Victory Old Horizontal

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

2005 bottle. Poured a slighty cloudy amber color with a bit of head in the middle and around the edges of the glass. Aroma is a well-balanced mix of fruit, malt, and hops. Very nice creamy palate. Taste is a warm, rich display of spicy malt flavors with a hoppiness at the end to compliment the alcohol. Very well done.

ReRate, Bottled in 2001: A fantastic barleywine in every way! Pours a deep dark reddish/brown with an off-white head. Beautiful aroma of cherries, dark fruit and a hint of alcohol. Taste is very sweet and malty with some spice. A significant amount of hops along with notes of caramel, dark fruits, honey, pipe tobacco, toasty malts, cherries and alcohol. Very complex, gets better as it gets warmer. Extremely well-balanced and the alcohol content is amazingly well-hidden. Slightly bitter aftertaste with a warming finish. Mouthfeel is full, round and creamy ; just glorious on the palate. Everything just comes together so beautifully with this brew. Perfect.

I tend to like the Old Ho with about 2 years on it. Mellows enough for me and is great. Aroma has some hops, pine, caramel and nice sweetness. Flavor if pretty big. Pine and citrus hops, caramel and molasses and nice body.

[Rerate 8.5.08] A gorgeous red beer with few big bubbles and a medium beige foamy head that leaves great silky lacing. Aroma of sweet malts, caramel, alcohol, a little sour. Very sweet malts, slightly burnt, a hoppy bite, smooth caramel, cotton candy, pineapple and a touch of orange. Full bodied, good carbonation, sticky finish, pillowy. Hides the alcohol very well. [rerate - with 7 months on it... much better brew, the plastic taste is gone, looks and smells a lot better too] 7.5.8.4.17 . . . . . . . . . . [rerate 11.2.09 of bottle dated November 2008] 8.5.8.4.16 Pours a clear glowing red with a huge foamy sudsy light tan soapy head. Aroma is piney and plasticy. Flavor is full of sweet almonds, marzipan, medicinal cherry, plastic, finishing piney, resinous, fruity citrus with just a touch of alcohol. It’s funny how 10% + beers seem completely normal now =p

#100 Redish pour with a thin white head. Smell of fruit. Smooth over the tounge. Decent level of alcohol in the taste. Lasting alcohol aftertaste. Good overall, and for 11% I bet I will be happier after than I was at the begining.
</br> Dark red, mellony color. No head. Aroma is slightly sweet but more bitter. Good amount of alcohol in both aroma and flavor. Body is very full and raspy hops.

12 oz bottle. Poured a deep reddish/brown with a nice creamy off white head. Aroma was not nearly as sweet as I expect from this style but had some floral hops, alcohol and musty odor that lingered in the background. Flavor was dry for this style with LOTS of alcohol warming that almost overloads the palate. While it was still fairly cool and the alcohol was some what in check I could taste chocolate covered strawberries, spice, dark fruit and lots of malt. Maybe this one will improve with age.

This bottle was aged at least 2 years, if not many more. Big malt nose with the undertones of aging. Orange chunky in appearance with a tan head. Rich sticky malt with apparent low hops. Very enjoyable.

This barleywine pours nicely with a deep amber brown hazey color, head was thin, tannish and lace in spotty sheets on the glass. Nice rich floral hop tones when first taking the glass to my nose then the caramel malts sneak in, sweet and candylicious. Taste is complex like most barleywines with malty richness, caramel thickness and sweetness and a slight smokey tone at the finish. Full notes of caramel malt sweetness thoughout. Perfect balance of twingy, hearty, mildly earthed hops, bittering to the perfect height of satisfaction leading through to the smokey-like finish. This is a great beer to knock yourself out with. Incredibly drinkable! Yum!