V-Ten
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

V-TenV-Ten
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From:
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown
 
Pennsylvania, United States
Style:
Belgian Dark Strong Ale
ABV:
10%
Score:
85
Avg:
3.75 | pDev: 22.93%
Reviews:
63
Ratings:
72
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Jul 08, 2013
Added:
Sep 27, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4 by WOLFGANG from South Carolina

Jul 08, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by t0rin0 from California

Mar 06, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by smithj4 from New York

Aug 04, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by gloveman from Pennsylvania

Mar 02, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by jfcaa193 from Canada (QC)

Jan 30, 2012
 
Rated: 2.5 by jophish17 from Georgia

Dec 24, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by rab53 from Washington

Dec 10, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by djrn2 from New Jersey

Nov 26, 2011
 
Rated: 4 by HopStoopid120 from Connecticut

Nov 18, 2011
Photo of weeare138
Reviewed by weeare138 from Pennsylvania

3.92/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
bottle from September 12, 2002...
Appears a dark amber with a small off white head. Scattered bits of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is of cork, oxidation, caramel, prunes, raisins, black cherries, and tart lychee nuts.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with a wine like flavor similar to a 10 year old Zinfandel.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied, light tart, sweet, zingy.
Probably won't get any better at this point. It's peaked but it's pretty nice.
Dec 04, 2009
Photo of beerthulhu
Reviewed by beerthulhu from New Jersey

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Strong Belgium ale.

A: Poured a rusty copper-orange with a slight tand head. Visible carbonation was moderate.

S: The nose was rich with ripe fruit (raisins) along with a sweet malt and alcohol aroma.

T: sweet malt and ripe fruit (raisins, cherries) which soon yielded to a yeasty and fruity spiciness (apricots, pears) with some candi sugar notes. There was some light sour orange hints as well citrus experienced in the finish.

M: creamy and fizzy from the active carbonation with a nice spiciness on the tongue.

D: An easy and spicy drink despite the high abv% which was fruity and enjoyable.
Jun 08, 2008
Photo of RBorsato
Reviewed by RBorsato from Virginia

2.4/5  rDev -36%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
Clear ruby red color with almost no head but decent carbonation up the middle. Strong sweet candy-like malt aroma and flavor; lacking dark fruit character normally present in the style. Some Belgian yeastiness and alcohol shine thru but not nearly enough. Light-medium bodied, flat, and sickly sweet finish. A bit tart, a bit sour, a bit nasty...

Drank within 5 years as noted on label but can't imagine it any better in prior years. Drink it now or dump it !

Per Label" "Enjoy within 5 years of Bottle Date"

Per Cork: 2002 Vintage

Bottled: 09/12/02
Tasted: 06/13/07

($7.99 / 25.4 oz / 750 ml tall straight brown wine-like bottle, corked, and caged)
Apr 18, 2008
Photo of Metalmonk
Reviewed by Metalmonk from North Carolina

4.63/5  rDev +23.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
I was extremely fortunate to find several bottles of this recently...the store where I bought it doesn't see a lot of turnover. When I saw this retired ale there, I went for it. This is the 2002 edition, bottled Sept. of that year, so it's well over 3 and a half years old...and I was left extremely impressed.

This is a gorgeous looking beer: Ruby bottom that melts into a dark brown/burgundy near the head. Creamy mocha-tan head that retains well. The head is fed by slow-marching bubbles, with geysers of fizz swirling randomly in the middle. Thick catacombs of lace covered the glass.

Smell is rich malts, raisin/grape, floral, clove and cherry.

Absolutely delicious: cherry-flavored milkshake, with the pungency of overripe dark fruits, a wheaty heft, and a pleasant fruit sourness that wasn't overly tart at all. All this points to a quality yeast strain that had to have been in use. It's totally unique, a big-character beer.

Very creamy mouthfeel with just enough fizz to excite the tongue.

10%? I wouldn't have known it. This well-aged bottle mellowed any alcohol bite it may have held in 2002. Glad this is bomber-size, but still, I didn't want it to end. Superb.
Apr 23, 2006
Photo of goodbyeohio
Reviewed by goodbyeohio from Connecticut

3.7/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
bottled 3/12/04, cork says 2003 vintage. who knows.

glorious ruby with slight haze in the glass.. lively with bubble traffic and covered by a thick, glistening collection of tiny soap bubbles. lacing moves fast but covers uniformly. looks tasty and crisp. great belgian smell.. dark fruits, sweet raisin paste and brown sugar delights waft gently into my nostrils. tastes very sweet.. VERY sweet.. fruit is there, but it's overripe and accented by a slightly metallic disintegrated hop character. finishes somewhat moldy although partly masked by the sugary nature. the body is very bubbly and with the weird flavors here, that works. sweetness+bubbly=asti spumante, and that's kind of what this reminds me of. despite its flaws, this has a true belgian flavor and is rather drinkable for 10%. wish it was alot neater.

i think age turned an average beer into a slightly above average beer with a laundry list of problems.
Apr 01, 2006
Photo of fdrich29
Reviewed by fdrich29 from Massachusetts

4.17/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Bottled March 15, 2004. Cork states "Vintage 2003"

Had to fight like hell to get the cork off this bad boy and suffice to say I will be cleaning up beer off my computer and it's surrounding area for weeks to come.

