Victory Brewing - Baltic Thunder

I am not happy with the weather today.  It rolled in with waves of black clouds...brought that eery pseudo-darkness that seems completely unnatural in the middle of the afternoon.  Then came the downpour, combined with a strong wind that completely de-leaved all the trees around my house.  So, now I have a yard full of leaves that I will have the pleasure of raking this weekend.  Mother Nature can be a real bitch sometimes.

Tonight I'll be drinking a Baltic Thunder porter from Victory Brewing in Downington, PA.  This is an imperial porter with lots of EU influence - brewed with german lager yeast, European whole flower hops, and a German malt base.  There is plenty of thunder behind it with 8.5% alcohol.  Puns are fun.

This brew comes in a 22oz bottle with a label that includes a picture of the Baltic god of thunder, which looks more like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz.  Seriously, look at that photo and tell me that isn't the cowardly lion!  The beer is a dark, ruby-black hue that lets just a bit of light through it.  In fact, when you hold it up to the light, that's when the ruby-red really comes through.  The aroma is rich and sweet, with green apples and sweet grapes.  Also bitter coffee beans, toffee and sweet molasses come through.  The taste starts off with loads of sweet malts - semi-sweet chocolate seems to be the primary player within that big malt backbone.  Also some burnt wood, charcoal, with some gritty roasted coffee making its way through towards the finish.  Maybe a hint of raisin in there but I really have to search for it.  The finish is gritty, with an almost-powdery chocolate finish.  The alcohol is noticeable, but pleasant, it adds a nice warmth to the beer.

Overall Rating:  This was a great porter!  More chocolate than I expected, but it worked well with the other flavors of the beer.  As far as 'dessert' beers go, this beer will go near the top of my favorites.  A-

Victory - Old Horizontal

My beer of choice this evening is a hearty seasonal.  A winter seasonal to be specific!  That's right, screw summer today.  I'm sick and tired of this Amazonian-like weather we are having and am ready for some snow.  Unfortunately the closest I can get to snow is to stick my head in the freezer and that's not very practical.  The next best thing in my opinion is to grab a beer that reminds me of those cozy winter evenings.  I cant think of a better style to bring back those memories than a nice big barley wine.  Fortunately for me I saved a few from the winter!

Victory's Old Horizontal is on the bigger side of the American Barley Wine style grid coming in at 11% ABV.  A smudged 'Enjoy By' date tells me that I have until December 2nd 2015 to drink this seasonal down.  I wonder if on December 3rd the bottle self destructs...

The short story on the side of the label definitely gets me in the mood for winter.  "Low on the horizon he winter moon reclines, resting up for warmer times.  While inside our homes the warmth abounds, as dearest friends are gathered 'round.  In cheerful moods we gratefully sup, robust Barleywine from the cup!  Brewed of pure barley, rich and sweet, one of natures truest treats!  Fairly scented with fragrant hops, we celebrate this harvest crop.  And as the heavens slumber above, merrily we sip... with the ones we love!  Cheers!"  Yup, I'm ready to enjoy me a big ol' barley wine!

Victory's American style Barley Wine drops into my glass with a rich light mahogany hue and a lofty off-white foam.  Head retention is quite impressive here.  The foam consolidates after a few minutes and creates a nice sensation of creaminess to each sip.  A rustic malt-forward aroma comes together with hints of butterscotch and alcohol.  A faint whiff of fruit is noticeable as the brew warms.  My first sip was a little harsh so I let it sit for another 10 minutes before having another go.  There it is... getting the excess carbonation out of the way helps to bring forward a smooth, creamy, malty and hoppy bouquet of barley wine goodness.  Some chocolate and caramel pop in and out of existence just to toy with my pallet.  A subtle bitterness lingers around after a few sips with a nice alcohol warmth serving to help dry out any remaining sweetness.

Overall - My mission to bring memories of winter back was successful.  Victory's Old Horizontal is a nice example of an American Barley Wine.  Although, when compared to others within the category I would say its less hoppy than most.  Almost straddling the line between and English and American example.  In either case, its a tasty brew worthy of occupying a space within any beer lovers fridge.


Side Note - I just realized that Dunz had reviewed this brew back in February. Whoops a daise!  Its the first time we have reviewed the same beer twice.  But this is also a great opportunity to compare our notes about the brew and see how it may have changed with another six months of age.

Victory - Old Horizontal Barleywine

This Victory Barleywine has been sitting in my fridge, smiling up at me for over a week now.  This is an 11% booze-bomb, so I'll be sipping this slowly on this cold MN monday evening.

