Victory Ten Years Alt

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Altbier
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

Pours with a cloudy amber-brown body topped by a medium thick head with lots of lacing. It’s sweet and malty to start with a very slight roasty note, turning bitter and hoppy in the finish. Medium bodied, tingly on the tongue and a touch of dryness.

Pours a really nice looking mahogany, with a one finger head that fades to a thin swirling cap and ring, leaving behind a decent lacing. Smell; slightly nutty, with almonds and bits of walnuts. There’s a subtle vanilla with a little bit of chocolate, and some really nice earthy notes. Taste; lots of caramel malts upfront in this one, with slitghly bitter nuts, and some raisins and figs. The chocolate and vanilla are there but not to strong, with some floral German hops in there, and just a touch on the bitter side. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and a little bit drying, with a pretty good drinkability. Wish I had picked up a sixer of this instead of just the one bottle. As has been stated by others, you gotta love the fact that Victory brewed an Alt for their Tenth, a style that’s not really all that common.

Bottle thanks to Engelsmann. Clear red/brown - white head. Bread, berries, caramel, hoppy, citrus, garpe, light metallic - bad storage ??

12 ounce bottle from...mmm, don’t remember, somewhere in Wisconsin, summer 2006, served at cellar temperature in a Fitgers pint glass. Deep dirty/ruddy caramel-brown hue with a creamy, lasting off-white bubbly head that laces well....roasty aroma, a bit lactic, fruity (tart apples and peaches) and growing in caramelized maltiness with warmth.....very sweet, full and thick on the tongue, burnt & caramelized sugars playing nicely off an acerbic dark roastiness with pleasant light herbal touches....again a bit of lactic sourness is noted, probably this is a little old though that may be my fault; not enough to really detract from what is a solid American alt that would probably be a real treat on tap on a mild spring day.

Pours ruby/copper color with a large head. Good lacing. Aroma is sweet, dark fruits, cherries, caramel malts and spicy hops. Medium body. Tangy sweet fruit finish (long). Really good beer.

Complex, layered, balanced experience. Sweet than tangy than bitter than dry. Tingles the taste buds throught the finish. Earthy, musty, roasty malt, hops, apple, rasin, spicy resin, chocalate. Noticable alcohol burn. I guess I like alt afterall.

I’ve not had very many altbiers, and am not sure this beer fits within the category. While it was certainly pretty pleasant, I found this beer to much more closely resember a dunkelweiss than an altbier. This beer pours a light brown body and with a very fizzy and short-lived white head. The aroma is a very sweet maltiness, like a dunkelweiss. Aroma is more sweet maltiness, and also reminiscent of a dunkel. Mouthfeel is full-bodied and appealing.

Bottle, August 2006. At 8.5% this can hardly be regarded as typical of the style but its certainly an interesting beer. Attractive bronze/copper colour. Bags of rich malt throughout. Touches of chocolate and liquorice in the flavour. Full, but very smooth mouthfeel. Alcohol is not too intrusive. There is a fair degree of sweetness here but I found I could tolerate it better than I normally can.