Cold Front
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

A very sudsy beer that seems to be too carbonated. Maybe the one I bought wasn't fresh. Date on bottom of can is June 5 2023.
I guess that's why it was on sale at Wegmans.
There beer selection is good, but they don't have a good turnover of beer, so sometimes you don't always get the freshest product. Oh well!

Pours a very pale yellow. Thick foam. Hoppy aroma. Cold a refreshing hop body. Light bitter citrus finish. Crisp. Better than expected.

 

 

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $3.95. BEST BY JUN 06 23. I would assume that this was canned no earlier than the beginning of December, so I would guess that this beer is one to two months old.

Look: Light straw color with a fluffy, rocky whitish head that dissipated pretty quickly.

Smell: It smells really nice. Awesome hop-forward aromas with lots of citrus (grapefruit and orange zest) along with some pineapple and dank, green notes. Green bell pepper notes on the finish after swirling the glass.

Taste: Quite tasty. It has a light body like a pilsner and it is very easy to drink, yet it's also super hoppy, aromatic, and flavorful. The finish has tons of grapefruit and orange pith. Bitterness builds, almost exponentially, the more I drink with increasing pine and resin.

Feel: Very light bodied with spritzy carbonation. The finish is bitter and pithy and lingers long.

Overall: My second Cold IPA. Industrial Arts Brewing Company's Week 312 - Cold IPA was the first. There is something so interesting about these Cold IPAs. To me, they have a really nice aromatic and citrus hop expression that makes them distinct from IPLs, yet I still can't really tell you that I know the difference between them.

From the website:
Victory's Cold Front IPA, the newest Small Batch release, is a Cold IPA at 7.0% ABV brewed with Mosaic, Chinook and Amarillo hops. The temps drop and cold air gusts, but the sun shines through this Cold IPA with light bursts of pineapple, orange and grapefruit notes rounded out by a hint of pine.

Poured into wide mouth, grip shaped chalice: color is straw, transparent, light effervescence, head is brighter white and presents 1+ finger thick, head lingers then dissipates to ring and some lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is light for an ipa, cleaner, but malt and hop balance: malt is light toast and biscuit, hint of sweetness, hops are clean, crisp, bitter, light citrus, moderate pine, earth.

Taste is crisp malt/hop combination: malt is light toast, biscuit, German malt, light sweetness, hops are crisp citrus, earth, pine - classic AIPA styling with smoothed lagered flavor.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness and clean/smooth, classic hop bitterness.

Overall a new IPA in a seemingly classic concept - crisp, hoppy, malty, bitter.

 

L: I love the look of this beer. Bright and crystal clear. Bright white head that fades quickly and leaves decent lacing
S: sharp hops and citrus
T: citrus and pineapple, finishes very dry, piney, earthy
F: definitely a little thin but doesn’t take very much away from the overall quality
O: very solid offering from Victory. Has similar characteristics of the classic Dirtwolf

It's a frosty introduction. The pour that emptied a pint can into a clear glass liter mug produced way too much stark white foam. Whilst waiting for at least some of that mess to recede, it's noticed how thin and translucent the bright amber color of this brew is. As usual, the foam recedes unevenly, leaving sparse and irregular glass lacing. The overall visual isn't pretty. There's a West Coast IPA aspect from the aroma. There's some sharply dry hopping and almost no malt to be had. Things improve with the taste. There's at least some starchy sweetness, although not complex, to go with the less than biting hops. It's another IPA for those that don't like hoppy, nor malty ones. It isn't too bitter, it isn't too sweet, it isn't too earthy, but it is too bland to be great. It's best attribute is the delicious way it brings a 7% ABV, something this brewery often excells at. This may not be their next Dirt Wolf, but it's not bad.

Pours a pale straw color with a half finger of head. The nose has mild notes of citrus fruits. The flavor profile has some light graininess with a touch of fruity sweetness. The finish has plenty of hop bitterness but, oddly enough, it also has a dry quality similar to a Kolsch.