Victory Old Horizontal

Glass: Snifter Purchased at: Canal’s Discount Liquors, Burlington, NJ (first visit, thanks, Mike) Price: $1.89 Size: 12 fl oz ABV: 11 % IBU: unknown Estimated Calories: 210 C RateBeer Rating: 99 Aroma 10 out of 10 Intensity: strong Balance: sweet Impression: nice Malt Flavor: Grain Bread Sweet Toast Raisin Hops Flavor:Mud Floral Herbal Spice Other: Cherries, raisins, grapes, prunes Notes: inviting, enticing, and makes you want a taste. Appearance 4 out of 5 Color: Ruby Clarity: Mostly brilliant Head Retention: Average Notes: A beautiful, menacing colored body, with a nice off white head that dissipates quickly. Flavor 10 out of 10 Intensity: Strong Balance: balanced Sweet and Bitter Impression: Nice Malt Flavor: Grain Bread Sweet Nut Hops Flavor: Earth Floral Herbal Spice Other: orange peel, raisin, sour cherry, oak, grape, alcohol Notes: A wonderful taste, more savory than sweet malt flavor, and with some deep hoppiness. Bill and Ron have done it again. Palate 5 out of 5 Mouthfeel Sensation: Drying Warming Body: Full Carbonation: Lively, visible Finish Length: Long Intensity: Strong Balance: balanced between Sweet and Bitter Notes: Leaves you wanting more. A very nice mouthfeel and finish. General Impression: 19 out of 20 Craftmanship: Excellent Freshness: Fresh Personal Taste: Loved Notes: Maybe my favorite BWSA. I only had to travel to Burlington to find it as a single. I did see a case of it in Bristol Township, PA at Penn Thrift. Just $50 and it’s yours. I’m saving up. Address : <http://beercritic.wordpress.com/>

12 oz. bottle. Pours amber red with a solid but quickly-dissipating light tan head. Aroma is very sweet, with honey and fresh white bread aromas. Taste is caramel, malts, and nicely-blended alcohol, with a little bitterness, more noticeably in the finish. Very nice stuff.

12 oz bottle. Aroma of waxy green leaf and light fruits and caramel. Amber color with ruby in the depths. A beige head went up and down. Full bodied with coarse carbonation. Flavor is caramel/toffee sugar with strong, yet subtle, light stone fruit flavors. Heat goes down the throat. Finish is far from dry, and it’s even a little sticky, yet it does not come across as sticky sweet. Seems to be some hop bitter. Not enough to balance, but enough to render it drinkably pleasant. There’s a whole lot of flavor going on.

Listed as 11%. Served it a bit too cold (52* or so). Pours with a smallish, foamy, light brown head covering a hazy amber body. Head goes pretty quick. Some lacing, as well as alcohol legs left on the glass. Aroma has some unnatural element to it (either plastic or plywood), but following that there are currants, berries, toffee and maybe even coffee malts. First thing to notice upon drinking is how creamy-syrupy the mouthfeel is. Quite nice. Flavor has lots of alcohol, and then is quite a bit more malty towards the finish than other barley wines that I have been drinking recently. Taste is fruity up front, and there is a slight metallic note to it. Good, but not habit forming.

Another very good beer from Victory. Pours a dark amber with a thin off white head. Aroma of dark fruit and caramel malt. It is actually a very drinkable Barley Wine that hides the 10.5% incredibly well. It was actually a lot better then I expected and I would buy it again.

Poured from the bottle into a pint glass. The beer had a deep, cloudy amber color with a good-sized, foamy-creamy tan head. The aroma is mostly sweet fruits, some earthy and maybe even citrus hops tones, and caramel malt too. A powerfully bitter taste, but also with compliments of fruity sweetness. Wet, full body in the mouth, with a potent kick of alcohol too, almost overpowering in its force; lighter carbonation, only a moderate fizz. The beer is pretty good, but very intense, an all-out onslaught on the mouth.

This was my first barleywine. Nice frothy head and cloudy in the mug. The taste was very punguent & complex, almost like bitter, sweet, malty, and alcohol all hitting your tastebuds at once. Definitely an acquired taste. I winced at the first sip, and until the alcohol numbed my palate it was really quite difficult to drink. I don’t think I even need to mention the walloping 11% ABV. Good beer, but I can’t drink often.

Thanks to ogglethorp for sharing. ’05 bottle: Pours ruby brown, frothy head. Tastes of earthy, caramel malts. Full mouthfeel, finishes warm and bitter.