Victory Brewing (2020)

I'm looking for a picture of the label for Victory All-Malt Lager before it became the Helles. Can't find it online. Anyone here still have an empty bottle?

 

This one?

 

Here in WV all of our brewpubs are having their Victory tap take overs. Personally I'm not sure there's a Victory beer I like or I haven't came across it yet. I don't see them doing well around here.

 

Because people aren't buying those beers. I don't know if the fruited beers or any of the other new things they've trotted out are selling either, but they certainly wouldn't have pulled these off the market if people were buying them.

Outside of the truly iconic legacy craft brands like SNPA or Bell's Two-Hearted, the stuff that put mature breweries like Victory on the map have been crowded out by competition and changing tastes. What the old beerheads like us here on Beer Advocate like is probably not representative of what contemporary beer consumers are buying, and it's a hard thing for breweries like Victory to figure out how to keep their loyal drinkers satisfied while also making stuff that appeals to modern drinkers.

Personally, I checked out on Victory after a 3rd failed attempt to find fresh Prima Pils at my local distributor, so I don't think they're doing a good job of satisfying long-time loyal customers, any more than they're doing a good job of staying relevant in today's market. But maybe they sell enough Summer Love and Lager that the rest of their decisions don't really matter all that much.

 

I have seen referenced that Golden Monkey is their top seller, which would make sense why they have been pushing new Monkey variations https://victorybeer.com/monkeys/

I agree they wouldn't have discontinued beers if they sold well. But it would be nice if they at least kept some of the classics around as seasonal or smaller releases. But perhaps it's an issue of crowded store shelves. If a store only has room to stock 3 or 4 Victory brands, they want them to be the fastest selling ones.

 

The splash page on the Victory website is now pushing a new Lo Cal IPA.
https://victorybeer.com/beers/easy-ringer/

 

Interesting that they have only cans on that splash page and a total of four lagers for the lager fans here.

 

It did hit distribution, at least here in NJ. Wegman's (in Bridgewater) still had 4-packs as of Saturday...at $26.99 per four pack.

 

Are you sure those are new?

 

I am sure ...bottled late 2019

 

No this is new look. It said All Malt on the label. Thanks for trying.

 

Well I wouldn't use the term "new look", as the name change to Helles Lager was years ago.

According to this article, prior to Victory Lager it went by Brandywine Valley Lager. Is that what you're thinking of?

 

This one, circa 1999? (People don't remember this, but just like in Wizard of OZ, the world was in black and white before 2000.)

 

This was more than a label change Brandywine Lager was an Export and IMO a much better beer than their Helles ever was. I was bummed when they stopped making their Export.

 

Not the full label, but found a color version of the logo

 

HAH! Red Thunder! I accidentally bought a case (Thought I was grabbing Baltic Thunder) and was not pleasantly surprised. But after it aged a couple of years, it turned out to be pretty good. don't know how many cases of Baltic Thunder bombers I bought, but it wasn't quite enough to keep it in production.
I cringed when I heard that Victory was being joined with Southern Tier, at best a mediocre semi-local brewery, more miss than hit IMHO. And that's the end of Victory, and sadly as well, Sixpoint.

 

Southern Tier's lineup has greatly changed over the years - but for awhile their Blackwater Series beers were some of my favorites: Javha, Mocha, Cholak, Oat, Iniquity, Backburner, etc. All sadly retired.
Their year round Porter was good too but I don't think they brew that anymore either.

I think the trend with Southern Tier is the same as Victory - they abandoned their more unique beers to just chase the best selling trends in order to keep up their volume.

Which what do you expect when private equity firm buys a company? Sadly they want to grow it through any means necessary so they can sell it again.

 

I disagree about Sixpoint. They’ve been releasing a lot of stuff I’m enjoying recently.

 

Another aspect to be considered with the Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV) group of breweries is that they are expending a fair bit of investment for expanding on premise beer sales.

A couple of years ago they built a big facility in Charlotte, NC which is a combination brewery and brewpub with something like 40 taps.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-people/article236140683.html

There is a new Victory branded brewery/taproom opening later this year in Philadelphia.

https://www.brewbound.com/news/victory-brewing-to-open-philadelphia-brewery-taproom-in-2020

And Sixpoint has a new brewery/taproom opening this year in Brooklyn.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...rewery-and-taproom-in-brooklyn-300902535.html

A lot of money being spent to achieve these new on premise locations.

There is plenty of profit to be achieved via selling beer directly to consumers vs. selling through the three tier distribution system.

Cheers!

 

This is the one I remember. I did not ever see the Brandywine Valley Lager in Pittsburgh.
Thanks.I would welcome this one back and I guess the Classic is not the same beer.