Victory Grand Cru

Thanks to dickinsonbeer for sharing a bottle of the ’03. Deep amber brown pour with a thick tan head. The aroma is great. Lots of heavy yeasty spiciness. Orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove over a soft corky oxidized nose. Softly toasty with a nice spicy/minty finish. The flavour definitely shows a bit of age, but the spice and mint are still keeping it surprisingly fresh. It’s showing lots of age, but I think it’s aged pretty gracefully.

2003 bottle shared by Dickinsoonbeer. Tons of mint and menthol in the nose is lovely, but a heavy oxidation has set in and weighed down the flavor. A bit murky, with sweet sherry notes and a bit much cardboard. Very dusty. The spicy and minty nose is great but the flavor is pretty dead at this point.

750 ml bottle (2003). Pours a hazy orange amber color with a medium off white head. The aroma is mainly moderately sweet caramel malt with hints of fruit. The flavor is more caramel malt, fruit, and vanilla. This one shows quite a bit of oxidation and is past its prime. I only have a slight memory of what this was like fresh, but I know it was better.

Cloudy orange colour with a white head. Malty, caramel sweet aroma with vanilla and alcohol sweet notes. malty, fruity and caramel sweet flavor with notes of hops and wood.

Bottle. A hazy orange beer with a tan head. The aroma and taste is of caramel malt, a bit oxidated, vanilla and fruits. Medium body with a dry light alcoholic finish.

2003 vintage. Pours a transluscent orage cream colour with a dense off-white head that retains very well, fading slowly to a sudsy film. The nose is incredibly malty, with notes of tropical fruit, rich caramel, candi sugar, sherry and herbal hops. Some notes of oxidation are apparent, but not to the point where it significantly takes away from the beer. The flavour is vinous and malty, with strong flavours of sherry, caramel, overripe fruits and wood. Delicious. The alcohol presence is masked by the incredibly powerful caramel and fruit flavours that must have developed further with aging. The palate is slick and full with ample, but gentle carbonation. Herbal hops dominate the finish.

(Bottle 75 cl) Courtesy of boboski. Hazy, amber golden with an off-white head. Oxidized aroma with fruit and caramel. Rich in body with sweetish fruit, caramel and some overripe notes. Oxidized, woody accents, some sweet Sherry and a whiff of yeast. Very subdued bitterness. Lovely - this has aged with grace. 190408

Bottled. An orange-amber beer with a thin orangey head. The aroma is sweet malty with just a touch of oxidation hitting the nose right at first, but then comes more powerful notes of alcohol. The flavor is sweet mlaty with strong notes of alcohol, medium notes of over ripe fruits, as well as light notes of citrusy fruits and oxidation, leading to a dry bitter finish.