Release has a beer motto. Consider this our code-of-honor: we don’t care what you drink. There are choices in beer for a reason. Drink what you like. Our purpose here is not to make you feel like a jack-off for consuming Bud, Miller, or Coors. Our goal is simply to educate and make you more aware of the quality brews that are in plentiful quantity all around us in Binghamton and nearby. Now, let’s move on to the first beer review of the semester.

Victory Hop Wallop

For those who don’t know, Victory is a microbrewery in Pennsylvania that makes high quality craft brews. Many of their brews gained a reputation due to their bold flavors and high alcohol content. You can find many Victory brews on-tap at the Ale House right outside campus, and many cases and six-packs at Sam the Beer Man on Upper Front Street past the movie theater. As for this particular brew, well, it packs a wallop, much like the name would imply. When you read a can of Budweiser and it talks about the hops it uses, you really have no idea what hops are until you try this.

Hops are a cousin of Cannabis, for anyone that cares, and the smell is somewhat similar. So once you crack this open and pour it out, a complex bouquet of aromas bombards your olfactory sense. For the untrained nose, this might be a lot to handle, as not many beers are as pungent as this. Expect to find a superb mix of piney, citrus, earthy, and grassy floral aromas. The taste is surprisingly smooth for a beer that is as hopped up as this. This is mostly due to the fact that a lot of Germanic noble hops were used, which are smoother and more mild than the biting North American hop varieties cultivated on the West Coast. Echoing the smell, the taste is primarily hoppy and has hints of the same herbal and earthy characteristics. Underlying that all is a sweet, creamy malt taste that doesn’t quite balance it out but sure adds to the brew wonderfully. It might be rough to start out with such a potent style as a Double India Pale Ale if you’ve never ventured into these territories, but it’s delicious and one of the best examples around. Go out and get it if you’re feeling brave. It will knock you for a loop.