St. Victorious - Victory Brewing Company

umtox

Pennsylvania

4.47/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours a deep dark hazy amber with little head.

Smell was good - of spice, molasses, and caramel - but faint

Taste very good - one of the best domestic dopplebocks. All the standard flavors are there for this style - just a cut above the rest. Lots of malt and spice.

A developing complexity and lingering finish. Big body.

I could have several of these.

Serving type: on-tap

01-25-2009 13:52:25 | More by umtox

Herrbrokt

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Fuel & Fiddle Pitt. PA.

Pours an amber hued nutty brown, beige head didn't stay long but left a neat ring.

smells of butterscotch, maybe maple, raisin, little citrus spice

Flavor is really complex. similar to aroma. wonderful balance of intricate malt and hop possibilities. Warm alcohol.

Smooth mouth feel. Hop undertone keeps away any sticky mouthfeel. Creamy and dense but not overly so.

Proves to be an excellent accompaniment to a meal or a great desert . I wouldn't go further than two solely due to the abv ...

Overall mmm...

Serving type: on-tap

01-20-2009 21:00:39 | More by Herrbrokt

marcpal

New Jersey

3.03/5  rDev -25.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

On tap at the brewpub after samples of several others. Poured into a short imperial glass.

A: Copper penny red. What I found interesting was the head that started thin and ended in the same exact thinness. I mean, this thing went nowhere.

S: Intensely sweet and sugary. Liquor soaked raisins and confectioners sugar. It needed something in the way of hops to bring something to the dance. Diabetics, beware, this is going to be candy like.

T: Abundantly sweet and chocolatey. Mind numbingly sweet with a powdered sugar, cotton candy pounding sweetness. Sugar cookie of a doppelbock in every part and parcel. Was it me or was it like an Old Fezziwig on HGH.

M: Thick, chewy but not that knife and fork thickness that the greats present. Oily and virtual nil in the way of carbonation.

D: Pretty good for what the style should represent outside of the cloying sweetness.
This would be incredibly difficult to session over the course of a night but that's not what it was designed for. Not the best from Victory, had high hopes for their overseas styles.

The alcohol is not the limiting factor, its the feeling of rising blood sugar level.

Serving type: on-tap

12-19-2008 00:53:11 | More by marcpal

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served on tap at the VBC on 12/12/08.

Pours a deep, clear, amber with a finger of creamy tan head (but almost off-white in color)that shrinks down into a solid, thin layer of retention, with a good flare-up that leaves some nice looking swathes of lacing behind. The aroma is nice and assertive smelling with notes of cocoa, nuts, bread, dark fruits, caramel and some fresh, floral hops in the back.

The taste is thick with bready malts, chocolate, dark fruits, and brown sugar. It's all very smooth and malty up front but there is also some welcome notes of roast and hops that punch up the back and add a little more character to the equation. Finishes with sticky remnants of dark fruit and caramel tang and even a little bitterness at times. The mouthfeel is medium-fuller bodied with a firm carbonation up front but then smoothes out into a chewier layer that rides underneath.

Very nice. Full flavored and chewey yet still smooth on the palette, this is a well done Doppelbock from Victory. I haven't visited this since having it in the bottle a couple of years ago, so this was a nice catch-up on a good beer.

Serving type: on-tap

12-16-2008 17:38:39 | More by Kegatron

sholland119

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A-Pours a deep red with a thin tan head and little lacing.

S-Sweet and malty with a strong scent of sweet dark fruits.

T-Good, not great. Lots of malty sweetness but nothing to really balance it out.

M-Nice carbonation, a little bit thick.

D-Nice enough but probably too sweet to enjoy a second one.

Love Victory beers as a rule but this is not a favorite.

HV

Serving type: on-tap

07-17-2008 19:34:11 | More by sholland119

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours clouded brown with a creme head. Thickly sweet. Malts are present, but the strong sweet flavor is what dominates. Kind of one-dimensional to me. Feel is decent on the body. Carbonation has a bit of a bite. Overall it seems a bit too cloying really. It's okay at best I guess.

Serving type: on-tap

07-13-2008 18:52:31 | More by RblWthACoz

ruckzuck

Georgia

4/5  rDev -2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had on tap at BSP recently.

A - red body, hints of dark orange and ruby when held up to light, topped by a khaki head

S - vaguely smokey, malt and hops are present as well

T - sort of wheaty/bready, toasted malt shows up with a piney hop kick at the end and enjoyable aftertaste

M - medium bodied with a bit of carbonation

D - pretty solid despite the ABV. Goes down fairly smoothly. Could drink several.

Serving type: on-tap

06-14-2008 18:29:47 | More by ruckzuck

ColForbinBC

New Jersey

4.03/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

on tap at the brewery

A beautiful dark red amber with ruby red highlights. A big bubbling coke-like tan head faded in time and left very little lacing on the sides.

Big caramel roasted malt nose with smoke and wood in the forefront. Background smells of dried flowers, milk chocolate and a mellow hop aroma.

Starts off with a nice roasted malt flavor and a hint of chocolate. Other flavors that balance out this tasty dopplebock are of honey, molasses, earthy wood.

The mouthfeel is thick and heavy and has an mellow warming alcohol finish.

The drinkability suffers a bit due to the alcohol that kicks in later, but its still pretty damn good and wouldn't keep me from having another.

This is a great version of an American dopplebock. Victory once again shows of their mastery of german malts.

Serving type: on-tap

02-03-2008 18:33:00 | More by ColForbinBC

HugoGrim

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served on tap at the Victory brewery in Downingtown, PA.

Deep ruby color. Nice head which remained around quite a long time, and left behind some good lace.

Aroma is that of cranberry juice, red wine, and other dark fruits.

Flavor is brilliantly complex. Acidic, spiced, roasted coffee, raisins, grapes, and piny hops. Malt to spare. Another excellent beer from Victory.

Serving type: on-tap

05-08-2007 23:08:47 | More by HugoGrim

ski271

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at the brewery. Dark mahogany with a small, creamy, off-white head that quickly diminishes to a faint film, and leaves light wisps of lacing. Smell is of super rich malts with some dark fruit, toffee a some light estery alcohol. Taste is wonderfully malty and complex. Fairly sweet but not cloying, as there’s just enough hops to cancel some of it out on the finish. It has a medium-full body, creamy texture and soft carbonation. Another very good beer from Victory that’s definitely worth trying.

Serving type: on-tap

05-04-2007 19:39:42 | More by ski271

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at the Blue Nile.

Dark brown body with no head, served in a Westmalle chalice. Smells delicious with dark fruity malts. Taste is rich with licorice and chocolate followed by the fruit. Creamy and somewhat thick mouthfeel and very drinkable. A very fine beer.

Serving type: on-tap

05-24-2006 20:10:20 | More by tempest

dfried

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This beer had a great appearance, deep brown, almost black, but with crimson around the edges. Slight carmely colored head. The smell was malty and good but didn't have everything the taste did. The taste was malty, chocolaty and carmely, at first but quite smooth, with an extended finish of all types of deep, almost tart fruity flavors with enough alcohol kick to make them enjoyable. You definitely notice a slight hop presence as well. It had a great body for a doppelbock, not too thick and malty, pretty easy to drink.

Serving type: on-tap

05-24-2006 19:15:42 | More by dfried

boulevard2

New York

3.6/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

16 oz. pint at Monty's Krown

Pours a carmel brown sugar haze with a little carbonation.I was a little skeptical from its appearence being used to darker dopplebocks but was intrested to see how they did. A small head appeared and then disapated quickly. Smells of burnt caramel, raisins and spices, nice for this kind of beer . The taste was much like it smelled and was warming with its 8.5% abv and was a great attempt to a classic European Beer.

Serving type: on-tap

04-22-2006 20:38:03 | More by boulevard2

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at the Blue Nile: Big lusterious head of thick yellowy ivory foam sits atop a luminous moonlit blood black. Glares brightened dark red in certain light along the edges and bottom, but make no mistake this a a darkened bloody black. Cap recededs slowly, patchy strings of lace take shape along the receding lines of foam keeping a firm skim always present and the lacing sticky.

