Victory Ten Years Alt

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

[Bottled, thanks chris_o!] Amber colour. Ashy nose. Sweetish with clean, rounded mouthfeel and medium body. Finishes with some salty licorice. A bit shallow in character.

Bottle. Pours orangey red with an off white head. Aroma is malt and pine with tanginess. Flavor is Caramel, tangy, pine, and malt. I can detect the alcohol in this one.

Good shot at the style with maybe just a little too much alcohol for me. Sweet citrus notes along with decent malt character. Very complex, yet smoothed out. Nice drinking, even my wife liked it.

Without even thinking about it, I opened this a day before my 10-year wedding anniversary. I also opened it while moving into a new house, having spent four hours loading a 26 foot truck all by myself and mostly emptying it by myself for another four hours. It was an incredibly welcome relief, but not only that, I thought this was great. Rich chestnut brown color. Beautiful caramels but mountains of assertive hops, first metallic but then simply flowing into a very flavorful combination of citrus and herbs. Still retains that essential alt malt character, with impressive balance. Great body, well supported and tingling the mouth too. I’m not sure how close this is to style (nor do I much care) but it is the best alt I’ve ever had.

Very excellent offering from Victory, as usual. A strong ’Alt’ brew that doesn’t have an overdone sweetness tone, but a balanced malt and smooth flavor.

Copper colored, with a creamy off-white head. Nice caramel aroma, with some herbal notes, too. Piney flavored, with some sweet toffee and caramel flavors, too. Vaguely savory finish. Tasty.

I have had this beer several times now. I had it on-tap Friday night at the Victory party, On-tap Saturday night at the victory party and from the wooden barrel. I am now having it in the bottle and it is just as good. In fact I enjoyed it even more at home. I didn’t take notes previously so I do not know if it really is better in the bottle or just the fact that there are less enthusiastic distractions in my home; and the relaxed experience allows me to focus on the beer better at home. Nonetheless, those of you who had this beer at the party, do not fear that you’ll get something less in the bottle. I did worry it wouldn’t be as good, and it is great! I my opinion this beer has absolutely no faults whatsoever. It is an instant favorite of mine. Appearance: It is a dark amber color that is pretty much transparent (very enticing just by appearance). A nice whit head and decent lacing. Smell: This beer portrays a big but gentle sweet malt aroma. It smells of caramel, brown sugar, birch or cherry wood, a sprinkle of spices and a hint of brandy. Taste: The flavor is dominantly a brown sugar sweet malt. It also featured caramel, a hint of molasses, a dash of pepper and just a hint of cherry and apple. I know this beer was not aged in a wooden barrel, (I had that version at Victory’s party) but it still seemed to have a hint of that wood flavor like in a Woodford Reserve Bourbon. As a huge fan of Bourbon and Brandy all I could think of was my dream come true, a whiskey beer. That does not mean you could taste the alcohol. The 8.50% ABV was completely masked; buried so deep that you would never imagine it was more than 5% until you finish the second one and realize it :) The hop character is firmly yet discretely present. The floral hops show them self only through mild spices and grannysmith apple or lime peel presence found alongside the pepper flavor. Not overly green just enough to keep it nice and crisp. What a perfectly balanced flavor. Excellent! Mouthfeel: It is smooth and slick at the beginning and the end with a hint of peppery crispness just before the swallow. Drinkability: I can drink this till I fall over! Wow. I am flabbergasted. It is so smooth an yet crisp; sweet yet bitter, it is IMO, everything a beer should be! What else can I say. It is an absolute must have. Try it and see what you think! Hope this is helpful. Cheers!

Bottle. Fermented fruit aroma and what seemed to be a wet dish rag there also. Caramel colored body with tan head. Decent pale citrus flavor the leaves a somewhat dry grapefruit aftertaste. Decent beer.