Victory Wild Devil - Brettanomyces IPA?

There are currently 625 ratings for this beer. So yeah, a few people have had it.

Granted it has been 4 years since I last tried it...but I recall it having a very pronounced leathery brett character.

 

It is an intense beer. It was my first hammer over the head horse blanket experience. It is very wild and really doesn't resemble an IPA nor HopDevil, in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to trying it again, as my tastes/preference for brett have evolved a great deal since 2009

 

Im gonna venture a guess that the bottles we drank were all about 6 months old. Granted there could be bottle variation but I dont recall the over-carbonation issues that you read about in some reviews.

In before someone complains that this batch isnt as good as the last. (Too soon/terrible joke?)

 

I didn't have the opportunity to have it the first go-around, but have been anticipating this release though- will definitely be swinging by the brewpub to snag a few bottles, for consumption both fresh and with a little time on them!

 

I've had it fresh, 2-years old and 4 years-old. In all incarnations you'd have a hard time believing it's basically Bretted HopDevil.

Fresh, the hops came through but nowhere near as much as a proper HopDevil... a very refined IPA that (IMO) was vastly superior to its parent brew. At two years old it was sublime: the hops faded and it reminded me of an aged Orval. At four years, though, it was clearly past its prime... almost undrinkable. (It was my friend's bottle, though, so I can't vouch for how it was stored.)

I recommend giving it a try. I'm buying a whole case, so that should give a hint as to my feelings about WildDevil.

 

*crosses fingers for no exploding bottles*

 

Why? There weren't any exploding bottles last time were there? IIRC that was Helios that was recalled.

 

Hated it, period, drain poured it. I had a Brett IPA from Wicked Weed that was tremendous and I'm not a funky guy.

 

My experience with the beer was pretty similar to yours except that I only had the chance to try it fresh and at about 18 mos.

 

So when is there going to be a Brett Dirt Wolf? That would be intense.

 

i had a year old wild devil in 2010. loved it.

 

None of my four ever exploded. Foamed its way out of the bottle when I opened them, though. Loved that beer, hope it makes it way out here.

 

I picked up two this afternoon. I've never had this beer but I'm looking forward to it!

 

Had it fresh, with one year of cellaring, again at 2 years, and the last bottle with 3 years age. All were really good and all were really different. Although I will say the 3 year old bottle was on the back side of its time and did not have quite the outstanding taste it had the year before. Really excited to get some of this again.

 

Ah, nevermind then. Then why did they stop making Wild Devil? I thought that was the reason.

 

They had a demand-capacity problem that led to them putting several non-flagship beers on hiatus for a few years. Now the new brewery is up and being brought on line some of those beers are coming back in to line up.

 

I'll buy a bottle of this, but I really wish Hop Devil wasn't the base beer. This could really shine if they bretted one of their "new era" IPAs like DirtWolf, give it a lot more citrus/pine character instead of the bland, malty characteristics of Hop Devil. I do remember liking it when it was released however many years ago, but my palate has changed a LOT since then.

 

I always appreciate your reviews; I find them informative and to the point (the latter not being a strong suit of mine).