St. Victorious
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is exactly what i like in the style, nearly textbook for me, on tap in a huge tall glass at the brewery in downingtown, a pleasure to have this one at the source! rich deep amber to copper red in color, perfectly clear, holding over an inch of khaki colored head, creamy and lacy. the aroma here is subtle on the smoke, i expected a bit more of it, but it has a layered kilned malt earthy toasted property, a long boil caramelized sugar character, and some decadent bready notes, all wrapped up by a hearty german lager yeast strain, cool and patient. the beer seems more fall than spring to me, with quite a bit more of the smoke showing up than it did in the nose, a strong almost brassy minerality, fall forest vibes, almost woody, real mature on the yeast side of things, and sweet in the right places with maple and honey notes here and there with the malt sugars. it has the exact right sweetness level, body heft, and finish trajectory, and its oh so good on a hangover! this is one i had not seen before from these guys, and it was definitely my favorite from our visit to the brewery. a really solid example of the style, sturdy and rich. delicious!

 

 

Deep cola brown hue. Aroma has nice spicey esters and dark fruit, though maybe a little faint. Very solid taste profile, raisin bread, anise, clove, some spicier phenol. Crisp german malt body.