Jubilee
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

This beer poured very nicely, it’s a golden orange color, mostly clear; head is short lived by a nice creamy film persists and lingers while drinking.

A very enticing aromatic nose; apple cider comes to mind first, oak and white grape skin like tannins, stale bread, and sweetness of light green fruits.

A complete mind fuck with what the nose was, holy cow…this has an intense spiced honey like sweetness, winter spices, stewed green fruits, again cider and grape like but more fruity now than skin like; all of this flavor is so well balanced, this is quite a pleasant experience.

The body is high medium; it has substantial Belgian like carbonation but it coats the tongue in gentle creamy bubbles, tannin like bitter bite on the finish, low verging on moderate alcohol warming sensation.

Ok, this was a really awesome beer to dissect and it tasted very good. Better drink a small glass and join you all then let it sit years and years more. If you’re into Belgian type beers and you somehow come across this, or have one cellared, drink it, it’s quite delicious right now.

Appearance: The bottle uncorked with a satisfying "pop" and a cloud of gunsmoke. The pour is hazy yellow-brown, with a large, billowy off-white head, which soon diminishes to a healthy scattering of foam on the surface. The glass wall sports a nice circlet of foam. The lacing is quite thick and fine-beaded in an unbroken sheet across the glass wall. Profuse streams of small bubbles drift lazily to the surface.

Aroma: The aroma is dominated by white wine, ripe apples and pears, green grapes, cloves, yeast, white pepper, coriander, grassy and herbal hops, sugar syrup, and profoundly sweet and spicy alcohol.

Taste: Opens with white wine notes, sweet alcohol, and light caramel. Soon after, ripe pears, apples, and green grapes present, with the apples contributing some bitter peel. Sweet and spicy warming alcohol is notable early on, with moderate coriander following. Considering the staggering ABV of twelve percent, the presence of alcohol is graciously restrained. Afterward, the hops have their turn, with grassy and herbal notes and a mild bitterness. Finishes with a lingering light caramel sweetness against the hop bitterness, offering a gracious close.

Mouth feel: Soft and quite full, with soft carbonation.

Drinkability/notes: A fine example of this rare style with no real detractions, verging even on superb. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, examples of this style are scarce. This is a pity, as Victory Jubilee is a proper alternative to champagne. Surely a fitting tribute to the New Year, 2021!

Presentation: Packaged in a Belgian-style 750 ml brown glass bomber bottle with a cork and cage, served in a Duvel Tulip.

750ml bottle into a tulip. 2016 release, so 4 years old.

Looks outstanding in the glass. Beautiful almost clear amber body with tiny streams of carbonation. Big bright white head, always impressive in a high abv beer, continues to form throughout the pour. Layers of lacing form.

White wine aroma with a whisper of mustiness.

On tasting, it's a little warm, though not 12.0 warm. Slightly sweet, a significant white wine presence. Delicious sipper.

Mouth between medium and full, finish warming, sweet, and winey, with just a hint of bitterness at the edge of the tongue.

Overall, really nice late night drink. Sweet and warm, ABV feels less than advertised. Shout out to my favorite bottle shop, Sabatinis in Exeter Pa, who provided all the rare styles (Grisette, Sahti, Biere De Champagne) I've enjoyed tonight.

Medium amber body; lively, evenly dispersed carbonation; thick, creamy white head, sticky sheets of foam paper the glass. Herbal, grassy aroma; sweet white wine. Flavors of anise, candi sugar, some apple; bold bitterness at the finish. Medium-heavy body; thick and sweet; fairly dry despite the residual sugars.

My first review of this style of beer. I can't say I'd go for it again, but it is interesting.

 

Thursday, December 05, 2019 8:08 PM
750 mL bottle to wine glass
Sight: very light amber, hazy
Smell: fragrant
Taste: medium bitterness
Mouth Feel: good carbonation, medium drop. Long Follow through, slight bitter aftertaste
Overall: very good
Repeat: Yes
Look for: no

750mL corked bottle from late 2016 (according to the tiny etched date on bottle neck) poured into a wine glass at fridge temp 12% ABV. The beer pours bright light honey in color with off white head. Retention and lacing are above average. The aroma is fruity. The flavor is slightly sweetish with more fruit and a nice dry finish. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied and very well carbonated. Overall, good. This is the second beer de brut that I've had and I like it better than the SA that was out a couple years ago. The German blanc hops work well with the champagne yeast.

 

Upon opening the bottle the strong "PUUFF" signals lots of carbonation and so warns of the need for a gentle pour. Even with that gentle pour the golden yellow light apricot tinged beer pours out into a Corsondonk goblet with a finely bubbled 2" fluffy white head that leaves behind a thin cap of lacing as it slowly recedes to a ring around the glass and an island on the liquid. The many streams of finely bubbled active carbonation help maintain that thin island foam. Sipping creates lots of patches and legs of lacing.

