Victory Old Horizontal

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

On tap at the brewery. A dark amber color with a moderate head. A good syrupy texture with some orange, oak, cherry, molasses. A slightly bitter aftertaste. A nice barleywine.

Update: The fresh hop character of this beer is tremendous. Brings the big barleywine to life. Excellent. Nice big beer. Aroma of Amontillado. FLavor of blackberry, graham crackers and Amontillado. This is just so fine.

The taste I had was from a bottle aged for two years. Very malty. Lop in hop flavor, its more malt. Enjoyable.

RERATE: 4/20/06. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, purchased at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA, 7/25/03. 2002 Vintage. Rated blind. Hazy, dull clay orange-meets-dark brown color. Fairly slight head, creamy pale tan with a touch of orange and quick, somewhat beady lacing that falls mostly in large sheets. Aroma is slightly fruity with zesty caramel-drizzled berries, crisp creme brulee crust, brown raisins/dates and brown sugar. Fairly gentle overall, but sweetly inviting for every sip. Flavor is surprisingly mellow caramel with a scratchy toastiness, soft raisin and dusty, brown, biscuity nougat. Bitterness throughout which is wonderfully integrated with the caramelization-- very gentle. Full body with a velvety carbonation that fluffs and soothes your tongue against the apparent alcohol prick. Finishes with toasty, soft caramel dough, surprisingly dry, concealing a tinge of crystalline bitterness that feels like an expertly controlled twiggy flavor. Sticky on the lips in a slick film. The finish seems more complex, with more pronounced flavors *and* more variety, than the initial swirl. There are *tiny* notes of oxidation (hints of metal in the nose and "sogginess" to the flavor), but I don’t mind it much at all in a barleywine. Especially one as terrific as this. Eminently drinkable. I love barleywine. This is a great one. (9/3/8/5/18 - 4.3) ORIGINAL RATING: Poured out of bottle, purchased at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA, 7/25/03. Pours to a rich amber color with moderate head, dissipates but good carbonation and decent lacing. Delicious smell of fruity sweetness, barley, and even a little cinnamon. Tangy bite on the first taste, nice full mouthfeel with good zesty fizziness and a little bite of bitter hops and spice on the end. Flavor does not have much sweetness-- only enough there to fill out the mouthfeel and make it go down easy. . . and it works. Surprisingly smooth and very, very tasty. This is a very delicious barleywine. (9/4/8/15/16 - 4.2) Final rating reflects some kind of average between the two ratings.

Wow! Much better than my first barley wine experience. Delicate lacing with a beautiful amber color. Not too sweet and exploding with flavor. Mostly berry flavors accented with a hefty hops presence.

5/30/04: Bottled on 11/15/2002.
As I just bought a house, I decided to try this one as a house warming celebration. Brown to garnet body with a fair amount of light tan head. Some lacing. Slightly sour malt nose with notes of plum and alcohol. Fruity taste; plums, candy, malt and a wee bit of hops. Quite complex and very smooth. Thanks to Cider Guy for this hook-up. This was a prefect selection for my first evening of home-ownership :)

A sweet malty smell with hops too, along with another sweet sem I could not put a name to, it color dark amber, but clear not cloudy. The flavor is very malty with a warn honey alcohol taste.

Red/brown tint with no head worth speaking of. Definitely smells like a hopped up barley wine. Some fruity tones hiding in there as well. The flavor is very nice. Balanced. This is such a pleasure to drink.