Victory Old Horizontal

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

11/98 vintage sampled on 12/10/05 (7,4,7,4,14): I never thought I’d get to try this old of a vintage of this, but thanks to kp I was wrong. Pours a lightly hazy dark copper with a thin-lacing white head. Semi-sweet oxidized toffee aroma still has some mild hoppiness. Body starts sweet and caramely with some nice dark fruity notes and complexity and good viscosity. This has held up pretty well, but has definitely past its prime.

New vintage bottled on 12/14/04, sampled on 6/28/05: This is still one of the most balanced and flavorful barleywines I’ve ever had. After aging just over half a year, the hops still have a good piney presence in the aroma and nice bitterness in the body. Malt is nicely caramely sweet and hides the alcohol better than most barleywines do.

Rerate 12/21/04: Same vintage, aged two years: Butterscotch is more prevalent in the aroma with more caramel dark fruity complexity. Hops are still slightly noticeable. Still very balanced and enjoyable. This has aged very well. An awesome barleywine!

Rerate 12/8/03: Same vintage as earlier. The hops have seems to mellow down in the aroma giving way to more sweet caramel malt and some oatmeal. Palate seems to have lost a little of its smoothness as the carbonation has become stronger. Body still has a nice sweetness and the hop flavor is still in force. I think the fresher, the better with this barleywine. Although, even after a year it’s still delicious.

6/2/03: (bottled on Dec 04 02) Huge hop bouquet upon pouring. Color is dark copper with a thin covering of cream-colored head. Floral hop aroma is complemented with hints of caramel malt and candi sugar. Body is so remarkably viscous, smooth, and full with the softest velvety touch, that I’d like to rate the palate a 6. Flavors consist of a sweet and bitter onslaught of the senses. There are enough hops that this could be mistaken as a double IPA. Wonderful balance between the sweet almost chocolatey caramel malt and the floral and bitter, yet not overpowering, northwest hops. There is even a soft red apple fruitiness. Did I mention that my brain sensed the alcohol before my taste buds? Finish is the culmination of sweet and bitter in just the right amounts with dry, woody attributes. This is by far the best barleywine I’ve had! I’m so glad I bought a six pack of this. Expect re-rates about once a year.

Ahh yes, number one hundred! Gimme that crown. And a well deserving beer for the honor. This beer tastes very RED! It does not taste quite like any other barley wine that I have ever tried. It has the smallest amount of head and lace, just this side of none. Not too sweet, and does a great job with the eleven percent alcohol content. Definitely has a cherry medicine flavor and nose to it that I’m not sure if I like or not. All in all, the sheer uniquness of the flavor and the great handling of the ABV make this a winner. And as I just finished a big dinner with two beers, this after dinner one will surely have me horizontal soon.

garnet brown with a small tan head. Nice malty aroma. Wonderful full mouthfeel and taste of caramel malts with hints of chocolate, slightly sweet and warming in a very pleasant way. well done.

Opaque burnt orange body with minimal tan head. Aroma is cascade hoppy, sweet/strong malty, with strong alcohol presence. Intense sweet/hoppy/alcohol surge at the first sip. Mellows slightly as it warms, giving you the opportunity to note the good malt backbone, but all the essential barleywine elements remain intact. Finishes with a pleasantly warming alcohol burn. A fine beer!

While Three Floyds Behemoth is massively hoppy, and Hair Of The Dog is massively malty, Old Horizontal is a beautiful mixture that doesn't fall to one side of the tracks, but rather comes barrelling down the center like an overloaded freight train that never spills it's load. The rich and thickly sweet (almost syrupy) malts car carries with it a faintly fruity undertone, while the tanker car carrying the hops has preserved the fresh grassy and citrusy taste throughout it's journey. The caboose is an alcoholic and hoppy burp that echoes through the tunnel as the train keeps on rolling.

Bottled. Pours a deep reddish amber with a small quickly dropping head. Aroma is majorly malty: toffee and caramel and cereal. Hops are also very apparent in the nose: spicy and earthy. A moderate ester profile is also present. Flavor is also big and malty. Sweet with crystal malt and breadiness. Hops are spicy and citrussy in flavor with plenty enough bitterness to back up the syrupy sweetness and hop flavor. Some slight fruity esters comes through with flavors of citrus and a bit of apple and cherries. Body is very full and silky smooth and syrupy, coating my snifter with every sip. Excellent American barleywine.

Incredible strong aroma…beautiful body…rich sweetness at first, all hops in the end. Luscious.

04 vintage. Mahogany color with a quickly disappearing tan head. Aroma is a wonderful blend of citrusy hops, sweet malt and alcohol. Flavor is lots more of the same - hops, malt and alcohol. Alcohol is certainly noticeable but not overly so. Excellent flavorful warming brew. If I have the will power, it will be interesting to see how this beer ages.