Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Another winner from Victory. Bottled on 10-25-02. Thanks to urbnhautebourg for hooking me up with this one! Being a Stoutie I was really looking forward to this one and I was not let down. I was reminded of a cold cup of coffee as I poured, it was that color. Aroma of coffee, dried fruit and chocolate. Wood-burned flavor of malt, alcohol and espresso kept my interest throughout. I'd like to try a bottle that has aged a bit next time, because I have the feeling it would be even better. Thanks to Victory for living up to their name again!
Ungstrup (52110) reviewed HopDevil from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
I have to rate this - even though it's some time since I had it (against my own rule). But this was without comparison my favorite beer from my June visit to the NE US. The hoppy bitterness stands out in a class of it's own - all I can say - try it - if You have the chance.
notalush (7339) reviewed Golden Monkey from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 10 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
I've had a six pack of this sitting around the house for weeks. When I first tasted it, I thought it was vile. But, after the third attempt (the pack cost me 12 bucks, I wasn't going to waste it), I found it to be one of the tastier new beers I've tried in quite some time. It's certainly an acquired taste, but one worth acquiring.
notalush (7339) reviewed HopDevil from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
[as with their other beer, quality has suffered as of late] This is the best IPA I’ve had in a long time. The color is perfect, and the hops melt perfectly into the overall flavor of the beer, rather than overpowering it like in most other IPAs. My only complaint is that it doesn’t smell nearly as good as it tastes.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
[quality has suffered greatly in recent years] Outstanding! Quite simply the best stout to come around in years. Perfect color, smoothness, taste. You can’t even tell it has such a high alcohol content until it hits your stomach, and even then it just leaves a nice warm feeling. These victory guys are the best new microbrewers out there, by far.
Bitterbill (4330) reviewed Prima Pils from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
I had to go mail order just to try this Pilsener out and I have to say, it was one of my better decisions. I've never tasted a more bold sample of the style: Enormous hop flavour when first poured..almost like it's a totally unbalanced brew complete with enormous carbonation but wait a few moments and everything seems to settle down. The taste of malt finally creeps in and the huge bubbles are now small. Almost like 2 beers in one; the foamy head is retained through both stages of this beer's life. ;^)
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed HopDevil from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2002 bottle Oh wow did this smell good. A rich brownish-golden color, with no head. Wonderfull fresh aroma with a hint of. . .cucumber/spices?? The taste was amazing. I expected alot and it delivered. The most floral ale i have tasted, but still maintained a great hop presence. Had a medium body that finished smooth and fresh with a nice warm hop flavor left on the palate. I couldnt believe this was 6.7 alcohol after i drank it. i still can’t. What a wonderful beer, by a wonderful brewer. CASK 2003! Wow, had this on cask. Speechless. Such warm tones and wonderfully fresh cascade hops. Even with a round bitterness at the end that lingers and grows stronger. Great amount of body.
2004 bottleBlind tasting. Very relaxed, herbally and lightly malted. Mineral water flavor, with some sharp grassy/spicy tones on the finish. Very distinctive, but I don’t think the bottled version will ever live up to the cask version I had.
2015 bottle drunk fresh on 10/4/15.
Wow, been quite a while since I’ve really taken a look at where this beer is. Oddly enough, it’s less resinous (actually not resinous at all) than Prima Pils. At first I was a bit put-off by the bready, caramel malt dominance with that hard, stale-like crystal malt finish. But as I kept drinking, I have to admit to being charmed by the lovely, floral, delicate hop bouquet both in the nose and flavor. Herbs, fresh grass, watermelon, meyer lemon and no pine or heavy citrus anywhere to be found. So that’s definitely worth something, in this day and age of massively overdone IPAs (and even the ipas that arent obnoxiously resinous are often just so monotonously citrusy that they’re no fun). Not a worldbeater, nor was it ever, but still very drinkable and enjoyable.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Sunrise Weissbier from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Pretty good beer, better than sam adams weiss. Nice bitterness to complement the spice. I wish this beer was heavier and wheatier though.
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Old Horizontal from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
2001 bottle. Consumed fresh. wow! what a beer. tastes like blueberry pie with alcohol in it. Great amounts of barley make this a rich meaty beer. What a great color, the color beats foghorn and bigfoot i think. Deep red/ almost magenta. taste stays with you, and is neither too cloying nor overpowering. yummmmmm. 9/4/10/5/19
2003 bottle. Fresh. Oh ya, been way too long. Amazingly rich flavor of sweet barley, rich fruity alcohol esters. Great english toffee flavor with tons of complexity. Lovely grain-like alcohol/cognac mouthfeel and flavor. I absolutely love this, but then English-style barleywines are my favorite. 9/4/9/5/17
Jan. 2004 bottle 14 months old. Slowly working on trying the different vintages. I look forward to trying this beer, as it has long been one of my favorites. However, the 2004 didn’t really do it for me. Still a good pour, bottle conditioned, nice head and all. The flavor was way too forceful, it seems like they have amped up the hops bitterness in recent years, or perhaps this bottle is still far too young. Whatever the case, the flavors seemed blunt, and overbearing, lots of hops, sticky, strong caramel malt. Aroma of strong alcohol, yellow candied fruits, sweet toffee. Rather uninspiring, but hopefully just too young. Looking forward to the 2002 bottle I have in my cellar. 8/5/8/4/15
Dec 03 2004 bottle Consumed 8/3/2005. Incredible masking of alcohol, which is puzzling, as it seems rather filtered. NO sediment whatsoever left in the bottle, and only a slight haze to the body. Though it still looks a lovely auburn-magenta. Aroma, however, had soily, resinous hops, dry earthy malt, brown bread and light toffee. The aroma was not very intense after only 1 year. Flavor was a bit of a let down as well. It’s even and drinkable, with a good integration of malt and hops, but the malt gets rather boring, the finish is way to quick. Too much filtration on this beer now. Caramel and toffee, with some yellow fruits, bitter hops and low carbonation. It was good, though I think it’s gone down hill lately. 7/4/8/4/15
Dec 2005 bottle consumed on 6/22/07
18 months old and not too bad, I gotta say. Pretty much the definition of the American barleywine and still with quite a bit of bitter, citric, leafy hoppiness. The nose seems rather crudely yeasty, with dirty notes and a dull, bland, vitamin-like note. But the malt is bready and caramel-like, with minimal roasty/toastiness. Fruity hops and caramel dominate the beer. Light alcohol, not too bad for its size.
A real hard, woody, bready feel to the flavor, with low carbonation, light chocolate and mostly tons of hard caramel. Bitter hoppiness, green and leafy tending mostly citric. Still that liquerish finish, not as smooth as it was, with too loose a carbonation and quite decadent. Respectable, and one of the first of its kind, but what’s with that dirty yeast nose?? I dont even know how I’ve calculated my overall score at this point.....
Dogbrick (24210) reviewed Old Horizontal from Victory Brewing Company 23 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Thanks to austinpowers for this one! It's pretty obvious how this one got its name. Alcohol taste is at the forefront. Very enjoyable when you take your time with it. You won't be pounding these back, kind of the beer version of a Port wine. All in all a great Barley Wine which makes me want to try other ones.