Victory V12

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Pours a cloudy ruby red color with a quickly disappearing off white head. Great aroma mixture of cherries, raisins, caramel, cotton candy. Silky smooth body begins with a hint of bread yeasts, quickly followed by sticky sweet caramel, spicy cinnamon, finished off with a warming alcohol bite. Great finish for a great beer.

On tap at the Brick Store as part of the 12th Anniversary festivities. Pours a light clear amber with a small creamy white head that leaves a small collar and very little lacing. As a quad, it’s definitely on the lighter side of things. The aroma is very sweet and fruity. There are light fruits in the form of pears and peaches as well of hints of candi sugar and an overall fruity ester nose. The taste is also sweet and sugary with lots of light and dark fruits and candi sugar. There is a bit of yeast sweetness which also brings in a bit of spiciness in the finish. The finish is almost cloying with the sweetness and has a definite alcohol burn as it goes down. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with soft carbonation and overall very sticky sweet. This is a solid Belgian style beer, though I think it’s probably more successful as a Belgian pale ale. As a quad, it’s a little too sweet and lacks the carbonation and body of the best in the style.

Bottle Pours a hazy amber with a good off white head. The head is creamy and lasting. It laces fairly well. Aroma of sugar, dark fruits, and yeast. Has a good carbonation. The flavor is real good. Spicy and sweet with almost no alcohol burn, at 12% it is totally hidden. Has a medium body. A good mouthfeel. The finish is soft but good with a decent aftertaste. This is real smooth but I fear I will feel it in the morning.

Thanks to rustychiles for the share (2006 vintage). Pours a deep turbid chestnut brown with decent sized head that dissipates nicely. Aroma is very fig/date/burnt sugar intensive. Taste is quite cloyingly sweet with a definite chalkiness to the palate. Also surprisingly bitter on the palate, though I think that is from the high alcohol. Notes of oats and wheat/hay are certainly present as well. The taste is generally Belgian spice and straightforward dark sugars. Not very exciting and really hard to drink.

Pours a nice copper color with a large off white head. Aroma is yeasts, candi sugar, spices, faded hops and caramel malt. Flavor is the same, with a chalky grainy lingering flavor that combines with a lot of sweetness in the finish.

750ml bottle, caged and corked. Vintage 2005 (bottled on March 29, 05.) Deep amber/copper color. Big white fizzy head. The aroma lost most of the hops. Flavor has aged superiorly well. If I had to guess, this beer would not be American. Definitely Belgian. And if you told me US, I would guess Allagash. Flavor is a nicely balanced character. Fruit, and yeast, and dough, and grass, and clove. very nice. 03 may 08.

[2123-20090502] 750mL bottle. Mildly boozy sweet aroma, much like leaves on the ground. Clear, rich orange red body with a quick foamy white head. Sweet boozy malt flavour has a bit of earthiness and grass. Heavy medium-full body. Tasty.
(from Premier Gourmet, Buffalo, NY; w/ DuctTape, jerc)

750 L bottle. Cloudy yellow-golden pour with a huge thick white frothy head. Aroma of citrus, sugar, yeast and earth. Fantastic taste of yeast, spices, clove with an acidic finish.