Lofty yet somewhat shortened on the nose hairs with a dark fruity center of dark cherry and a good portion of dark toffee. Seemingly plummy and rendering a high ended sugary sweetness from a complex layering of malts.

Taste is sweet and complexly so. Lots of little nuances to it that sway to and fro with a dark fuityness preliminary of highly tanged dark cherry. There, and mixed well, is the toffee/caramel, and again a little more to the tang to it then gathered as it has a leathery backing along its course of flavor. Good sense of plummy stuff and seemingly port-like in some areas of its profile as it peaks a tad more towards the finish with a slight smokey tang and soft, dark chocolate waffer-like fluff.

Feel is tender, smooth, malty, and warming, semi light to medium body yet set within a soothingly sweetened texture and character.

A fairly decent effort here, quite Belgain-esk in some fashion as its complexity is more then enough to lift the eyebrows and swirl the mouth buds into a firm sense of stability in smoothened sweetness.

Serving type: on-tap

04-09-2006 03:48:16 | More by tavernjef

tattooedtolley

Virginia

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On Tap at Baja Bean in Staunton VA

Appearance: Maybe its the lighting here in the bar but this beer has a beautiful deep ruby color. A slightly tan head that leaves little lacing.

Smell: Malty in aroma, a caramel smell with a slight bit of smokiness and a distinct fruity aroma as well.

Taste: Very much a malty initial taste followed with the fuitiness of what I guess is the hops that helps balance this act out. A very balanced taste that makes for a great taste and not overly sweet.

Mouthfeel: A medium body with enough crispness. It is super warm today but this beer was still very refreshing, the aroma told me it wasn't the right day for this beer but the aroma was wrong.

Drinkability: Not my session beer but certainly a beer worthy of a few pints.

Overall I must admit I am far from a beer expert especially in this style but it is a great beer and well worth a try.

Serving type: on-tap

04-06-2006 18:27:29 | More by tattooedtolley

orsulacp

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I got a 1/6 of this and the beer poured a dark brown with ruby highlights and a nice creamy off white head, it looked really inviting. The nose was a sweet malty milk chocolate with some toasty smells coming through too. The taste is very toasty, it is not as sweet as the smell would indicate, and there is a little bitterness, like a semi-sweet chocolate. The mouthfeel is full and silky smooth. It is hard to drink more than one or two these because it is so filling.

Serving type: on-tap

03-29-2006 18:51:43 | More by orsulacp

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.35/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Freshly tapped and poured into an Aventinus glass.
Dark at the top, clear at the bottom, caramel colored, edging on a bright crimson...attractive creamy tan cap atop.

aroma: sweet and spicy, with notes of toffee, peppers, leather, nougat, and the slight sting of brandy.

Taste: rich, thick, and warm. Great grit in the texture, full bodied, long, sweet, considerable finish. Huge malt, tenacious cling on the palate, toasty and ultimately dry. Quite complex.

Terrifically balanced doppelbock. Not too sweet, full of flavor, the caramel never quits,...deeply delicious, roundly rewarding. Higher alcoholic content creeps up quietly, then takes command and let's no one forget it's there.

A masterfully conceived and brewed beverage. One I've had on the to-try list for many years, and am glad to know it and enjoy it at last!

One more word on the subject: Yum!

Serving type: on-tap

03-27-2006 05:31:45 | More by feloniousmonk

Foxman

New Jersey

4.35/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

It came to me a deep and ruddy dark amber, nicely carbonated. A finger of dense off-white head lingered some time before settling to patchy froth. Delicate was plentiful.

The aroma was rich with brown sugar and malty caramel, as well as a baked bread component. A layer of hops spice blanketed the periphery softly.

Upon sipping, there came a veritable wave of roasted malt sweetness, carrying in its wake notes of caramel, black cherry, coffee, and a touch of leather. Swirling in the middle were traces of vinous grapes, baked dough, and a smidgeon of alcohol. Peppery hops came through more toward the close, spicy and poignant, but never overbearing. the finish was dark malt and hops bitterness, but rounded nicely for a long lingering. The hops presence is a pleasant surprise, and lends an intriguing counterpointf or the strong malt character.

