Victory Bags Packed Porter

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Porter
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

First, Porter is not my favorite style, but this is a pretty remarkable beer; if their mainstay porter is the Workhorse, this is more of a Thoroughbred Porter. Second, my glass was hand drawn from the cask, not bottled or even kegged, which may artificially inflate the scores both for appearance and palate. It pours dark, almost black, with a huge dense brown head, looking like a hand drawn Guinness, leaving pretty amazing lacing both on the glass and on my upper lip. Mouth feel was dense and wonderfully light and creamy at the same time. Nose of burnt malts and chocolate; taste was simple like a porter, not complex like an American stout or Belgian Quad, but remarkably intense. About the best that a porter can be. Clearly in the style of a Fullers London Porter. Higher score is largely due to the fact that my glass was from a hand pumped cask.

Draft that I am drinking right now. Pours dark brown toward black with dark brown edges and off-khaki head. Nose is roasty rauchy dark malt, chocoff, tobacco. Tastes roasty, rauchy, with a solid dark chocolate flavor. Almonds and Wheaties emerge late, giving this one a well balanced and very flavorful lifespan. I’m glad I growlered this one.

Cask at Victory. Pours a deep brown with amber notes and a medium creamy tan head that left nice lacing. Aroma of milk chocolate, toasted malt, nuts and roasted notes. Flavor was of this great milk chocolate maltiness, toasted grains, Cheerios and nuts. I really enjoyed this porter!

Sampled at the brewpub. This one was good…a lot going on here. Rich flavor of chocolate, roasted coffee beans and a noticeable fruitiness which complimented the typical porter flavors quite well. Both hugely sweet and hugely roasty. Good stuff.

[Draft @ EB+B] Poured a dark brown, reddish / mahogany color with a medium sized, light tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, burnt wood, and light caramel. Taste of cocoa, roasted malts, a bit of toffee, burnt toast, and a dry finish.

Draft at EVT. A perfect looking beer with a two finger head and nice clarity. Smells like a cocoa milkshake. Flavor is nicely toasty and nutty with a nice hop bite. A really tasty beer with a slight milkyness to it. Plenty bitter too.

Brown in color with a bit of chocolate and roast in the nose. Flavor is roasty, chocolatey, and has a bit of coffee with some sweetness. Best new Victory beer in awhile.

Tap at The Blind Tiger. Poured a dark thinnish black. Nose was big coffee, chocolate,and burnt malts. You would figure this to be a big mouthful, but it is definitely on the thin side. Flavors are not thin though, they are big and pronounced.Very nice coffee bitter finish.