The aromas include green orchard fruits (apple, some pear) and some white grapes. There is also a bit of bready malt, some light yeast notes and even a bit of spice.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with the white grapes, the green apple and the pear up front all backed up by the light bready malt, a bit of sweetness, the yeast and a slightly bitter herbal, grassy, spicy semi-dryness.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and both slightly creamy and slightly prickly with the active, finely bubbled carbonation. The finish begins fairly early on as the initially fruity start begins to show a hint of the bready malt sweetness and a bit of yeast. Then all that begins to fade away, leaving behind some crisp, spicy, herbal, grassy bitter semi-dryness in the ending in the back of the throat which then gradually dries more as it leaves the scene.

This is my first beer in this style so I have nothing else to compare it to, but overall I have enjoyed it, found it complex, refreshing and a beer I certainly would try again. It’s also a bit of a dangerous beer in that the alcohol doesn’t really show, except for the feeling of bodily warmth it creates after several sips. I’d expect this would work well as an aperitif served in Champagne flutes, or possibly as an after dinner digestif.

 

 

Victory Brewing Co. "Jubilee"
750 ml brown glass bottle, corked and caged, "BOTTLED ON 14 DEC 2016 07.49P"
$7 @ Pletcher's Beer Distributor, State College, PA

Look: A careful first pour delivers a clear amber-orange body beneath a three finger thick head of pillowy, slightly off-white foam. The head retention is excellent, bolstered by the steady flow of tiny bubbles rising from beneath, and the lacing is very good as well.

Smell: The aroma is sweetish with what seems like rock-candy sugar, lightly caramelish and bready malt, yeast, Spanish Cava, and dried grass.

Taste: The flavor livens up with the addition of a good bit of fruitiness that includes juicy Red Delicious apples and soft Anjou pear. There's a hint of honey to it as well, and some sweet white grape and light orange. The caramel remains, light, and somewhere between golden and medium. It's moderately bitter and it finishes semi-dry but also a touch spicy. Some floral character appears in the finish along with more white grape, some orange, and a dusting of yeast, spiciness, and dried grass. The alcohol is remarkably well hidden across the palate but it is mildly warming in the finish.

Feel: Medium bodied with a dextrinous feel, and gently crisp and effervescent: lightly tingling at first but then more supple and smooth.

Overall: I rarely recommend aging beers but I'd suggest that if you have this in your cellar you give it another six months to a year, and given the price I paid for it I'm kicking myself now for not buying a whole case. It's not fantastic/amazing, but it's quite solid and fairly unique, and I believe that with a little bit of age it will sharpen a touch (although I didn't find much yeast even in my last pour - ?). I can totally imagine having a glass of this at the end of a large meal (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) as a replacement for dessert or an addition to a smaller dessert, or just a spacer; or even as an apertif before hand. On the other hand, it really shows itself best once it's warmed a bit and it would make a great after-dinner/nightcap while winding down but you'd need several people to finish the bottle.

 

Pours a medium gold color, full barm that settles quickly, perhaps a little more carbonation but certainly approximates champagne. Aroma is rustic, lots of those dry pear / apple notes, grape must (not sweet, more earthy), clove, yeast. Belgiany. Taste starts out creamier & sweet with vanilla oramge creme, flickers of that pear must & champagne yeast, but turns pretty husky & spicey towards the end - more star clove, anise bark - with this odd pique of medicinal hops that ends it with bitter note that really conflicts with the rest of the beer. It is certainly interesting & you have to appreciate the effort, but it didn't come together for me (really would have dialed-back the spice & jettisoned the hops). Mouthfeel is too thick & creamy for a champagne style beer.

 

 

 

750 ml bottle was poured into a tulip.

Appearance: A two finger head was poured that reduced to a puffy layer. It is an orange color with great clarity and vision of tiny bubbles coming up through the glass. Spotty lacing down the glass as the beer was drank.

Smell: Apple, pear, vanilla, pale, toasted, biscuit, doughy, and boozy.

Taste: Same as above. Sweet, fruity, yeasty, and boozy. More complex as it warmed up and definitely a sipper being so sweet and dry.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, sweet, dry, boozy, medium to full bodied, and high carbonation.

Overall: Not to familiar with this style, but this was almost a like a super boozy tripel. Definitely a desert beer and sharing kind of beer.

A: Pours a golden orange color with 2 fingers of head that fades down to a bubbly, effervescent cap

S: Lots of fruitiness up front. Includes apple, pear, grape, and some lighter citrus. Some yeasty spice and crackery maltiness as well

T: Follows the nose. Starts off with the grape, apple, and pear notes with a bit of must followed by a mildly sweet crackery maltiness. Goes into very light yeast spiciness and a touch of alcohol. Finishes with lingering fruity notes and light sweetness

M: Medium bodied with high carbonation, very effervescent and on the drier side due to the champagne yeast

O: A solid and surprisingly very drinkable (given the 12% abv) bière brut that does an incredible job combining the maltiness and champagne yeast. There aren't too many beers out there that utilize champagne yeast, but the ones that do are usually quite interesting and complex. This one is no different