I've always loved Victory Brewing Company's Hop Devil. It's a rare and unique version of a British IPA. Well, maybe not completely rare and unique, since American brewers started expanding on the style decades ago. It's not just that they throw more hops at IPA than the British usually do, they also throw different kinds of hops, too. But Victory goes beyond the hops; they changed the grain bill on it's IPA, too. Replacing British malts with classic German malts made a difference, too.
Far be it from the enterprising folks in Downington, PA to stop there, however. Indeed, not content to leave well enough alone, they decided to make well enough even better with Victory Wild Devil Ale, a variant on their beloved Hop Devil that focuses on the idiosyncratic character of Brettanomyces yeast. "Brett" yeast as it is commonly known is famous for it's funky flavor and aroma. These traits are often described as "funky" or "horse blanket", though never having tasted a horse blanket myself I've always wondered at the latter. Suffice it to say you should try the a beer brewed with Brett yourself to get a common point of reference.
Wild Devil is sold in corked 750ML bottles. Mine was bottled on April 22, 2009 and purchased near the end of July. At $7.99 a bottle it's a good buy, too. Victory says the beer is brewed with imported German malts and whole flower hops. It's bottle conditioned and dry-hopped, I believe. Alcohol content is slightly higher than average at 6.7% by volume.
I didn't seem to be having much luck with my Wild Devil, or perhaps I should say my Wild Devil ran wild, indeed. My first problem was getting the cap off (dry cork). I had to fight with it and even though it's a twist-off style cork I was forced to use a corkscrew to pry it open. When I did, I got surprise number two: a gusher. My bottle started spewing foam like Mt Vesuvius, and my kitchen counter was soon covered in the stuff. Indeed, after pouring some in a glass (mostly foam) the bottle still wouldn't stop erupting.
Finally, I got about half a bowl-shaped glass of dark murky orange liquid capped with a thick, rocky head of foam. The nose was delightful, however: so, so spicy with hops and Belgian brett yeast character. Sipping the beer I get a moderate body of chewy malt at first, but it's almost instantaneously overwhelmed by a truly delightful funky brettanomyces yeats character. Then, the hops take over, grassy, bright and citrusy, even more resiny, they're long, dry and herbal in the finish. It's a Victory beer, so as you might expect there's a long dry, deep buzz of bitterness that's deposited in the finish.
Just a delightful beer and an Orval clone, really. Worthy of five stars if half of it hadn't turned to foam, it gets four all the same.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft