Victory Old Horizontal

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

Bottle. Thanks to kramer17801 for this one. Pours a clear amber color with an off-white head. Sweet malty hoppy aroma with some hints of caramel. Sweet malty hoppy warming caramel flavor. Sweet malty finish with some nice hoppy hints in the aftertaste.

I tried this on tap last night in Downingtown. The aroma is typical of barleywines, with hints of port wine, brown sugar, honey, and apple jacks. I drank it cold, not waiting fo it to warm, and found it to be representative of the style. The alcohol is definitely there, but the brew is smooth. I only had a 7 ounce sampler, but I imagine that a few pints of this would sneak up on you and knock you for a loop. A great barleywine.

Bottle, BB Dec 29, 2011 (so a Dec 29, 2006 bottling, I assume). Head is initially small, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy dark amber, unfiltered. Aroma is moderately malty (caramel, cookie), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers, orange, apricot), with notes of candied fruits (mango, pineapple), tangerine, honey, coriander. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Full body, creamy/velvety texture, soft/lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Back to form? This used to rate in the low 4’s all the time for me, then last summer I tried one and it was unimpressive (3.5). This batch seems quite lovely again. Previous sample seemed clear, this one’s definitely unfiltered...that could certainly account for the improved character. Based on other recent Victory samples, I feared the worst for this one, but it looks like this batch is a winner...yum!

2002, bottled. Great robust deep reddish-orange, very thin creamy ring of foam lasts throughout. Nose of brandy and figs is to my olfactory sense somewhat disappointingly weak. Flavor of tobacco, caramel, grapefruit is powerfully tangy and full of alcohol and fire; definitely on the "young", hoppy side of barleywines. Really comes into its own at the end, when a lovely smooth vanilla character manifests and the sharpness slowly fades away. A mite overrated in my book, but still very good; I look forward to the bottles I have cellared in a year or two.

shared this with duff and eczematic and like both of them i think i was slightly past my rating peak by this stage. a huge amount of flavour - melon, vanilla, sultanas and a fair bit of alcohol coming through. perhaps a little too heavy on the citric hop attack, it just came a little too early for me as i was still enjoying all the rich malty flavours. but i'm starting to get a little used to this kind of american beer and would like to try this again soon

12 oz bottle. Aroma of waxy green leaf and light fruits and caramel. Amber color with ruby in the depths. A beige head went up and down. Full bodied with coarse carbonation. Flavor is caramel/toffee sugar with strong, yet subtle, light stone fruit flavors. Heat goes down the throat. Finish is far from dry, and it’s even a little sticky, yet it does not come across as sticky sweet. Seems to be some hop bitter. Not enough to balance, but enough to render it drinkably pleasant. There’s a whole lot of flavor going on.

Tried yet again, in a 2004 vintage. The aroma hints a little more alcohol. This Si slightly less buttery and more piney. Still awesome, even when only a year old. Another 2001 vintage bottle thanks to a trade with ClarkVV. Slightly cloying in the buttery and sweet character. Original rating follows. From a 2001 vintage bottle. Tons of flavor and aroma. Dark, ruddy body with a little sediment. The head was small with a light tan head. Smells like maple, caramel and raisin bread. The taste is very rich and sweet at first. As you continue to drink, it mellows and some hops definitely come out. I also detected orange peels, raisins and bananas. Very smooth. Excellent barley wine. Thanks milkmandan.

Big, sweet, malty, alcoholic cookie dough aroma that is definitely quite fruity (apricot, peach) and flowery. Clear deep dark copper with thin but dense tan head that recedes to cover with good lacing. Very sweet and fruity, lots of residual sugars contributing a big malt cookie dough flavour and very strong hop bitterness that just kind of sneaks up on you. Notes of apricots, peaches, pears, vanilla bean - alcohol is virtually unnoticable. Light carbonation and really smooth mouthfeel make it really easy to tip this one back. It’s very sweet and very hoppy yet perhaps not so well-balanced - at times, I feel that the bitterness and maltiness are fighting rather than complementing each other. Still it is well worth a try. Perhaps aging would be the key to mellowing and marrying the flavours. Bottle.