Oak Horizontal
Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown
- From:
- Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown
- Pennsylvania, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
- ABV:
- 10.5%
- Score:
- 90
- Avg:
- 4.04 | pDev: 11.39%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 69
- Status:
- Retired
- Rated:
- Dec 06, 2025
- Added:
- Dec 28, 2012
- Wants:
- 17
- Gots:
- 59
SCORE
90
Outstanding
90
Outstanding
No description / notes.
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Reviewed by thebeers from Pennsylvania
4.1/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
4.1/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Hazed amber brown with a creamy-looking sandy-colored head. Great retention and lacing. Leather, vanilla and pine in the nose. The same elements carry to the taste, joined by some wood, American-style bitterness and old candy chews. Full bodied, creamy, with soft carbonation. Tasty.
Dec 06, 2025
Reviewed by Bouleboubier from New Jersey
4.46/5 rDev +10.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.46/5 rDev +10.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
(16 oz can, BEST BY Nov. 14. 2026, DTW 25318; purchased cold by my brother at Victory on BF Pkwy 26 Nov... poured into a snifter)
L: deep tawny amber liquid with a delicate haze; tan foam quietly tumbling down... no lacing, and it struggles to keep a collar
S: bourbon-infused honey-roasted pecan ice cream, buttery Bavarian soft pretzel, hint of toasted malt... whispers of piney hops slowly emerge... lovely harmony of big bold aromas... ooh, a soft presence of yeasty dough later
T: bourbon explodes on the palate, immediately followed by a richly-caramelly malt which blooms in the finish... second sip and the hops and booze blend for an almost minty, menthol, chocolaty angle when the malt sweetness gets more sensed and absorbed in the aft, with the vanilla notes of the bourbon helping to render that kind of unmistakably ice creamy flavor going on...
F: relatively light in body with very little residual viscosity, though there's a faint feeling of silkiness when it's swishing around... the aft has a boozy glow but stops short of singeing... half a can blurs the senses... is this fortified?!
O: don't recall trying previous releases... bold, booming flavors, if not quite carrying the malty heft and depth it suggests... it's almost like a bourbon-infused Alt (or a ST spiced collab)... still, one of the tastier bourbon-barrel barleywines I've had in some time... bro got us both a 4-pack; I'd say I'd sit on my last can, but nah (2472)
Dec 05, 2025L: deep tawny amber liquid with a delicate haze; tan foam quietly tumbling down... no lacing, and it struggles to keep a collar
S: bourbon-infused honey-roasted pecan ice cream, buttery Bavarian soft pretzel, hint of toasted malt... whispers of piney hops slowly emerge... lovely harmony of big bold aromas... ooh, a soft presence of yeasty dough later
T: bourbon explodes on the palate, immediately followed by a richly-caramelly malt which blooms in the finish... second sip and the hops and booze blend for an almost minty, menthol, chocolaty angle when the malt sweetness gets more sensed and absorbed in the aft, with the vanilla notes of the bourbon helping to render that kind of unmistakably ice creamy flavor going on...
F: relatively light in body with very little residual viscosity, though there's a faint feeling of silkiness when it's swishing around... the aft has a boozy glow but stops short of singeing... half a can blurs the senses... is this fortified?!
O: don't recall trying previous releases... bold, booming flavors, if not quite carrying the malty heft and depth it suggests... it's almost like a bourbon-infused Alt (or a ST spiced collab)... still, one of the tastier bourbon-barrel barleywines I've had in some time... bro got us both a 4-pack; I'd say I'd sit on my last can, but nah (2472)
Reviewed by Jadjunk from Georgia
3.81/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.81/5 rDev -5.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
"Represented by a snoozing moon, our Old Horizonta Barleywine-style ale is a substantial brew that has been serving as a winter warmer since 1996. Now it has finally earned a little rest of its own. We brewed up some batches and put them to bed in oak barrels that once held bourbon. During this three-month nap, the newly named Oak Horizontal enjoyed a transformation of flavors as the rich sweetness of the ale combined wit hthe oaky, vanilla flavors of the barrels to become a truly dreamy brew." Brewed in the style of an American Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels. Available in 750ml. bottles and on limited draft. Special release version of Old Horizontal Barleywine, released 2013.
