Victory Swing

I definitely found this beer disappointing although I wouldn't categorize it as a bad beer. I was expecting more as I think that Victory does a good job with Belgian styles (Whirlwind wit, Helios) but this was just too spicy and peppery. It's not what I was expecting from a low abv "session" saison.

 

Uhhhhhh, what did you say?

I have not tried it, and probably won't. This isn't replacing Summer Love, is it?? Summer Love is a great drinking summer beer that is nice and hoppy.

 

typo on my part( but should be buy) will buy summer love sixers

 

I tried this beer and had no expectations going into it. I fooking loved it. It is a far cry from a simple, unspiced saison, but talking about saisons, you can pretty much do whatever the frack you want with that style, and if they wanted something sessionable, and interesting to drink they nailed this beer. A jump up from Whirlwind Wit imo.

 

I also enjoyed this beer with no expectations. Just picked up a single though, and probably won't be getting more than one sixer of it. Huge fan of Helios here - they really aren't comparable. The Swing does have a nice spice tho.

 

I haven't had Swing yet, but a $3.99 a bomber, I'd drink Helios till the cows come home. Nice combo of lemon, pepper, and some mild funk ta boot.

 

I bought a 6 pack on Saturday afternoon and quite enjoyed one that evening. As others have mentioned, it was light and refreshing and had a nice spice to it. It was between that and Ithaca Ground Break and I chose the Swing. Next time I'll pick up the Ground Break and see how it compares.

 

Always buy a single the first time out, would be the actual non-idiotic approach. Reviews are usually worthless, especially for a new beer, and ESPECIALLY for something that is non-barrel-aged, non-hoppy, and sub-8% ABV.

I thought it was a very good beer, it had more farmhouse funk to it than I expected. Don't know that I'll be running out to buy a case, but I definitely see having a bottle or 3 of this in the fridge on a regular basis going forward. I give Victory high marks for doing exactly what they set out to do - making a funky, spicy, very tasty low ABV beer.

 

On a whim, I bought a case of Swing. I'm glad I don't feel the same way about it as many of you do. I don't regret my purchase at all.

 

I thought it was good. Liked the citrus, tart stuff going on. Am I the only one who reads the bottle label ? Would pair well with some spicy Thai dish.

 

Anyone around Boston try this yet? Curious how it compares to Notch Saison at 3.8%. The review average and number of reviews so far are quite close.

 

I have not tried the new one. I look forward to it, but (slightly off topic), I hate that summer beers ("sessionable summer beer styles") are coming out now. It's March 18 damn it! It's still winter. Sorry--anyway, I'm sure I'll dig this new Saison, though I believe if they just went ahead with 6 packs of Helios instead, there would be many more happy campers around. Cheers!

 

Keith, relax! Swing is a spring seasonal and Summer Love will be the summer seasonal. Summer Love is indeed: “a great drinking summer beer that is nice and hoppy.”

I bought a six-pack of Swing at Whole Foods last week (along with a six-pack of St. Victorious Doppelbock which is OUTSTANDING!). The Swing is a nice beer; sort of like a hybrid between a Wit (because of the spicing) and a Saison (there are some esters and phenols there from the yeast they selected). I would think that Swing will be even more refreshing when spring finally arrives; it is still wintertime right now.

I just wish that Victory would bottle their Kolsch; that beer is my favorite commercial Kolsch beer.

Cheers!

 

who keeps cardomom in the house???

 

I liked Swing miles more than I liked Ground Break. Which wasn't bad, but I wouldn't buy it again.

Its been awhile since I had Notch but I am pretty sure I prefer it to Swing. Easier for me to find, too.

 

Its always fun to read peoples first impressions of a new brew, especially one that is fairly distinct in the market. I remember back a few decades ago when I was just learning about Belgian styles and Ron and I did a long session at the famous Bruges Beertje. We decided to order one of every Saison on the menu since we had to educate our palates on the "style" of Saison. Afterwords it just reinforced what I suspected, Saison is an approach to brewing and not really a style at all, unless you consider a pale colored beer with Belgian yeast to be a style in itself. Some are real spicey, some earthy, some dry, some more strong and then there are the Bretts. Then as I learned more about the history of Saisons it was fun to learn that historically these beers were much lower in alcohol than today - since they were often employed to slack the thirst of hard working farm hands. Personally, Ive brewed a a lot of saisons over the years in my pilot brewery, about half with spices and half without. Each one seems to be a fun experience to me and I always like to have a new Saison in my rotation about every 3 or 4 batches, which means about every two year since my pilot yields one barrel per batch. In Swing I find a very unique beer, bracingly and bone dry from the combo of the yeast that attenuates over 90% married with the dryness from the pepper spices and the start and end aroma of the Lemon zest. Its also very hoppy, not in an IPA way but seriously high in IBUs - not difficult in session beers since you get really good kettle extraction with low body or legs to (un)balance. I think this beers great, but it is very dry and quite spicey. Each to their own.

As to the comment about "All I get is ginger and coriander", thats pretty interesting since neither are used at all and certainly no cardamom, its not Indian Curry (but I bet its really good with a nice Vindaloo)! No, try a coriander beer like a Whirlwind Wit next to Swing and you will see how vastly different the recipe approach is.

Have fun and enjoy life!

Jim

 

Jim,

Thanks for your post. Victory Swing is indeed an enjoyable beer and very apropos as a spring seasonal.

Any chance we will ever see the Kolsch beer in bottles?

Cheers!

Jack

 

Jack, never say never but for the next year or so we have other plans. As you know, mostly just to get moved into the new brewery and keep up with the popular beers like Summer Love and Headwaters and a few new and interesting bottles that you will all love. Once Parkesburg is operational, this opens up more draft only specials from the 50 BBL Rolec brewery while the flagships move to the 200BBL Rolec.

Im also a big fan of the Kolsch (but a bigger fan of all the Braumeisters!). Jim

 

“I’m also a big fan of the Kolsch (but a bigger fan of all the Braumeisters!).”

Needless to say but me too!

Cheers!

Jack