K-Bomb DIPA
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

 

Draft at The Pour House in Westmont, NJ.

Pours a hazy, pale golden orange color with tangerine edges and a two finger pillowy white head.  Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring.  The glass is left coated with streaks of soapy lace.

Dank floral hop aroma with a ton of tropical and citrus fruit character along with earthy, grassy pine needle and resinous oils.  Some alcohol/boozy sweetness evident in the nose as well but it's dominated by the sweeter fruit notes, with strong hints of grapefruit, tangerine and blood orange.

Medium bodied with a slight creamy texture but still light and easy to drink with a complex hop profile that's nicely balanced by a pale malt backbone.  Insanely drinkable even with some alcohol heat/sweetness in finish.  Dank, piny bitterness countered by grapefruit, pineapple, orange peel and mango sweetness.  Nice malt presence underneath but it doesn't interfere with the juicy hop flavors.  Hints of caramel, toffee and biscuit toward the finish.  Complex and well balanced with great hop flavor.  ABV is nicely masked with only slight heat, making this beer very easy to drink.  One of the better IPAs I've had from Victory.

 

A: Poured from the growler into a Duvel tulip glass. Clear honey-golden with a nice 1-finger foamy white head. Leaves a little lace.

S: Tropical fruits and citrus over honey-based malt.

T: Caramel malt and tropical fruit. Finishes with lemony dry citrus.

M: Medium in heft with a good creamy feel.

O: A good, but not great, DIPA.

 

 

 

Served on-tap at Cork City Pub in Hoboken, NJ

A: Pours a hazy pale orange in color with light amounts of gentle visible carbonation at the surface of the beer and a fair amount of apricot + peach highlights. The beer has a quarter finger tall light beige head that quickly reduces to just a very thin ring at the edges of the glass. Light to moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of overripe citrus/grapefruit hops along with lighter aromas of herbal hops, pine hops, and just a touch of bready malts.

T: Upfront there is a moderate biscuit/bready malt flavor with moderate to strong flavors of overripe citrus/grapefruit/tangerine and hints of herbal/floral hops. Light amounts of bitterness that fade quickly.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Light amounts of dryness in the finish.

O: Overall, there is something not quite right about the flavor of this brew but I just cannot put my finger on exactly what it is - possibly a strange combination of hop aromas/flavors. Otherwise this is a pretty pedestrian offering from Victory whom I expect a little more from.