Victory Dirtwolf vs Lagunitas Sucks

I was super excited yet somewhat underwhelmed by Dirtwolf when I had it. I found a 4 pack on Monday night and cracked it as soon as I got home. Don't get me wrong here, it's a damn good beer and was only 8.99 for the 4 pack which in my opinion is an awesome price for a quality DIPA but I was expecting more wow factor. Victory is probably my favorite brewery and Prima Pils is my favorite beer so I may have put it on a pedestal.

 

Comparing your memory of a beer you had months ago with the beer you are drinking now is a lot like reading "Lord of the Rings" and comparing it with what you remember from when you read "Fun with Dick and Jane."

 

Just to remind everyone, Sucks hasn't been fresh for many months now!! Also, relying on memory of how much one liked a certain beer Sucks!!

 

Is the name of the beer allowed to play a factor in my decision? Because the name DirtWolf is beyond dumb.

Both are good, solid beers...but neither are great in my opinion. However, year round easily-accessible DIPAs are a nice atribute overall to the craft beer world. Will be happy if one or the other replaces the other average beers by both breweries on tap around town.

 

I have to ask... how do you know what cat pee tastes like?

 

I now want it more.

 

DIPA used to refer to the ABV, not the ridiculous presence of hop dryness and sugars. Now, apparently, people expect both of those things along with higher ABV in a DIPA. DirtWolf is more stylistically correct based on the past. It drinks easier than the other DIPAs mentioned alongside of it, because it's not a "bomb." To me, that's a huge asset and what I remember DIPAs being like when I was originally learning the field. New customers need not apply.

 

1. Had Dirtwolf side-by-side with Hop Stoopid - preferred the Hop Stoopid, but only by a narrow margin (about .1-.15 on the BA 5.00 scale)

2. Had Dirtwolf side-by-side with Hill Farmstead Double Citra - preferred the Double Citra by about a .5 margin on the BA 5.00 scale

3. Had Dirtwolf side-by-side with Heady Topper - obviously preferred Heady, by about a .75 margin on the BA 5.00 scale

Hope that helps

 

And availability/brewery bias rears its ugly head once again. It's a shame that putting out a top-5 DIPA doesn't seem to mean much these days, unless the right brewery does it with less than year-round availability. I think Victory needs a lesson in craft beer marketing.

 

I think that could very well be it. Maybe a different label and name as well. That would certainly gain some fanboys I bet... Hey, more for us on the shelves right? I will be snatching this up often unless they get old and dusty on the shelves. That would be a shame, but at $10 4pk I can't see that happening.

 

prefer Sucks over Dirtwolf. Also, in spite of reasonable $10/ 4 pack for Dirtwolf, Sucks is cheaper too ($10/ 6 pack).

 

I'm brewing a DIPA this weekend...do I borrow the neighbor's cat or what?

 

ISO fresh cat piss

 

dirt wolf is good but not in the same league as Sucks

 

try hop stoopid again. go buy one right now. it really is a world class beer. just because its sold at a cheap price doesnt mean the beer cant be world class

 

This one again? Nobody is eating or drinking horesblanket, cat pee, or pine cones. The note in the beer compares to the smell of the example.

 

Dirtwolf wins because unlike Sucks, I can fucking get it right now.

 

Sounds like a lot of you might like this.

 

Well I can't say for certain which beer; Sucks or Dirt Wolf is better than the other. Or if there is a clear winner.. but after putting in cases of research with Sucks over the last two years. And after some more recent research with Dirt Wolf. I began to perceive that I was drinking a beer that could be in a cool stubby bottle, with a gingerbread man on the logo with a red dog cap. This was not my initial response to my first bottle of Dirt Wolf but how I felt after I drank the 4 pack.

I look forward to taking this research further by doing a side by side when Sucks comes back, although I have a sneaking suspicion that there will be no clear winner at that time either .

 

The biggest problem with Hop Stoopid is in trying to find a fresh bottle. I've been burned by old bottles of it many times. I don't buy it any more unless if I can find the bottled on date and it's recent. Usually the date is nowhere to be found.