Victory Old Horizontal

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

Jan 6, 2004. Ruby Coloring. Small Ring. Some Barley..Raisin - Bread Dough. Sweet Tasting. Some Warming. Didn’t Find This to Be as Good As the Hype Suggest.

01 Nov 07, BW Tasting. 2005 Vintage. 12oz bottle. Reddish brown. no head. Heavy aroma of toffee, malt, & alcohol. Big Hop presence. Big bitterness in the finish which covers most of the alcohol on the palate.

Je, that beer rocks! Terrific grain, malt, alcohol, pepper and chocolate nose. Amber red color with a little layer of head leaving brussels lace. Peppery, rum and figs taste. Smooth, silky. Numbs only the sides of the tongue, but the alcohol is in the background. Unbelieveable how silky this brew is, I want more....more,...more!

Bottle. Pours burnt and cloudy orange. Small head. Aroma of citrus and raisin. Almost smells like orange juice. Tastes like a little glassful of heaven. Citrus, toffee, hops at the end, Taste is tight, and very delicious. One of the best I’ve tried. Part 2 of 5 of my barleywine fest. This if a multi-night "fest." If not, I would definitely be living up to this beer’s name.

Evening: 10 p.m. - 12/24/02 - the skies of Northeast Ohio are clear. 12/25/02 - 7 a.m. - Our daughter’s awake, ready for daddy to assemble the toys that Santa brought, and there’s 8 inches of snow in the driveway. So begins our Christmas day - we travel and visit and eat and deliver presents and eat and visit and eat and drive and eat and, finally arrive home safe and sound. I immediately grab this Old Horizontal (thanks V) and assemble more toys. Burnt orange - very clear - but bottle conditioned. Sweet fruits, strong yet gentle hops. This is 11%, but I don’t taste any alcohol at all. There’s not much more to say, this is by far the smoothest, most seductive barley wine yet.

Not a good looking beer, hazy reddish amber,fast fading beige head leaves a flat lifeless liquid. Nose of toffee and alcohol.Sweet profile,toffee,brown sugar, medium alcohol heat. Lasting but not strong hop finish Either a poor offering or I got a bad bottle Poorest effort I have had from Victoey

Not much different about this one over many other barleywines out there. Rather malty base that was balanced out by a strong hoppy presence. The flavor was accented by somewhat of a grapefruit touch, but the mouthfeel was slippery and thick (oily / syrupy). Not my cup of tea, but suprisingly not overhopped.

Bottle: Poured a clear light brown with a small head and very little carbonation. Aroma is very sweet with a subtle touch of alcohol. Taste is bit too sweet (candi sugar-like?) for my liking; I would have preferred a more subtle sweetness (plums). Alcohol gives you a nice warm feeling at the end that I did enjoy very much. Great balance with above average body. Nice one from Victory.