Medium bodied, it coats sweetly, and leaves behind a pleasing hop tingle as it washes slowly away.

Sure, it's about the malt, as well it should be, but the hops put a fine touch on things and lended an air not often seen in the style. It's big, no doubt, and the ABV comes through in spots, but it would also be easy to ignore, and that might not be wise. Still, in spite of the size, it's a joy to drink, with the sweet and spicy playing off each other like to happy puppies. I wil be revisiting this unique number often in the future.

Serving type: on-tap

03-14-2006 18:51:25 | More by Foxman

DarkerTheBetter

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer came a slightly brown grape juice color with a thin off white head.

Smelled of roasted caramel malts and a few dry hints of dark fruits.

Tasted smooth and syrupy with dark heavy malts and a red grape dry sweetness that picks up some dry peppery hops and a little smoky yeast. Finishes a bit oaky with some green grassy hops.

The mouth feel was light bodied but felt heavy in my mouth with a light and easy carbonation that gave the over all impression of water.

Serving type: on-tap

02-21-2006 17:00:16 | More by DarkerTheBetter

NJpadreFan

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Victory- St Victorious

Served up at the 10 year anniversary party.

Appearance- dark mahogany brown with a decent fluffy head.
Smell- sweet molasses, sugary syrup, and malt.
Taste- sweet syrupy malt with hints of molasses and cherry.
Mouthfeel- a little to thick and sweet for me. Although smooth and warm on a cold evening.

Overall- a decent doppelbock, just too sweet.

Serving type: on-tap

02-19-2006 18:38:27 | More by NJpadreFan

ggaughan

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at the Victory brewery bar.

This beer pours a nice medium amber color with a nice tan, thick head. There was a nice malty sweet aroma to this beer and some subtle hints of fruit. The taste gives you a nice toasted malty sensation to roll around in your mouth and it stays with you for awhile which is enjoyable. This is a very nice beer from Victory and at the brewery made it taste just a bit better.

Serving type: on-tap

01-31-2006 01:51:16 | More by ggaughan

BillyB

New Jersey

4.93/5  rDev +20.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Had on tap at Victory.
Pours a deep, dark, ruby red with a thick tan head but the head disappears quickly.
Smells of sweet beechwood smoked malt, dried fruit; plums, raisins, wine. Also, caramel, molasses. Hint of whole flower german hops.
The taste is of strong immense malt. Sweet and smokey. Slight toffe/caramel character. Very rich, very complex taste. Chocolate, cherry, bready yet tangy.
Mouthfeel is velvety smooth with slight alcohol warmth. A bit sticky.
Simply excellent.

Serving type: on-tap

01-29-2006 22:59:42 | More by BillyB

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

On tap at Ortino's Northside...
Appears a dark brown with a red hue and a light tan head. Very dense and unsure of the visible carbonation.
Smell is of cocoa powder, smoked peat, caramel, molasses, black plums, and roasted nuts.
Taste is equally as enjoyable as the aromas.
Mouthfeel is right on. Chewy, warming, sweet, and balanced with a quick finish.

Serving type: on-tap

10-07-2005 17:00:24 | More by weeare138

ChrisBowers

Virginia

4.22/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I'd always had this in bottles and thought it was so-so, but I recently had it on tap at home and it really changed my opinion of this beer. Fantastic dark ruby-brown color, rich malty aroma. Taste is heavy on the dark fruits, rich malty profile. Somewhat bready, nice and chewy. Reminds me a bit of Celebrator. Sweet, but not too much so. Quite drinkable. A fine example of the style.

Serving type: on-tap

06-06-2005 22:31:11 | More by ChrisBowers

Boto

Connecticut

3.63/5  rDev -11%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The beer poured a dark brown color. Not much head to speak of. Aroma has a rich malty sweetness to it, with mayge a hint of fruitiness. The taste is very malty and sweet, with a hint of caramel to it. There is a good hop balance. A very good Bock! Maybe not up to some of the better ones, but still very drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

04-02-2005 20:32:20 | More by Boto