The label shows a sleeping, horizontal moon wedge over a small cabin - there is a little description on the side of the label that helps explain it a little better (see picture below).  This beer pours a thick, viscous, hazy brown with some red hues against the light.  It leaves a thick two inch tan head after a relatively light pour.  The aroma throws waves of sweetness at me - sweet caramel, butter, candied dark fruits, and alcohol.

The flavor brings a heavy dose of sweet malts that hit with a blast.  It transitions smoothly into buttered bread and caramel candy, and at the same time a hop bitterness appears but only as a side-thought.  The finish is WARM with alcohol - very boozy but it doesn't hurt - it's complimentary and helps anchor the sweetness that dominates.  The dark fruits that appeared in the nose are also present in the finish, but not too pronounced.  This is a bottle-conditioned ale, and they nailed it - perfect amount of carbonation.  The mouthfeel is thick and syrupy, but the finish is pleasantly dry.

Overall Rating:  (4.6 out of 6.0)  Overall this was a nice barleywine.  At 11% and loaded with sweetness, it needs to be enjoyed slowly and I wouldn't recommend driving a motorized vehicle... post-Old Horizontal.  Pick this one up, and I recommend cellaring for a year or two - it will probably age well.

Victory - Storm King Stout

Tonights post is a little late, I must admit.  I am off my normal schedule and haven't had time to prepare any reviews in advance.  My partner in beer reviewing crime has fled the country to the warm sandy beaches of the Bahama's.  And who can blame him?  Its friggen -11 degrees outside without the damn wind blowing.  Seriously, anything above 32 degrees at this point feels like a humid summer day.  I cant wait until the three feet of snow next to my driveway melts in August...

I decided at the end of the work day today that I was going to enjoy myself a thick, creamy dark stout this evening.  I had a few in mind but most were bombers that I was aging.  Victory's Storm King, however, was staring my directly in the face when I opened my fridge door.  If you don't believe me just look at the label, it has beady owl eyes!  The beer store boasted this brews 100 rating on Ratebeer so naturally I was interested.  A six pack of this will run you somewhere around $14 so I opted to only buy a single bottle in case I disagreed with Ratebeer.

Pouring thick and black this thing consumes any light that tries to beam through it.  A veritable black hole of beer.  A solid tan head forms and quickly recedes leaving a small slug of foam floating around my glass.  Still cool from the fridge I am able to discern dark fruit and bittersweet chocolate tones in the aroma.  A waft of alcohol sneaks in behind a roasty aroma on my second smell.  The flavor is full of roasted grains, bitter chocolate, coffee and a mild astringency to boot.  Not nearly as thick as I had anticipated.  The carbonation cuts through the body and lightens the overall mouthfeel.  The finish has a warming alcohol presence while allowing the bold roast characteristics to finish the job.

Overall 4.9/6.0 - For a RIS I think this one falls a bit short of my expectations.  Old Rasputin by North Coast knocks the RIS style out of the park by my standards.  I think Victory could lower the carbonation to allow for a smoother drinking experience.  Towards the end of each sip a harshness comes through that I find unpleasant and uncharacteristic of the style.  As a standalone stout I think this is great.  But to characterize it as a Russian Imperial Stout would be doing other, better brews in the category a disservice.  Im happy with my single bottle purchase.

Victory - Yakima Twilight

I picked up this Yakima Twilight brew last night...I've had this before and enjoyed it, but it's probably been over a year since, so I figured this was a good time to bring it in for round 2.  As you may notice in the picture at the bottom of the post, the bottle says 'Best by Nov 16 2010'.  Whoops, I'm a dumbass.  Hopefully that won't make a difference. 

I checked on Victory's website for the stats of this beer, and I couldn't find it!  There is a brew called Yakima Glory, which has the exact same label and description seems to fit this one....did they just change the name?  WTF?  Their website is a pile of shit. 

This beer pours with a ferociously frothy off-white foam, and it's a lot darker than I remember.....a deep reddish brown.  The lace falls away pretty quickly and doesn't hold any real definition.  The nose is floral and spicy, I really like how the aromas jump out at me - that's something I've come to expect from good IPAs.  There's also some caramel malts hiding in there.

First sip starts off with some sweet maltiness and toffee.  Then there is a decent amount of bitterness when the hops hit home, the hops are floral and piney, it's a pretty nice balance between sweet malts and bitter hops, but after that little party there is a little cough medicine in the aftertaste.  Doesn't completely ruin it, but definitely isn't good.  I wonder if the old age of the beer has something to do with it?  

Overall Rating:  Good (3 out of 6)  This beer isn't bad - I enjoy the helping of bitterness Victory serves up in the hop profile.  It actually reminds me of Surly Furious, just not nearly as good.  That medicinal aftertaste isn't overbearing, but it's there and just annoying enough to make this a mediocre beer for me. 


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD BEER!