Victory Old Horizontal

Pours dark reddish amber, dark fruits, malty, caramel, slightly earthy, dry finish.

Pours a wonderful reddish amber. The head is a substantial and long lasting off white foam with nice lacing the whole way down. Smells of warm caramel sweetness with under tones of the floral hoppiness that makes all Victory beers distinct. The mouthfeel is nice and thick, reassuring. There is a sharp carbonation but fades quickly to an oily liquid that coats the tongue. As many have said, you don’t get a wall of alcohol taste, even with the high abv. The first is malty and spicy (hints of cloves or cinnamon) but that fades to a nice sweet warming middle. The end is long and hoppy. There is this hint of what I can only describe as dried cherries that comes through every once in awhile. Another wonderful example by a very strong team in Downingtown.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy dark amber with a nice yellow head that settles down to almost nothing. Huge aroma of caramel, toffee, spice, alcohol, raisins, dried apricots, and lots of licorice. Taste is very dry up front and in the finish. Starts with some spicy alcohol, cinnamon, and earthy notes and then goes bitter with some dark fruits and apricots. The high abv is very well hidden. Bitter, dry finish will a long aftertaste of dry hops and barley. Very good.

Bottle from Spirit Haus. Amber body. Short head. Caramel and malty nose. Taste of dark fruits, also hops. Malts towards the end. Strong alcohol level well-hidden. Excellent.

Pours a deep reddish amber, with an expectedly thin (high abv) light tan head. Smells like a dream. Tons of caramel malt, with a wonderful balance of bittersweet hops and deep, fruity, sticky malts. Even a hint of cranberry or cherry. The flavor intensifies the hops up front, smoothing out to a very malty back end. One odd thing - the bitter hops linger forever in your mouth, while the malts - even though they hit later - fade first... making the aftertaste sharply bitter. It’s thick and rich without being sticky, and very smooth - hides its 11% very well. For something sold in a sixer, this is wonderful.

12oz from Kenwood bottle-shop. Pours dark amber with off white or light brown head that sticks around the edges, spotty lace. Aroma is mild caramel malt and wet socks with slight alcohol zing.Aroma is very light, belying the bold, deep malt pine-sap, turpentine-oak with a delightful hop front and surprisingly mild bittering. "Barley wine-style" is a name I believe denotes a "lite" or "dumbed-down" version of a very old style that few are willing to go all the way with (DFH comes to mind), but this is marvelously bold and terrifically well balanced. you could drink pint after pint of this and fall down very satisfied!

Beautiful looking beer bought bottled from (of all things) a local pizza shop. Very pleasant nose, and very nice initial flavor. Finishes with a lot of malty flavor, almost too much. Overall, one of the better beers I’ve had, though.

bomber from the brewery.. floral hops with a hint of sweet caramel / honey , one of my favorites from victory... i’ve had all of their beers and this is one that i took the time to rate