Victory V12

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

750 ml. Bottled on Jan 09 06. Was visiting Wis last July and was at Discount Liquors in Milwaukee. The wife and I spotted this one on the way to check out by registers. Well I was telling her we already had a lot of beer to send back to AZ and a 750 bottle like this would be in my carry on already going to be heavy. Well glad she convinced me to get. It was good and was looking for a beer in the house to toast the Detroit Tigers for beating the Yankees and sending their sorry team back to New York. Thus a beer with VICTORY was just the right one to have.
Mild fermentation of fruit, caramel and grainy aroma. Body color was a murky caramel with tan beige head that settled to a creamy cover on top of body. Mild Lacing. Flavor was little over sweet but had a creamy texture of caramel malt and a mild zesty bitterness to balance it out. Big yeasty sour shot of alcohol in the end. Smooth on the palate with an alcohol warming effect on the body. Great brew, glad the wife talked me in to picking this one up.

Whooooooole 750 to myself. Tee hee. What’s a wee lass to do but dive in? Beer is clear, medium-dark hued mahogeny-brown colored. Large, frothy, light brown, mostly diminishing but lasting head that shows great affection for the walls of the snifter. The aroma is pretty darn correct to BSA, but doesn’t hit the high notes. It’s malty with moderate notes of toasted grain, caramel, cookie; Hoppy with a moderate note of resin, light-to-medium notes of dried apricot and lemon zest; Yeasty with light notes of bread dough and dust; Miscellaneous notes include light alcohol, rawish wood, and a trace of spicy candied orange peel. The flavor is heavily sweet, lightly bitter with a long, warm, moderately bittersweet finish. The body is full, the texture is syrupy and the carbonation is lively. A nice, but no beauty queen.

Spicy, robust aroma. Huge head on the pour. Full bodied, vodka and strong malts, little hoppiness and big flavor. Kind of roasty and pretty rich.

750ml oz bottle via Hi Time. Pours an almost clear but slightly hazy orange/amber color with a MASSIVE head that hangs around for quite awhile, leaving a lot of lace on the Pilsner glass. Nice sweet herbal aroma with notes of ginger,bananna, and vanilla. Smells a bit like a saison? Taste starts out very sweet and ends sweet and spicey. The flavors are hard to desribe...sort of like an alcoholic bannanna/peach/wheat with a slight burn. In any case, i like it. Unique, complex, and good. 12%?? LOL, you would never know, and you might never know what hit you if you aren’t careful.

25 oz bottle, bottled on 08/27/2004. Pours a clear bright copper colored body under a small fizzy off-white head that faded to a thin ring and a small island. The latter due more to the Chimay glass than the beer itself. Aroma is fill of sweet malt with some candy like toffee and caramel notes. Some alcohol, dates, grapes, and a hint of yeast. Flavor is very alcoholic and sweet with alot of toffee and overripe fruits. Finishes quite hot with a little bit of an aged character. Mouthfeel is full bodied with a thick syrupy texture and soft active carboination. Overall, this was decent, but not really much in the way of complexity.

bottle-mar 2005. Good aroma with a small yeast presence. Good orangey appearance with a decent size head, quickly dies. The flavor is fantastic, almost the well balanced flavor of a quad. Great aftertaste and very smooth with the 12% hiding well. Good belgian. Cheers!

22 0z. bottle on 9/12/06. Huge yellowish head over a hazy gold pour leaving a heavy lace behind as the glass empties. Noticeable alxohol in the aroma, but also some peach, apricot, vanilla, and other fruity notes. Rich and smooth with a light carbonation. Flavors of toffee and light fruit are partially offset by some light bittering, but the fish is somewhat sweet, but not clouying in any way. Flavorful, complex, enjoyable.

What can i say, other than that this beer is a great example of a belgian strong. Spicy and nuitty notes blend with a wonderful thick malt back. This does not taste like a 12%. Another great beer from Victory.