I am an avowed fan of Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing; they make two of my all-time favorite beers and I’ve rarely had something of theirs that I didn’t like. So I was excited when I dropped by Schneider’s of Capitol Hill not too long ago and saw a limited release Victory beer called “Wild Devil.”
It’s based off of one of those two beers they make that I really love, the Hop Devil IPA. I’m not much of an IPA drinker usually, the palate-shredding aspects of some of them put me off. I prefer sweeter, maltier beers, or complex tasting Belgians. But Hop Devil, for me, strikes the perfect balance. Wild Devil, as you might have guessed, is a derivative of Hop Devil, basically mixing Hop Devil with strains of Brettanomyces yeast (often just called “brett”).
I admit, I wasn’t familiar with Brett yeast (I’m generally fairly ignorant of brewing processes — add that to my list of things to read up on), so I started poking around Wikipedia.
From Wikipedia: “In most beer styles, Brettanomyces is viewed as a contaminant and the characteristics it imparts are considered unwelcome ‘off-flavours.’”
Yikes.
However, in some styles, particularly certain traditional Belgian ales, it is appreciated and encouraged. Lambic and gueuze owe their unique flavour profiles to Brettanomyces, and it is also found in Oud Bruin and Flanders red ale. Commercial examples of these styles include Liefmans Brown Ale, Rodenbach Grand Cru, and Duchesse de Bourgogne. The Orval Trappist monastery is unique in crafting the only Trappist beer with Brettanomyces characteristics. In Orval’s case, the brewers add the yeast to the beer at bottling.
Okay. Now I feel better. Victory’s Jim Busch, who helped dream up the thing, tells me that the Wild Devil I was coveting uses their Hop Devil IPA as a base, and crosses it with the Brett yeast, which gives certain Belgian styles their sour funk. Interesting.
The beer pours into a big, round, bubbly head, very fluffy and frothy and reminiscent of a Belgian. ENORMOUS amounts of carbonation leaves huge bubbles pressed up against the glass. It pours an attractive peachy-orange blossom color, not quite as dark as the Hop Devil. The aroma springs from the glass, all citrus, light grassy hops and sour yeast — maybe reminiscent of plain yogurt. Flavor-wise, the hops are significantly mellowed, particularly on the finish. Very mellow, slick, slightly sour/bitter finish that’s very plainly from the Brett. It doesn’t at all taste like an IPA, even one as balanced as the Hop Devil. And yet it doesn’t taste anything like a sour geuze, which isn’t my favorite style.
This beer is completely different from the Hop Devil — if I hadn’t read anything about it before I put glass to lips, I’d never have known it was based off Victory’s flagship IPA. Frankly, I’m not sure what to think about this one. I enjoyed it, and it was certainly interesting, but not really what I expected. Maybe something closer to a Belgian IPA, a style I don’t have much experience with.
The reviews I’ve seen of Wild Devil have been mixed, I suspect for the same reasons that I found myself at the bottom of the glass still trying to decide what I thought about the beer: it’s just so different. One reviewer at BeerAdvocate compared it to Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA, which is pretty well-regarded, while another one described the smell as “Dusty aspirin, a little cat pee?” Ack.
Overall an enjoyable beer that challenged my expectations and pushed the limits of my palate, which made for an interesting experience if nothing else. It perhaps didn’t completely hit the mark, but I’m glad Victory is up for trying.
