Great Divide Hercules Double IPA

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Denver, Colorado USA

22 oz bottle: Full off-white ‘holey’ head – intriguing lace. Beautiful & enticing caramel pine-hop aroma, so soft it puts the mind into a dream trace…clear bronze. Deep pine flaovurs – sticky sap, gooey caramel & sweet resin with a long hop flower bite in the finish. Amazing – this really is a session double IPA? Creamy & smooth palate. The finish is a mix of great bitterness & herbal qualities…what a beer!

12 oz bottle. Pours a rich creamy amber. Smoked meat (ham/bacon?) on the nose...odd but intriguing. Floral and chocolate notes deveolpe. Very hoppy on the palate. Some smoke, chocolate citrus and floral notes. Hoppy and grapefruit-y finish. A very interesting beer.

Pleasant,distinct but not bold aroma, a quickblast of nicely blended malt hop that drys out very fast on the palate. This taste becomes sweeter as it warms,but the hop aftertaste was a little strange,oily and yeasty, good stuff, but Dogfishead, Three Floyds, Stone and Alesmith have better aftertastes

12 oz bottle (the new ones). This is quite a project of a beer, although a rewarding one. It pours to a syrupy orange haze, emitting wood, floral hops and a heavy dose of malt. This one seems to highlight its malt complexity more than its hops, but the result is a satisfying and sturdy beer unbound to seasons or moods. It’s just not the beer to enjoy when you want that soothing hop bitterness on the back of the throat without the herculean malt characteristics.

Amber color with a thick and lasting white head. Fantastic citrusy hop aroma that also reveals plenty of malt backing. I’m immediately struck by the strong Grapefruit flavors in this beer. At once, it’s bitter and hoppy and immediately sweet. Perfectly balanced. This one will be making regular fridge appearances.

Bomber courtes of mreusch (thank, Matt!) Pours a nice deep clear copper color with a two finger, cream colored head that diminishes to considerable lacing. Nose is very sweet, with pineapple and floral hop aroma, with a atouch of caramel. The flavor is spot on, but not quite as strong as the nose. Very enjoyable, with caramel, yielding to a touch of bitterness, and finishing dry and clean. Very good beer.

Creamy off-white head, clear reddish amber body. Fully hoppy aroma. Mostly a sprucy pine thing with some raw feet-like grapefruit. And as always, I have to characterize the malt as a caramel thing. Maybe flowery caramel. Taste has.... hops! More caramel present here, and hops that lead the way are sweet and piney. There is a barely detectable rusty quality to. Nice resiny feel. Some vodka type properties come through in tatse and aroma as it warms. Very good beer. Nice to have a new top notch IIPA! My only beef is that there is nothing new in it that differentiates it from the Dreadnaught types...

bomber...poured a clear amber-orange liquid and off-white almost tannish head....aroma was of arefreshing citrus sensation with a nice hop profile....taste was very good with a great balance of malts which paired up perfectly with the hops. mouthfeel was nice nice and carbonation level was just right. i’ll be coming back to this one.