Victory Old Horizontal

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

Draught @ Victory: Nice reddish color, poured with a small head. Big sweet, fruity aroma, and the alcohol is well hidden. The taste just warms you to your feet. Some hoppiness with the malts & fruit. Also, I get a hint of roasted and chocolate malts. It might have been better with age, but why wait! 7-2-05: Had vintage 02 and 03 brews on -tap at Victory. This beer is absolutely stellar. Without a doubt, the 2002 was the best of the lot.

A strong, licorisy ale with a kick. It certainly lets you know it has 11%! But a great beer to be tasted every year or allowed to sit and ripen for a future tasting. Victory shows its mastery of the style with this one!

Light brown color with a orange/red hue.Small head that faded quickly but left a light amount of lace behind.Fruity,malty aroma with a nice spice tone to it and nicely sweet,with a nice hop presence.The alcohol manages to stay well hidden in the aroma.Heavy syrupy feel up front that is very sweet and fruity with a nice mild malt side and decent hop presence.The after taste is fruity and hoppy with a nice alcohol burn going down.I can see why it's so highly rated,it's a very well done brew and tasty as hell.The syrupy feel isn't much to my liking but the flavors are outstanding. wich makes up for my lack of interest in the feel.Thanks to Wawood for another fine brew.

Pours a murky tan/orange/brownish with a moderate off-white head that has decent staying power. Aroma is fruity--maybe peaches/apricots? Berries too? Start is a sweet fruityness like the aroma, which then turns into a lillte hoppiness/alcohol burn very briefly, then turns into the pleasant sweet fruityness at the end. A very smooth and drinkable beer with a great palate. 11% is hidden very nicely.

Bottled Nov 13 02. Orange/amber color with a few proteins floatinf about. A smaller, but respectible for this style, light tan head. Aroma of cascade off the top, with a touch more malt and alcohol as it warms. Sweetness on the front of the tongue followd by a sharp hops bitterness, with the tongue further assulted by a sharp alcohol kick in the finish. Light fruit flavors followed by fermented raspberries. Changes all the way through the sip. Alcohol distract just a bit too much for this to be world class, but awefully close.

i don't think i know her well enough to call her "my old hor", but this sweet vixen of a barleywine is strong enough to toss me on my ass anytime i get sassy. the cinnamon brown pour is a cloudy melding of plum reds and burnt oranges. with it's desert sand colored head-- just watch the dotty lace undulate downward like the distant streamers of spent fireworks. robust and earthy smell of a humidor with plump fresh cigars from the tropics and the cedar boxes that cradle them; plus cakes baking and their gurgling yield of gooey amber caramel. velvety texture with only a bristle of carbonation to signal it's vivaciousness, the flavor arrives on the dessert tray: a bread pudding with rum, raw cane sugar sap and the formidable bitterness of heavy citrus zest and pineapple cut close to the rind. after a couple of these, a serious buzz ensued in which i found myself on my knees reverently intoning my favorite passages from "ultimate beer" by michael jackson.

One of America's very finest barley wines. Perfect amounts of hop bitterness in a lingering madeira like after-taste. One of the few in this style that tastes perfect right off the store shelves with no aging. I am going to put one away though for a rainy day. WOWW! (4.9) Re-rate (1/5/04: Now don't get me wrong, this is a world-class beer and I love it. But I am sitting here drinking this and realizing that I have had better brew than this. I know that it sounds a little off for someone to say such a thing about such a beer but I have. I still love it and will continue to worship this brew as it should be worshiped,... AMEN!