Victory Helios Ale

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

Bottled 4/1/05. Sampled from a 750 ml brown bottle this beer poured a hazy ocher-yellow color with a huge white head that faded quickly. The aroma was spicy, citric and dry. The flavor was sour, tangy, dry, bretty, citric, spicy and had a earthy undertone and a long wheaty, bretty and earthy finish.

I wasn’t too impressed with this offering from Victory, it poured a dark golden color with a bit of hazing & cloudiness, not a whole lot of head though, a little bit of lacing around the glass, nose of grass, lemon, light hops & yeast, the body was very spritzy & carbonated, the alcohol showed through more and more as the beer warmed, it even got a little rougher around the edges as it warmed as well, this was a little overly-carbonated with a fizzy mouthfeel, flavors of lemon, citrusy orange, bitter hops & a bit of rye bread, too lively of a finish, I was really hoping this was a little more subtle, kind of like Sly Fox’s Saison, but it just didn’t reach that level, this was a bit of a disappointment

Pretty good for an american version of the saison. Bottled in 2005 it seemed to have mellowed out alittle bit, not a bad beer.

Bottled on April 1, 2005 and consumed on April 1, 2007.
Bright, magnificent and pale copper in color with an everlasting one inch tall, white, sudsy head. Aroma is rudimentary, earthy and tart. Lemon shortbread meets coriander and water starved prairie fields. Flour aromatically dusts sweetened potato bread. Ginger, pears and gala juice sweetly meet husky and calmed lemon flavors. High effervescence treats with a potato bread harvest to garner admirable bready predominance. Light alcohol livening warms the tonsils while candied Bartlett pears provide the base. Creamy and dry performance, with grains of paradise and coriander sticking to the tops of pils malt, as the prairie wind blows them through to the finish.

Courtesy boboski. Poured slightly cloudy light straw color with faint, wispy white head. Mildly grassy, sweet aroma with some corn-like smells. Medium-bodied, well-carbonated. Very mild spicy taste, pepper, earth, some citrus. Overall, doesn’t do much to distinguish itself.

Rating is a combination of notes from two bottles, both bottled on April 1st, 2005. One was consumed at exactly six months of age, the other at exactly the two year mark. A saison should easily withstand the 24 month mark, as Fantome and Blaugies have proven is a reasonable timeframe for aging and mellowing. The sample at two years of age shows no signs of deterioration, but hasn’t improved one bit, just changed radically. Almost clear light gold/yellow pour. Quickly diminishing, fizzy, pure white head. Aroma is of light and fruity yeast character aged, hot and caustic spiciness fresh. I wonder if a pleasing balance was reached and quickly skipped over whilst the second bottle was lying down. Citrus notes of orange are peppery and exude a corn syrup sweetness. Light aroma overall, focused but not anything special. Flavor is a drier, heavily carbonated and higfhly acidic version of the aroma. Finishes with a salty taste lingering, heavy alcoholic warming that hasn’t faded with time and moderately drying. Palate is sticky and overzealous. Not for me, not one I’d care to revisit either.

Courtesy boboski. Hazy yellow/gold with lots of small floaters. 1cm of dense white head. Flavor and aroma of crisp hops, grainy malt, zesty yeast. Dry finish. Medium body, balanced carbonation. Not much complexity, but tasty and drinkable.

Sampled on 8/2/06: Pours a clear bright golden with nicely-lacing frothy white head. Sweet bready pale Belgian malty aroma has a good floral spice and yeasty presence. Body starts with a sugary sweet maltiness and a drier, peppery spice with a touch of orange tartness and a good balance. A nice saison.