maniac (11822) reviewed Hop Wallop from Victory Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Clear golden color with a thin creamy white head. Aroma of citrus hops and some grassy notes. Mild citrus bitter flavor.
notalush (7339) reviewed Ten Years Alt from Victory Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Tap at Waterfront Ale House, Brooklyn - Hazy light red in color - lots of fruity esters in the aroma, mostly strawberry, some citrus to compliment the moderate hoppiness - a little on the sweet side - lots of sticky, caramel malt sweetness and sugar-covered light fruits - hops are assertive, but still not enought to counterbalance the sweetness - some darker roasted malts and a smokiness come in near the end, making things a bit more interesting - I salute Victory for not going overboard for their anniversary ale, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it very much.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Ten Years Alt from Victory Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draught pint at Sunset Grill on 3/23/06
Frothy, but small and mostly diminishing beige head atop a bright auburn-magenta-tinged copper-amber. Light chill haze to it, with some minor lacing.
Nose is surprisingly bursting with fruity hops. Well, perhaps not bursting, but they are large, round and full of yellow fruit notes. Plenty of ripe peaches, predominantly, with a light brassy-mineral note of alt yeast, deep toasted grains providing fair depth with no sign of alcohol. Light poundcake sweetness is quickly curtailed by bitter, dry, tettnang-like soily/hay notes. Of medium strength is the aroma.
The flavor continues the hop trend, with bountiful bitterness wedded to lightly sugary pale malts, with a tastefully done toasted malt, vienna-like huskiness that seems to offset the juicy hops perfectly. Very impressed with the abundance of hop flavors and bitterness without any suggestion of PNW. Good for them. Fairly nominal texture, with mostly tight carbonation, perhaps a little too expansive at times, but deep enough malts, peachy-fruits from the hops, hay, sweat and grass as well, and no sign of alcohol in the flavor. Darkens, with more sign of the roasted malts, as it warms, but nothing to get worried about. Balances the drinkability of an alt with the added flavor and gravity of a sticke alt.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Pale yellow color with a thin white head. Sweet grain aroma and a similar flavor.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
December 05 bottle. This poured with no head. The color is dark copper, cannot see through the beer. The aroma is hop heavy, I’m thinking similar to SN Bigfoot. But the taste is great, awesome, surprising. The hops are present and very noticeable. Surprisingly smooth for 11%. The bitterness of the hops is present at the end of the flavor. The other barely wine flavors are subdued in the alcoholic taste department but the sweetness is there. The body is lighter than expected for a beer like this. The palate is a little lacking, with little texture and no essence of the brew felt. I am enjoying this with a sweet navel orange. This is a young brew and I have another bottle of the same batch, which I will re-rate in later. 7/4/9/3/18=4.1
Same batch, same six pack, a bit more than a year later. Bottle was cellared for about 6 months and closet stored (mostly cooler months) for about 6 months. There is no head and just a bit of lacing. Aroma is still full of hops, of course not as fresh, citrus and heavy sweet berry. Richer and deeper malt flavor seem to come out as well, dark fruits, plums. But also what seems to be DMS is setting, a buttery thick molasses aspect. Taste is very light still in comparison to this big beer. Sweet and bitter hop flavor (think bitter slightly brownish strawberries). Then comes an astringent hop finish. After a year seems to be going way downhill. More ratings to follow. 7/3/7/3/15=3.5
Same batch, same 6 pack, cellared for most of the time (about 31 months). Pours with a large head that fades to a thick, glass sticking, lacing. Aroma is musty fruit and "sitting out too long tea" British maltiness." Taste is lots of English tea with BW-like fruit accents. Well... I am not more impressed than before. 2.5 years old and its just getting worse. Fortunately, it seems the DMS-like aspects have faded and turned into a weird British-tea like aspect. 7/3/7/3/14.
Last bottle from the 6 pack, 4.5 years old. Old fruity hops, still decent and a tea-like malts. No sign of oxidation. All and all decent.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
This is a very interesting and complex beer. Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a dark caramel color with a large tan head. The aroma is bready with an element of ripe fruit and a complex spicy undertone. The flavor is bready, yeasty and spicy with some caramel and pepper. There is a bit of an alcohol burn. The body is moderately thick and smooth.
maniac (11822) reviewed Ten Years Alt from Victory Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Amber color with a thin reamy white head. Dark malt aroma with some hints of smoke. Sweet flavor with hints of caramel.
Silphium (4308) reviewed Ten Years Alt from Victory Brewing Company 20 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Dark amber body, medium off-white head. Cerealy, grassy aroma, toast, and caramel. Toasty body with light caramels and delicate sweetness giving way to harsh, astringent, bitter hops that last through the finish. The end result was like chewing on the backyard leaf pile after it burns and smolders awhile. Almost medicinal in quality. I’m going against the grain here, but this was not enjoyable.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 9
Pour is a murkey brown with a small tan head. Aroma is strong caramel matls with a nice earthy hop backbone. Flavor is earthy and fruity with lots of peat-smoke bitterness. Alcohol is there but not a problem. Prob one of the best barleywine’s i have ever had. Yes it is as good as the hype.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
Pour is a complete black with no head. Aroma is dark chocolate with some coffee. I don’t really get the hops that the bottle told me i should be getting. Flavor is strong coffee and chocolate with a small amount of hops that finally show up. Very silky and smooth. Above average but not the best as it lacks the punch most impy stouts give you.