Victory DirtWolf

5 months (victory people have commented on it before, so i'm pretty sure it's accurate)

edit: also, i'm exaggerating in my first post; it's been great at 1~2 months. and i'm not the most forgiving of old IPAs. it "drops off" but not that bad.

 

yeah, that makes sense. i've had it around 2 months and it was still solid. Hop Ranch had good longevity as well imo. obv the fresher the better but their ipa's tend to keep well.

 

I'm still pissed Hop Wallop is gone. That stuff fresh was so good. It hid the alcohol perfectly. I moved to Cali from Delaware and I'm seeing Victory beers but where is Storm King??? Here in the land of hops that RIS would dominate.

 

Amazing beer.

 

For what its worth-- By chance, just before I opening the laptop today and seeing this thread, I did a blind tasting-- Dirt Wolf vs. Hoptimum. I have enjoyed both of these before, but it has been a few months since I had Dirtwolf, and of course much longer since having a Hoptimum.

Color is quite different. Malt taste and mouth feel is quite different as is the lacing (although I don't know about my son's pouring consistency). Oddly, despite all the complaints above, I found the Hoptimum "boozier" as some have put it.

I decided I like the Dirtwolf better (today anyways). Both are great beers. Still finishing the DW as I write. Still haven't decided if I will let my son finish the Hoptimum or if I will.

 

Apples and oranges But I agree taste is most definitely subjective! Whole cone IPAs like Torpedo, Victory Hop Devil, DFH 60 and 90 minute will never taste like citrusy pellet IPAs, i.e. Dirtwolf.

So before Dirtwolf, what was your widely available, "affordable" (~$10/4) citra-forward IIPA?

Of course you can compare any two beers, but I feel I have to mention "whole cones vs. pellets" again. Hoptimum could never taste nearly as citrusy as Dirtwolf, Hoptimum being a whole-cone IIPA. DFH 90 Minute is one of the few other whole-cone IIPA's for comparison.

 

Dirt Wolf and Firestone Walker's Double Jack are my two favorite year-round, readily available DIPAs. Victory has really come a long way I feel. Even in trying beers I'd had previously, there is a marked improvement (or my own tastes have changed). For instance, I used to find Hop Devil way too bitter and unbalanced. Mouth puckering in the worst way. But had one the other day and thought it was amazing.

But yeah, Dirt Wolf and Storm King are my two favorite Victory beers. And I second everyone calling for Hop Ranch to be available year-round.

 

Of course you can compare any two beers, but I feel I have to mention "whole cones vs. pellets" again. Hoptimum could never taste nearly as citrusy as Dirtwolf, Hoptimum being a whole-cone IIPA. DFH 90 Minute is one of the few other whole-cone IIPA's for comparison.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you. I did not really plan out this tasting, just looked in the beer fridge and decided to do this. Indecently, I did not mention the citrus notes in the DW, but wow, they are there in spades. The other thing I did not mention was that I identified which was which immediately. Not a true blind test, but what the heck, I'm just trying to make my Sunday afternoon beer time more interesting.

 

Well, cheers!

 

One store near me has it Dirtwolf on their site at $10.49 for the 4pk. I guess as far as 4 pks are concerned, that's good. My standby 4 pk of an imperial/double ipa will pretty much be Hoptimum by Sierra Nevada. I think the malts and hops are more balanced in that one than Dirtwolf. I do like dirwolf, it lives up to the hype pretty well, but I just enjoy a maltier double ipa.

 

Are you sure Dirtwolf is brewed and or dry hopped with pellets? I visited Victory recently and was told on our tour that only whole cone hops are used in both the boil and the dry hopping process on all their beers. They even took us in the fridge and showed us the fresh hops.

 

This is the second and third time you said dirtwolf was pellet hopped, I thought the first was a typo.

on the case and website
" Revel in the best U.S. varieties of hops, in their natural, whole flower form, as they bring a vital, pungent reality to the soul of a wild element in our dangerously satisfying DirtWolf Double IPA."
Composition
Malt: Imported two-row malts

Hops: Whole flower Citra, Chinook, Simcoe and Mosaic hops

ABV: 8.7%



and a big writeup thing on their website.

http://www.victorybeer.com/2013/03/always-whole-flower-hopped/


and the big story in the distribution channels when dirtwolf was scarce last early winter was they used too many hops and it clogged up the works. which may or may not be true, but sure makes a good story.

 

All of Victory's beers are beers are brewed with whole cone hops.

 

Dirt Wolf is always readily available and almost always fresh here in Murdland. I'll gladly trade you some DW for some PTE

 

I've never seen or tried Dirtwolf, but I was very impressed by Hopdevil... How different are they?

 

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha....breath, ahahahahahahahahahahaha

What a total ignorant statement. I'll give you RR (love them) and Alpine (love their beers) , but beyond that? Give me the other standouts over the rest of the country.

Wake up brother, the rest of the country tis calling.

 

On the case it says they use whole flower hops. Might also say that on the four pack holders but I'm not certain

 

Dirtwolf 4pack holder reads "always whole flower hopped" and "brewed with 100% whole flower hops".

 

drakes. several others.

no one makes as good a widely available DIPA (however, firestone walker and green flash come close enough for it to be kind of a wash / mood thing). value on dirtwolf is unbeatable though. if i could get wookey jack or green flash DIPA for $9/4pk, i wouldn't buy so much dirtwolf--but i can't.

 

Couldn't agree more!