The final beer from this run was brewed using Vic Secret hops, which is another new cultivar from Australia.
The
aroma of this beer was dominated by a big passionfruit note. I also got
mango peel and tangerine notes from it as well. The aroma intensity was
good, but not quite as high as the Enigma and HBC-438 beers from this
group of trials.
The flavor of the beer was more of that big
passionfruit that was on the nose, supported by some pine undertones.
The intensity of hop flavor was moderate and let some of the malt
character show through. The bitterness was smooth, with some lingering
resin character through the finish.
I am a big fan of Vic Secret.
That passionfruit character is distinct and intense. It makes me think
of Galaxy, but it isn't quite as intense and doesn't have as much of the
stonefruit or citrus I get from Galaxy sometimes. Vic Secret will
definitely have a home in IPA's, but its lower intensity would also let
it work in some other styles that may get overpowered by something like
Galaxy or Citra. The ubiquitous "hoppy American wheat" would be a nice
summer sipper with some Vic Secret in the dry hops. I could also see
this working well with estery English yeasts if you're looking to get
creative. A Landlord-style pale ale with Vic Secret in the whirlpool has
a lot of potential.
Although it's not quite as potent as some of
the others (it's not mild by any means, just not crushingly intense), I
think Vic Secret is my favorite of the hops I've used on this run. I recently brewed an IPA featuring Vic Secret as the primary hop, along with some X-17 and Meridian, and I was very happy with the results.
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