer is a great idea, with great execution.

RB transfer

The good thing about a magnum of a flavourful Big Beer is that you can enjoy it on the second day. So I did. And I enjoyed it even more on Day 2.

Also interesting, I'm not sure I've ever had a classic AIPA that I panned (as I did for Hop Devil) and then found its Wild or Brett rendition and sort of liked it. But here we are.

Wild Devil's strength is not its Looks or Smells, although both are good. This Looks a dark amber that is lively with foam after a Brett treatment. Its Smells are mostly funk on malt with some hops in the back of the nose. Tastes are surprisingly balanced, particularly on the second day. Medium-mouthed on its way to full for a style that is thin.

I've only had five from Victory and visited their downtown Philly gastropub. I like them and recognise that I should have studied them and their brews more. This time I went on their website, I see that they now have Brand Ambassadors which strikes me as a clever, quasi-community addition to their Artisanal Brewing Ventures collaboration with other Northeast micros. For all this entrepreneurial innovation and their 30 years experience, I give Victory excellent Overall Hugs.

 

 

Bottle from Boise Coop. Bottle opens with a loud pop and pours out with a huge head, clumpy head and lacing throughout. Acetic aroma, but taste and finish is where it gets interesting. Spicy notes, peppery almost, flowery, and even the malt comes through. Biting, snappy finish.

2014 edition opened in 2020, has done well- got really bretty but still has a nice herbal bitterness.. lighter golden body, three finger white head, on the verge of overcarbonation, but not surprising given that the brett has had 6 years to work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did not like the after taste. Not a sour beer to my liking.

22oz bottle into a goblet. Bottled 8/15/18, so a little over 4 months old. (The small silver freshness dating on a cream label required a magnify glass to figure out. C'mon Victory) First experience with a Brett IPA.

Clear deep amber colored body. Massive foamy off white head, replenished by streams of carbonation up the sides of the glass. (not that replenishing was really required, head stayed enormous throughout, leaving layers of lacing)

Winey, saison-like aroma.

Dry, woody, taste. Then sour and bitterness take over and battle it out to the end. A little apple in there. Sour bitterness increases as the drink rests in the mouth. Comes off as even higher abv than the listed 6.7. Pretty warm beer.

Mouth is full and foamy, finish tangy bitterness.

Overall, it was hard to find the IPA here. Glad to have tried it, but a 12oz would have been more than enough for me.

 

 

 

(750 ml bottle, 2018 release... split and shared between two Chouffe tulip)

L: hazy red liquid, bit of foam on pour, but it slips back into a thin collar... a few specks of sediment did sneak in... no lace

S: rather malty pop up front, with perfumy citrus peel and sweaty Brett rushing up behind it... subsequent sniffs detect funky grapefruit juice and malty red wine... inviting if you like malt (and I do)

T: beefy-malty red ale, bitter grapefruit jolt on the edges, mellow funk coating with tinto-tinted cheeks... bit of wine-soaked wood in the aftertaste... surprising degree of malt up center, but not all that sweet aside from a subtle note of dark caramel in the middle... overall good intensity, long-lasting trails

F: delicately-fluffy exterior to its lightly-viscous malt interior... funk, hops, and alcohol provide a soft florescent glow to the back of the palate, kissed with a little tart tingle on the end... hits nice marks in plushness and attenuation

O: interesting twist on one of my favorite IPAs (which is really a hoppy red ale as it is)... was skeptical at the $16.99 price point, but I may be tempted to give in to another bottle... didn't turn out quite how I imagined it but was rather enjoyable - glad to have finally tried it after all these years