Victory Brewing (2020)

A number of the 'heritage' brands are no longer being produced. For example you could add Storm King to the list of discontinued brands.

Prima has indeed been reformulated. I purchase two 6-packs (separated by a couple of months) with the goal of trying to like this reformulated beer. My attempts failed - I am not a fan of this 'new' Prima beer. Oh well, lots of other high quality locally produced Pilsners to choose from. I will mention just two: Root Down Pils and Sterling Pig Shoat Pilsner.

I had a conversation with a Victory Sales Rep at a local craft beer store a few years ago and to my surprise (at that time) he informed me that Golden Monkey was their top selling brand. I do not know how well the variants are selling.

On thing that is important to keep in mind IMO is that Victory is now a 'different' company since they got bought out a few years ago by Artisanal Beverage Ventures. IMO they are more about maintaining and growing sales and less inclined to maintain a broad 'traditional' beer style base.

Cheers!

 

Good info, Jack. I for one used to purchase Victory regularly. I have tried a lot of their newer stuff but like you, not a big fan of new Prima pils. That used to be one of my favorites. Also not happy that they discontinued Storm King, a great hoppy stout, Yakima Glory, an enjoyable black ipa, Hop wallop (not a big fan of the new one), Helios, Old Horizontal. I could go on. Like you said, there are a lot of other excellent local options.

 

I really miss Helios and I'm okay with the reformulated Prima Pils. I haven't had any of the other Monkeys. Victory keeps swinging for the fence and some don't quite get there, but I like their Java Latte milk stout and Java Cask is excellent. I miss Old Ho.

 

Can't believe they stopped making Storm King. Bummer!

 

I personally buy a six pack of prima once a month or so. I think the new version is just as good if not better than OG prima. But I do agree some of their decisions seem strange, the whole monkey variants are all strange.

If they had gone all in on their lagers I think they may be in a better place but what do I know. Prima was and still is a thing of beauty. They shouldn’t started bottling braumeister, created a year round dunkel and schwarz. But hey that’s just me wishing. Still love victory and always will. I do miss head waters though.

 

Ah, I almost forgot about Headwaters. That was (and still is) one of my favorite APA’s ever. It was kinda tough to find fresh but when you could, it was a beautiful beer.

 

I remember listening to an interview with Bill Covaleski about 3-4 years ago where he said Golden Monkey was their top seller, 28% of all of their sales. I was shocked. He said a big reason is that it appeals to young people because it's a low priced, high ABV beer with a cool name. And that many of those same people never "break up" with the beer and continue to buy it well into adulthood.

 

I brought the mixed 15 pack to our family party over the holidays and was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the new Prima, myself. The Sour Monkey wasn't too shabby either. Naturally it was a really casual drinking atmosphere, but the beers still really worked for me.

 

@TongoRad i don’t mind sour monkey at all, almost has a cider vibe to me. The one I’m not a fan of mango one, tasted super weird to me.

 

I’ve always enjoyed Golden Monkey. Maybe I’ll have to revisit the new Pils after the esteemed duo of @jonphisher and @TongoRad gave positive feedback.

 

Hah, yeah, as a standalone I don't think the mango one is one I'll be trying too soon .

But with the Sour Monkey, my brother handed me a glass without telling me what was in it, and on the first sip I had it pegged. It's not all that complex or different, just that Golden Monkey profile with a tart edge to it. And that just seems to jive better with my preferences, how that tartness tends to tone down any potential cloying aspects.

 

Headwaters is still around, I can find it fresh and easily again in my area and you can get it in cans now too.

I absolutely hate Twisted Monkey, and I love mango. But it is very popular and Victory was doing a tasting in a store I was in recently and TM was the favorite with most folks.

Victory has changed a lot and most of their new stuff is either just okay or I hate it, not much I have loved from them lately. And here are a few new beers on their way:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-drop-a-sour-neipa-plus-two-new-beers.631958/

 

What part of PA do you live? Are there any beer distributor you suggest that have fresh headwaters? I only ask because I’m basically on the PA border

 

I haven’t seen Headwaters in forever either. Hopefully the rebranding leads to some showing up again.

 

Wait was headwaters never discontinued? I swear I read or was told that at some point. Pleaseng surprise but doubt any stores locally will order any.

 

I'm in Philly. I rarely visit distributors anymore because I prefer six packs and nowadays price/convenience wise it's just simpler for me to hit up Wegmans or Giant but both have fresh Headwaters on hand. But I imagine any can order it for you and if you ever visit a Victory brewpub...(and they are opening one in Center City on the Parkway).

Not to my knowledge and it was always available around me, at Victory, etc.

 

Count me as one who likes the reformulated Prima Pils. It doesn't taste too different from what I recall it being.

I really, really like Twisted Monkey, lower ABV than Golden Monkey and the Mango plays very, very nicely with the yeast profile, at least for my tastes.

I thought Java Latte (from late 2019) was a nice coffee/milk stout, even if was a little thin and looked more like a brown ale than a 7ish%ABV stout.

I was very pleased with Cloud Walker, I actually like it more than Sierra's Hazy Little Thing, if we're comparing hazies from the larger regional breweries.

Liberty Bell Ringer wasn't exactly new last year, but I think they canned it and put into more wide distribution than they have in the past. I quite liked it.

I thought No Brainer was just OK, and I agree about Fizzy Bizness or whatever that one is, the Brut IPA was such a flash in the pan fad and they were way behind on trying to catch on to that style.

I'd love for them to can the Schwarz Pils I had at the brewery 3 years ago. My only hope there is that I had the Hip Czech at the same visit and they started canning that one last year.

 

I’m with you on a lot of these takes, with the exception of twisted monkey. Liberty Bell Ringer and Java Latte are both good beers at excellent values ( Hop Wallop as well) and I also thought Cloud Walker was an enjoyable mass produced hazy.

I’m up in the air about the new Prima. First six pack I wasn’t a fan, I tried it again and thought it was good. I did have it alongside a Sunshine Pils though and I preferred the Troegs.

 

I liked Mighty Things DIPA from late 2018 a lot, not sure if that is coming back or as a rebrand under a new name. Made some awesome hot wings using that beer in the brine.