Victory Old Horizontal

I had been holding on to this bottle for quite some time and finally decided to break it out for my first local tasting. Poured a deep amber color consisting of a small white head. Sweet toffee, fruity, malt aroma with a mild floral hop character in the nose. Much hoppier than I expected to the point where it vetoed the sweetness. Mild malt notes and some almond come through as it warmed. Bitter resin finish. Fine, fine brew.

Had it in a bottle at home. THANK GOD! If I was anywhere else I would have been in trouble! Very strong in both alcohol content and sweet flavor. Lingers in the mouth and becomes more appealing with every sip. Definitely can put you to sleep on the Old Mattress, as my girlfriend refers to it. Outstanding. Victory Rules!

I really can’t add too much that has yet to be said. I just think the overall balance of this barley wine is outstanding. Great texture and mouth feel from the start to the finish!

Damn happy I finally got to sample this fantastic Barley Wine during a recent visit to NJ. What a treat!! Pours a deep mahogany/burgundy color with a slight haziness. Produces a thin, wispy off-white head. Deeply rich aromas of dark dried fruits (fig, raisin, prune) along with some dark rum, molasses, spice, dark caramel and orange peel with just the faintest hint of hops. Palate is medium bodied, but has a smooth sryupy texture with minimal carbonation. Flavor is predominantly fruity sweet but short of cloying. Reminiscent of rum or brandy soaked fruit cake topped with toffee candies, buckwheat honey, vanilla and a sprinkle of dried orange peel and hops. 11% alcohol amps up the flavors nicely, but not hot or obtrusive in anyway. For a big English style BW this one goes down fairly easy and smoothly. Simply said, just a classic.

12 oz bottle...Drink by Dec. 29, 2011 Probably would have been better with age...Auburn to maroon hue with tan creamy diminishing head, sweet plum and honey smell with hints of hops, taste a little hoppier than other other barleywines,initiial sweetness, dried candied fruit, sugary palate, slight leathery, smooth with a bit bitter aftertaste. Nice balance. The kind of quick drunk that gets you from the sugar. A diabetics nightmare. Several would probably lead to flush warm face and ultimately a headache, Strong and powerful...Victorious!!!

Had this on tap at the Victory brewhouse...poured a beautiful reddish brown with a thin head. It had a nice complex taste...some of the malts tasted similar to those in the Victory Lager. This was my first foray into barleywines, so take this as such, but the alcohol taste in this was overwhelming...even more so that many wines I’ve had. Look, if I want a wine, I’ll have a wine...I’d like my beer to taste more like beer than wine. If this is one of the better barleywines (with subdued alcohol taste according to other reviews), I think I’ll pass. Maybe it gets better as it ages?" Rerate 5/2007 - This was my first barleywine back in the day, reratign for today to bump up rating. This is pretty good, full bodied, lots of caramel sweetness and a lot of piney bitterness. Much better, like all of Victory’s "big beers" in the bottle with a little age on it (brewpub beers are universally "hot"). Good barleywine!

This brew pours amber w/ raspberry tones. The froth produced is minimal and the lacing is almost non existant. Aroma is weak beholding meaty malts and aged hops. Full nectar w/ creamy residual effers. But ofcoarse, it’s a barley wine, it’s supposed to be sweet. Theres a killer hop component that digs in early and sticks like a Detroit white out on 75 North bound near Pine Knob. This would stop most people cold in their tracks but I am a warrior of Viking descent. We sacked Rome and I’ll sack this brew. A full Nelson and two knuckle sandwiches later this brew goes down screaming. The bittering component is on the peachpit side and it cuts deep. It’s very English in style with it’s refined nature but those hops. The finish is bittered like a scorned grandma that only allows a controled amount of sweetness to residulate itself.

Bottle. Thanks to kramer17801 for this one. Pours a clear amber color with an off-white head. Sweet malty hoppy aroma with some hints of caramel. Sweet malty hoppy warming caramel flavor. Sweet malty finish with some nice hoppy hints in the aftertaste.