Alla Spina Novello
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From 08/04/12 notes. Had on tap at the brewpub in PA. Big thanks to Clay for an awesome time. Served in a weiss glass, listed as a weiss on the menu.

a - Pours a hazy medium yellow color with one inch of bright white head and moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bananas, cloves, spices, wheat, earthy notes, light floral hops, and bready malts.

t - Tastes of bananas, cloves, spice, pepper, wheat, grains, bready malts. More banana than in the nose; very nice.

m - Medium body and low carbonation. Smooth and very easy to drink.

o - Overall I thought this was a great, easy drinking summer beer. Nice bananas and spice mixing with wheat and bready; could definitely have a few of them. Worth checking out.

 

 

On tap at Victory Brewing in Downingtown.

Delicious, very drinkable beer. Has some similarities to Victory's Golden Monkey, although less likely to leave you reeling after several glasses. Very "bright" clean taste, mildly spicy with some green notes to it. Great beer from Victory, one of the best "new" offerings from them I've had in a good while.

Collaboration with famed Philadelphia chef Marc Vetri to design a beer that is crisp and refreshing. Made with German malt, wheat, and oats with whole flower French and Slovenian hops.

Growler to Ommegang's BPA glass - a less flamboyant version of Sam Adam's perfect pint glass. Consumed on the same day as the fill, which was $10 at the brewpub. Sampled 3/16/12.

A: Two fingers of foamy eggshell colored head slowly drop to a bubbly cap. The body is almost clear, goldenrod in color, and displays a small amount of effervescence. Thick straggley lace lays down with proficiency.

S: The nose presents a grassy/floral hop character with a sturdy foundation of wheat and sweet grain. The yeast (apparently the same yeast that ferments Golden Monkey) lends some fruity esters and spice to the nose. Banana is in the background and only at warmer temperatures. Alcohol is surprisingly noticeable.

T: Zesty fruit flavor with Belgian flare courtesy of the yeast. Light candi sugars and sharp, spicy phenols - perhaps coriander. Tripel-esque, but much less sweet and a little less spicy. Harsh alcoholic bite on the finish clashes with the flavor profile. This beer should really be in the 5.5-6% range.

M: Very nice mouthfeel. A smooth, tingling carbonation rolls gracefully over the tongue. I suspect that the oats help to keep the body fluffy as well. Starts out semi-sweet and transitions to semi-dry.

O: I entered this beer as an American Blonde Ale as it is listed at the brewpub. But this beer is really smack dab in between a blonde and a tripel - and probably leans toward the latter. A Belgian Blonde of sorts. A higher plato and larger phenolic contribution would have this beer comfortably in the tripel arena.