Poured from a 750ml. bottle to a snifter glass.
(Appearance) Pours a frothy cream head of a buttery white color over a densely hazy muddy copper body. Retention is below average and lacing is light and patchy. 3
(Smell) An evident bourbon-oak impact creates drying notes, soft tannins and subtle vanilla-bourbon aromas atop a smooth and accessible Barleywine base of bread malts, smooth caramel, soft grains and delicate dark fruit sugars. Potency is moderate. 3.75
(Taste) The flavor has an incredible wave of bourbon oak up front, strong combinations of raw and toasted oak barrel with potent vanilla and bourbon flavor in tow, giving way slightly on the finish to the barleywine Old Horizontal recipe, which largely drifts underneath the intensity of the oak character as a sturdy malt base, without contributing much to the beer otherwise. It's actually quite enjoyable if you like an oak and bourbon-led beer, as this one certainly preserves and displays those character very well without much combative Barleywine flavors. 4
(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, moderately residual, smooth, medium dry. Carbonation is modest, generating a light frothiness and a softly crisp finish. Body is medium for the style, medium/heavy overall. Balance is moderately oaky dry and grainy over sweet. Alcohol presence is moderate, and there are no off characters to note. 3.75
(Overall) This is probably Victory's best oak-aged variant in their 750 ml. line, from the ones I have sampled to date. The oak and bourbon flavor is incredible, very potent and strong in delivery, leading this beer over the barleywine base, but I find the Old Horizontal Barleywine to be rather evenly balanced without stark highs and lows, so this experiment is welcome by me as an opportunity to compliment and amplify the flavors of an old classic, and ultimately recommended. Even with a few years of maturation in the bottle- it turns out to be very enjoyable. 4
Victory Brewing Company's
Oak Horizontal Aged In Bourbon Barrels
3.81/5.00
Feb 15, 2016Poured from a 750ml. bottle to a snifter glass.
(Appearance) Pours a frothy cream head of a buttery white color over a densely hazy muddy copper body. Retention is below average and lacing is light and patchy. 3
(Smell) An evident bourbon-oak impact creates drying notes, soft tannins and subtle vanilla-bourbon aromas atop a smooth and accessible Barleywine base of bread malts, smooth caramel, soft grains and delicate dark fruit sugars. Potency is moderate. 3.75
(Taste) The flavor has an incredible wave of bourbon oak up front, strong combinations of raw and toasted oak barrel with potent vanilla and bourbon flavor in tow, giving way slightly on the finish to the barleywine Old Horizontal recipe, which largely drifts underneath the intensity of the oak character as a sturdy malt base, without contributing much to the beer otherwise. It's actually quite enjoyable if you like an oak and bourbon-led beer, as this one certainly preserves and displays those character very well without much combative Barleywine flavors. 4
(Mouthfeel) Texture is slick, moderately residual, smooth, medium dry. Carbonation is modest, generating a light frothiness and a softly crisp finish. Body is medium for the style, medium/heavy overall. Balance is moderately oaky dry and grainy over sweet. Alcohol presence is moderate, and there are no off characters to note. 3.75
(Overall) This is probably Victory's best oak-aged variant in their 750 ml. line, from the ones I have sampled to date. The oak and bourbon flavor is incredible, very potent and strong in delivery, leading this beer over the barleywine base, but I find the Old Horizontal Barleywine to be rather evenly balanced without stark highs and lows, so this experiment is welcome by me as an opportunity to compliment and amplify the flavors of an old classic, and ultimately recommended. Even with a few years of maturation in the bottle- it turns out to be very enjoyable. 4
Victory Brewing Company's
Oak Horizontal Aged In Bourbon Barrels
3.81/5.00
Rated by spinrsx from Canada (ON)
3.42/5 rDev -15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
3.42/5 rDev -15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
2012 vintage. Was flat and oxidized.
Jan 30, 2016
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