Victory Old Horizontal

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

22oz bottle. Trade with TheEpeeist. Thanks. Pours close to amber with a red & orange hew & a lasting small creamy head on top - Wauw!. Nose is complex of various things. First is the dark fruits - resin & plum. Then it is the malty caramel. Nice citrus hop note also. Very smooth, soft & full mouthfeel. Sugar & alcohol is noticeable - but far from overpowering. Sticky lips. Well made & truly fine barley wine!

Bottle. Pours a mahogany body with a tan head. Big etoh aroma with lots of lush fruits of orange, and plum. Some light hop character that i remember being much more distinct the last time i had this. Richy pine and alcohol, quite refreshing. Actually quite good, im a fan.

Sampled at LCRBM 05. Extreme wooden aroma. Cloudy red brown. Wooden cognac flavors, quite sweet. Wooden dusty aftertaste.

Draft 1998 (5.5 years old – 7/25/04) Very malty and harsh alcohol. Dare I say past its peak? I enjoy 3 - 5 yr olds best. 8 5 8 3 15
Draft 2000 (3.5 years old – 5/29/04) Simply Incredible!! Amazing malty and fruity nose and palate. Lightly hopped still. This is downright incredible, I love it!!! 9 5 10 5 19
Draft 2001 (2.5 years old – 7/26/04) Red amber no lacing. Intense nose. Taste of caramel malt, cinnamon, vanilla, and cherry skins. Soft sweet and malty, with warm alcohol. I love it!!! 9 4 10 4 17
Draft 2002 (1.5 years old – 7/26/04) Lightest of the three I had tonight though also the cloudiest, still with no lace. Malty and spicy with a harsh alcohol. 8 3 8 4 16
Bottle 2002 (1 year old – 11/13/03) Poured a cloudy brownish reddish color with a small yellowish tan head. Strong but sweet dark fruits, interlocked with a nice hoppy nose. Huge malty and hoppy taste. Fruity grape aftertaste, with alcohol being barely noticeable. Very fulfilling for this freezing November night. 8 4 9 5 17
Draft 2003 (8 months old – 7/26/04) Deep copper color, and a sweet aroma. Hoppy and husky dark fruits and malts. This was too intense when young, and I stand by my theory at Old Horizontal at 3 – 5 years is amazing!

Rating reflects samples tried pre-winter 2004. Once they switched to the new brewery, the Old Ho seems to be nothing more than an ordinary, run-of-the-mill barleywine.

Bottled January 6, 2004; Tasted September 17, 2004: Pours a lovely dark amber with a very thin head. Holy barley nose, Batman! Oh damn... it’s lookin good! Eh? Where’s the taste? There’s some barley, there’s some alcohol... where’s the rest of it? I wouldn’t mind laying one down for a few years, but I found this to be immensely disappointing and lacking in the flavor I expected it to deliver.

Bottle. Dark golden colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, fruit, licorice. Flavour is hop, fruit, alcohol, licorice, malt. Lovely beer.

2001 bottle. Consumed fresh. wow! what a beer. tastes like blueberry pie with alcohol in it. Great amounts of barley make this a rich meaty beer. What a great color, the color beats foghorn and bigfoot i think. Deep red/ almost magenta. taste stays with you, and is neither too cloying nor overpowering. yummmmmm. 9/4/10/5/19
2003 bottle. Fresh. Oh ya, been way too long. Amazingly rich flavor of sweet barley, rich fruity alcohol esters. Great english toffee flavor with tons of complexity. Lovely grain-like alcohol/cognac mouthfeel and flavor. I absolutely love this, but then English-style barleywines are my favorite. 9/4/9/5/17
Jan. 2004 bottle 14 months old. Slowly working on trying the different vintages. I look forward to trying this beer, as it has long been one of my favorites. However, the 2004 didn’t really do it for me. Still a good pour, bottle conditioned, nice head and all. The flavor was way too forceful, it seems like they have amped up the hops bitterness in recent years, or perhaps this bottle is still far too young. Whatever the case, the flavors seemed blunt, and overbearing, lots of hops, sticky, strong caramel malt. Aroma of strong alcohol, yellow candied fruits, sweet toffee. Rather uninspiring, but hopefully just too young. Looking forward to the 2002 bottle I have in my cellar. 8/5/8/4/15
Dec 03 2004 bottle Consumed 8/3/2005. Incredible masking of alcohol, which is puzzling, as it seems rather filtered. NO sediment whatsoever left in the bottle, and only a slight haze to the body. Though it still looks a lovely auburn-magenta. Aroma, however, had soily, resinous hops, dry earthy malt, brown bread and light toffee. The aroma was not very intense after only 1 year. Flavor was a bit of a let down as well. It’s even and drinkable, with a good integration of malt and hops, but the malt gets rather boring, the finish is way to quick. Too much filtration on this beer now. Caramel and toffee, with some yellow fruits, bitter hops and low carbonation. It was good, though I think it’s gone down hill lately. 7/4/8/4/15
Dec 2005 bottle consumed on 6/22/07
18 months old and not too bad, I gotta say. Pretty much the definition of the American barleywine and still with quite a bit of bitter, citric, leafy hoppiness. The nose seems rather crudely yeasty, with dirty notes and a dull, bland, vitamin-like note. But the malt is bready and caramel-like, with minimal roasty/toastiness. Fruity hops and caramel dominate the beer. Light alcohol, not too bad for its size.
A real hard, woody, bready feel to the flavor, with low carbonation, light chocolate and mostly tons of hard caramel. Bitter hoppiness, green and leafy tending mostly citric. Still that liquerish finish, not as smooth as it was, with too loose a carbonation and quite decadent. Respectable, and one of the first of its kind, but what’s with that dirty yeast nose?? I dont even know how I’ve calculated my overall score at this point.....

(Bottle 12 Fl oz) Shady red orange color, tan head. Citrus hoppy scent, some butter. Sweet and some alcohol as well. Thick mouthfeel. Alcohol taste, warming. Sweet and malty. Sweet aftertaste. A little bit grainy. Medium bitterness.