Victory Ten Years Alt

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

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.

Bottle. Pours a clear dark amber color with a small, rapidly dissipating white head. Aroma of malt, sugar, spice. Flavor of caramel, sugar, something spicy, roasted grain, floral. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, sweet, dry finish. Pretty good.

Great looking. Very enjoyable. High alcohol version sticke alt that captures the alt character I love, the slightly sweet, rich, roast malt up front completely giving way to a nice dry bite finish.

Big thanks to Sneagrams3 for the trade. Pours amber / garnet with a cream colored head. The aroma has sweet caramelized malt with a cinnamon-like spice - very clean and full. Medium / full body that is slick and has light carbonation. The taste starts with earthy, but clean caramelized malt and light sourness. Then some of the cinnamon spice appear followed by some spicy hops that appear only briefly on the finish. There is a lingering earthy malt that sticks around as well as traces of abv. Very nicely done.

bottle-thanks to vyvvy for the sample of this unique alt. pours lighty hazy red amber with a small soapy white head. lightly grainy and slightly alcoholic nose with lots of toasted grains and a nice yeast twang. really smells like an alt that has been jacked up a few notches. hops? i didn’t get the hops that many were mentioning. flavors are malty, toasted grains, sweet alcohol, and a nice yeast kick on the finish with the lingering carmel malts and light grain husks. Really stands by style as a good, amped up, representation of this unique style. very good job Victory!

Despite being close to the expiration date, this beer has kept a hefty dose of hop aromas, translating into a potent leafy, laurel, old socks and earthy perfumes (better than it sounds!). Kinda tea like within its slightly citrusy (orange) boundaries. Nevertheless, the hops maintain more of a bittering than aromatic function, letting rather sweet berries and figs fruitiness shine through its rather toasty foundations. Surprisingly lean bodied, easily drinkable for that magnitude and the alcohol is a no-show. Pretty good.

Clear amber/brown with a small, creamy, light tan head that fades quickly. Nose of bold, resiny hops over biscuity, toasty graham cracker malt. Malt over hops in the flavor, same notes. Balanced, medium body. Excellent altbier.

12oz bottle. Filtered and clear with a lovely deep amber hue. Sparse clinging white head. Fruity hops and medium malts are apparent in the aroma. Bready and appley with a touch of raisin sweetness in the nose. Medium bodied and super dry. Medium malt roast and a great woody, earthy bitter chocolate malt charavter. Lively and tingling. But texturally layered and sophisticated. Sweet malts, Tart flavors that meld into bitter and dry hoppy finish. It hits all aspects of the tongue. Caramel malts, as said before, bittersweet chocolate, a well hidden alcohol burn that becomes more apparent as the beer warms and the other flavors and palate subside. Nice musty note as the glass is raised to my lips, and in the mouth for just a split second. Quickly raplaced by the dry, hoppy monster that is spicy and has a subtle grassy flavor and aroma. The finish leaves the mouth sticky but somewhat puckered. The dryness is counteracted by the sticky piney, resinous hop profile. If this is an alt bier, I love alt biers! Great complexity, great melding of layered flavors and a truly wonderful offering from a great brewery!