Victory Old Horizontal

wow this one packs a punch. quite a bit of alcohol in this one and i didnt like how long that lingered. not very thick for having this much ABV content.

Vertical tasting at the 2nd Annual Hell With The Lid Off Barley Wine Festival at Kelly’s Bar in East Liberty, Pittsburgh.

2004--Hazy apricot, thin white head. Aroma is the best of the three: malt, spices, sour dough, apple, pear. Flavor is malt, grass, bitter alcohol.

2005--Darker hazy orange ruby, thin white head. Aroma is fainter fruit, malt, grass. Flavor is grass, wheat, pine, malt, alcohol.

2006--Best flavor of the three. Clear amber ruby, thin white head. Aroma is quite faint: fruit (banana), malt. Flavor is banana, grass, wheat, plum.

Overall rating is 3.7

Pours crimson bronze with a tan bubbly head. The aroma has heavily toasted malt with some dark fruits, 7-up like character, some abv warmth, light anise and other spices. Medium / full body with a good amoutn of unobtrusive spritzy carbonation. The flavor starts with lots of woody / earthy hops with a big ol’ malt backbone - it is fairly harsh, but not really in a bad way. The finish adds some spice, but the woody hops still take center stage. Very nicely done, but not something I would want as a frequently consumed beer.

12oz bottle….poured dark amber brown with decent amount of off-whitish brown head….inital aroma is hoppy and then lots of caramal malt…taste has a sharp pine-hop bite with a good amount of malt trying to balance it out although imo, it never really does. there could be a better balance between the two. and the alcohol is evident at 10.5 abv. it does. however, get better as it warms...all in all though, i would prefer a more balanced barley wine.

Poured from a bottle into a regular glass this one not so much very alcoholic smell and taste. This one was hurt the stomach. I know it was rich in character but a character I do not like. Just not my style but do respect the taste.

Bottle. Pours a brownish red with a limited head aboard. Nose is lovely, fruit-filled of dried plums. Flavor is strong and alcoholic. A very intense barleywine. I prefer them lighter with more sweetness. This one was prommising based on the nose, but fell flat, limited carbonation, upon tasting.

bottle- was going to let this one age a bit but, im a bit to curious for that just now... pours cloudy deep rust color, with a somewhat foamy offwhite head. pretty good retention. oof this smells strong. alcohol... some citrus and cherries in there,it is quite fruity. holy hell this is a beast of a beer. it is strong... citrus up front grapefruit, very sweet as well but not too much. it seems quite hoppy for a barley wine it almost seems to start as a barley wine and finish as a double ipa. *note to self buy another one and age.

Nice hops balanced with just the right amount of sweet malt. Thin head with a nice copper red color. Overall nice balanced barleywine. Re-rate: Tried it again last night. Flavor is bigger than I remember with a great lingering finish. Excellent beer.