Tag: Victory

Beer Review: Victory Old Horizontal

I have two biases that I want to clear out-of-the-way before we get moving along:

  1. I love every Victory beer I’ve had. Why? Because they make lots of delicious beer.
  2. I have yet to love a barleywine. Why? No idea but I keep trying them and waiting for that to change.

I really don’t know why I’m not a fan of barleywines. Lots of people seem to love them but I just think they are OK at best. I’ve contemplated that my disinterest could be related to the name, though I know quite well that this beer has nothing to do with wine. Wine is fermented from the juice of grapes, beer is from barley. A barleywine is only wine like in its strength (ranging from 8 to 12%). I find that unlikely and really think that I just haven’t had one that I really “grabs me”. I continue to persevere and assume that one day my palate will change and I’ll fall in love as has happened with stouts and sours.

Back to #1 and my love of Victory beers. They make quite a few delicious beers all of which I’ve had (those of which make it to Ohio) and enjoyed. Somehow I missed this one before and then they took it out of rotation 2 years ago. Luckily they’ve brought it back this winter and I picked up a bottle as soon as I could find one. Here’s what Victory says about Old Horizontal:

As much as we love to see you here enjoying our beer, we encourage you to buy a bottle of this one and head home to savor it within the comfort and love of your own retreat. There you’ll discover why ‘horizontal’ is in the name.

Massive amounts of barley malts, combined with fresh harvest American hops make it aromatic and spicy on the nose. Floral, fruity aromas slide into honeyed malt depth with lingering sensations of candied and citrus fruit. Late warming alcohol brings all of these flavors into wonderful harmony to finish.

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Beer Review: Victory Dirt Wolf

Victory Brewing Company is one of my favorite breweries and is, in my opinion, underrated and underhyped. Golden Monkey, Storm King, Prima Pils, they’re all amazing beers that you should seek out if you haven’t had them yet. Victory is replacing their Imperial IPA Hop Wallop – which is a very accurate name for it – with a nuclear bomb of new flavorful hops and calling it DirtWolf. Here’s their PR blurb:

Darkly heroic, Humulus Lupulus (hops) have empowered brews with bite and character since the 11th century.  DirtWolf is a tribute to these untamed vines which rise from the earth with the voracity of a “wolf among sheep.” Hops have made an assertive comeback in American craft brewing.  Revel in the best U.S. varieties of hops, in their natural, whole flower form, as they bring a vital, pungent reality to the soul of a wild element in our dangerously satisfying DirtWolf Double IPA.

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Beer Review: Victory Silverback

After my recent post on Victory’s Storm King imperial stout the comments on reddit brought to my attention a delicious idea I’d never heard before. Turns out that at the Victory brewery you can order a beer called a Silverback, now you won’t find this on any store shelves, it’s a mixture of half Victory Golden Monkey and half Victory Storm King. The white head from the Monkey on top of the black body from the Storm King give this brew it’s Silverback name. I’ve had a black and tan before, Guinness stout & Bass pale ale, and quite enjoyed them. However I have no idea what to expect from a stout and a Belgian tripel except for one thing; both of these beers are over 9%,so I will be drunk!

I poured the Golden Monkey first and ended up using a bit more then half of that before I got to the Storm King. I’d read that this didn’t separate this well like Black & Tans so I tried a trick and poured the Storm King on a spoon over the Monkey, as you’ll see it didn’t layer well either.

Very interesting appearance for sure. Kind of a dark brown or purple color beverage with a milky white head with streams of brown from the Storm King.

Woah, pungent aroma with plenty of roasty malt action as well as some flowery hops. Oh and a strong dose of alcohol.

Taste is curious as well definitely picking more of the stout here then the tripel. Strong malt body and taste with citrus and pineapple hops not found in any other stout I’ve encountered. Hints of chocolate, caramel, orange peel, and lots of “zest”.

Holy carbonation Batman! I’ve had fresh soda flatter than this, man those are some tingly bubbles, all riding atop a smooth medium body.

This has to be one of the most interesting beers I’ve tried. Not nearly my favorite by any means but most interesting for sure, no style has ever come close to this menagerie of taste and flavors. They’re good and all but not great, and that carbonation is a little over powering. This is certainly worth a try just bring a friend to split it with. Remember what’s interesting isn’t always the same as what’s good.

Beer Review: Victory Storm King

Following up last week’s review of Victory HopDevil, their IPA, I’m switching tracks and trying their imperial stout, Storm King. First here’s what Victory says, then on to the review:

Emerging from the deepest shades of darkness, a rolling crescendo of flavors burst forth from this robust stout. The thundering, hoppy appeal of Storm King subsides into the mellow subtleties of roasted malt, exhibiting an espresso-like depth of character in its finish. An exquisite blend of imported malts and whole flower American hops merge harmoniously in this complex ale. Discover the dark intrigue of Storm King, as it reveals the rich, substantial flavors that it holds within.

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Beer Review: Victory HopDevil

Long ago I feel in love with Victory’s Golden Monkey (my review of it) and I’ve tried most of their brews though never given any others full reviews. I intend to change that starting now with their IPA HopDevil. The artwork is awesome though the name is a bit much. This is a very hoppy beer, but not quite “devil”worthy. Here is what they have to say about it:

The mythical HopDevil® resides in the lore of farmers. Our HopDevil is the real deal. Bold, spicy and menacingly delicious. He’s the product of distinctive American hops and meticulous craftsmanship. Arising from the heady wilds of our hopback and gently tamed with time, this Devil makes a great companion.

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Beer Review: Victory Golden Monkey

I’m gonna get this out of the way first, this beer is my overall favorite beer. I underline my and overall because this is my opinion and because it is my favorite when all aspects of the beer are considered. I’ll go into more detail on this in a bit, just wanted to let people know where I stand on this beer and where this review is headed.

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Beer Review: Dogfish Head’s Saison du BUFF

I’ve never been a fan of sour ales but 2012 seems to be the year for saisons (aka farmhouse ales). Quite a few different breweries are producing these extremely sour beers. So despite by bad past experiences I decided to give the Saison Du BUFF a try. I’ll do the review first then explain a bit about saisons and the story of BUFF.

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