So much foam poured out of the bottle and glass I thought I may need to seek shelter in the Superdome. When the head settled all that was left was a big clump of foam floating in the middle, I swear it looked just like Hurricane Katrina.

Smells like plums and figs, both of which I happen to enjoy. Tastes spicy with rich malts, figs and plums.

A great big flavor beer. Be careful of the 10% abv if you're driving or operating heavy equipment.

7/16/2008-Dusted off my last bottle of V10 today. Bottled on 3/12/2004. The explosion was legendary, but this time I opened the bottle over the sink, still a lot of cleaning up afterwards. Very smooth, aged wonderfully.
Aug 30, 2005
Photo of HogHill
Reviewed by HogHill from Massachusetts

3.4/5  rDev -9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Bought as a single 750 for $7 bucks, this one was bottled in March '04. It was surprising to me to see such ugly packaging from Victory on this offering (purple, orange, violet and yellow ?).

Poured this one into a large chalice, deep brown body with some lighter brown highlights. A one inch head is light and slowly retreats to the walls of the glass.

The smell is very sweet, like dark candi sugar combined with a rich fruitiness.

Taste follows the aroma: sweet malts blend into some bittnerness followed by a warm alcholol finish. I'd like this better if it was V-8 instead of V-10, a little too high in ABV, or I wish it was hidden better. A medium bodied brew with an average carbonation level. One of these is enough for me, maybe I'll give it a chance down the line, as it was interesting reading the reviews on this brew from year to year.

Overall, it was okay, but not one of Victory's better offerings.
Apr 23, 2005
Photo of GCBrewingCo
Reviewed by GCBrewingCo from North Carolina

4.62/5  rDev +23.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
The beer poured into the glass crystal clear brilliant amber with a light and small off white head which coated the glass.

The aroma was fruity and malty with a strong Belgian character, some higher alcohol spices and phenols and a complex maltiness. The fruity aroma contain caramel and a vinous character that was very well executed.

The flavor was extreme with an Oud Bruin flavor of slight sourness that was both wonderful and complex. The sour and oaky flavors dominated and yet at the same time were subdued in complexity. The fruity esters in the aroma translated into fruity complex sherry flavors that added complexity to the flavor and interest to the beer.

The finish was dry with slight sourness lasting pleasantly long into the aftertaste. The body was medium at best, but perfectly executed. The alcohol presence was hidden throughout the aroma and the flavor except for perhaps some of the phenolic spiciness of the aroma, but was slightly evident in the post consumption warming in the beer.

Big Belgian 750 ml bottle with bottled on Sept 12 2002 on the label. I might mention that the bottle was a PITA to open. It took quite the GI Joe with a Kung-Fu grip to get the cork out of the bottle. I rated this brew as an Oud Bruin, it was great! Unsure if the sourness was planned, it was so well executed that the gentlement at Victory need kudos for making a beer this good and complex!
Mar 09, 2005
Photo of Rastacouere
Reviewed by Rastacouere from Canada (QC)

1.82/5  rDev -51.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 1
Famous November 2003 750mL: Nice orange-brown color. Thin off-white head. Off balsamic sour nose, slightly woody, not quite Flemish sour like since you can really feel that this sour yeast punch is off and that’s the annoying thing here, you can smell the acidity comes from the yeast. Straightforwardly sour, dry, vinegary and yeast infection flavours. Rather thick, moderate carbonation (you can feel this must have been pretty good). I heard they won’t brew this again? Too bad really.
Nov 09, 2004
Photo of xgrigorix
Reviewed by xgrigorix from Michigan

4.33/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Brown 750 ml bottle, corked & caged. Date of bottling printed on label (12 March '04).

Deep burgandy hue. Big pillowy beige coloured head. Head retains well & leaves loads of spotty lace behind.

Fruity & spicy with aromas of pepper & anise fill the the nose.

Big & robust. Sweet malt flavours crash into well rounded fruit notes. This is followed by anise & pepper. Moderate bitterness brings it back together for a warming finish. Medium bodied, with big bubbles of robust carbonation. Quite nice.
Nov 05, 2004
Photo of WesWes
Reviewed by WesWes from New York

4/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The beer pours a dark amber color with an offwhite head that fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has an intense malt scent. It boasts of pale and crystal malts along with a fruity Belgian yeast finish. The taste is good as well. It has a nice malty flavor that seems to be composed of Belgian pale and crystal malts. There is a bit of spice to it as well as a fruity yeast aftertaste. The mouthfeel is good. It is a medium/full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a damn fine Belgian brew. I've had it a few times before, but I never reviewed it. This time I had a glass at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. This is a good drinker.
Sep 19, 2004
V-Ten from Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 72 ratings