Victory Old Horizontal

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle: Pours amber with a small head. Aroma and flavor of hops. A little too smooth. I did not taste any fruit at all. Not bad, but not great.

This beer is excellent, sensuous and silky barleywine. Your tongue is blanketed in sheets of divine maltiness with just enough hop punch to provide a perfect balance. There is not a trace of astringency or ethyl alcohol roughness to be found. This is a must for malty barleywine lovers.

2005 bottle at kelly’s 2008 barleywine festival. pours a clear brown amber with a big off white head. nose is strong hops with piney and floral notes, great bready and caramelly malt, with a slight hint of alcohol, which plays into the flavor very well. floral and citrus bubblegummy hops, with an assertive caramel malt, some cherry notes. thick, coating, chewy mouthfeel, medium to full body, light bitterness, pleasant sweetness, lots of carbonation. this was my pick of the entire festival. with all those hops, it almost borders on a double ipa, but the caramel brings it back, and it’s just soooo good. edit: i’m now sitting at home, enjoying a year-old old hor. there is an amazing brown sugar and caramel note, along with some nice spicy, cotton candy, and apricot hop/malt tangles. this is just amazing. as many times as i’ve had this, and said wow each time, this is just my favorite barelywine. i’ve had a lot of them, but this is my favorite. wonderful.

The pour is very dark brown. Taste of mixed fruits, molasses, oak, brown sugar, and hints of alcohol. The alcohol is masked very well. I was expecting the alcohol flavor right away. This is a very smooth sweet tasting brew.

Aroma of caramel, cherries, brandy and hops. Flavour has oak and lots of molasses and hints of overripe banana, with hops prominent. Medium bodied. Warm, burnt caramel aftertaste. Victory delivers every time.

2008 bottle. Dark brown color, nose of figs and sherry. Flavor is a little sweet, a lto malty, but with a hoppier finish than some barleywines. Loved the balance there. Outstanding beer from an outstanding brewer.

Bottle. This beer’s initial pour is a work of art; a thin orange head that quickly goes down with a red/brown body. The aroma is mostly sweet fruit and some candies, but fairly light. The taste is really a great effort; some dark and citrus fruits, a sweet candy aspect, a bitter hops, and a some malts. Maybe the best BW I’ve had. So damn smooth, but also very complex.

Appears dark brown in the body with a tall tan head produced from the pour, but shows a clear ruby tint when held up to the light. Spicy hop aroma balanced well with caramel and brown sugar from the malt. Sugary sweet and slightly bitter hop flavor. Alcohol is hardly noticeable.