St. Victorious - Victory Brewing Company

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

deejaydan

Michigan

4.18/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours deep mahagony with ruby hues. Head and head retention are slightly disappointing. Aroma is bready and slightly vinous. Taste is good, but I find a twang in there that is distracting. Could be from overroasted malts. Sticky and slightly sweet on mouthfeel. Light enough to drink and be dangerous.

Another solid brew from Victory.

Thanks to FoolCircle and SS'05.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2005 02:27:18 | More by deejaydan

GClarkage

California

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

12/08/05- Received via trade with Santoslhalper.

Presentation- 12oz bottle with a best by date stamped on the bottle. Poured into my dimpled mug.

Appearance- Off brown chocolaty colored pour. Small 1/4 inch head with specks of light lace here and there.

Smell- Sweet toffee malt with maybe some dates and raisins as well.

Taste- Very nice sweet and maybe a bit tangy roasted malt with a touch of brown sugar for that sticky taste. Dates and maybe some prune action going on as well.

Mouthfeel- A bit thick and definitely sticky. Heavier mouthfeel.

Drinkability- Quite a nice doppelbock. Right up there with my two favorites (Celebrator and Weltenburger). Would have again if it was out here. Thanks for the sample Santos!

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2005 04:50:41 | More by GClarkage

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

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This started out by pouring with a huge, deep brown head that just dwindled away to nothing, not even wisps. The color was a clear russet-brown/
mahogany. The nose was very malty with an underlying molasses/tar scent. I should point out that this last was not off-putting, just present. It had a really thick mouthfeel with a caramel sweetness on the tongue. The finish was a blend of sweet flavors - caramel, toffee, molasses. Warming, it became even richer, more toffee-like. A very interesting beer.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2005 23:59:37 | More by woodychandler

eclectic

New Jersey

3.45/5  rDev -15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours a deep brown with minimal head.. a sweet malted yeasty bread aroma.. medium bodied... initially dry and malty, finishes with a hoppiness that doesn’t seem to flow with the rest of the flavors..

Not what I was expecting for the style.. which in this case is a bad thing.. hard to say much else about it since it was so lackluster.. would try it again but am in no rush to do so.

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2005 20:19:11 | More by eclectic

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Smoother and rounder than many, it's just that edge that gives St. Victorious enough of an edge to put it at the top of its class. It pours a beautiful crimson-chestnut with glowing orange highlights at the base and a creamy yellowed-paper head. The retention is quite good, and holds admirably considering its strength. The lacing is somewhat limited, but that's common for the style; and when tasted side by side with a competing brand, it was quite obvious that the St. Victorious dominated. The nose is rich with soft creamy caramel, a waft of juicy dark fruit, toasty malts, and just the essence of some floral hops. In the mouth it's delicately crisp and then malty smooth across the palate with a dextrinous medium body and fine-bubbled, moderate carbonation. The flavor is very much as the aroma suggests, but with a wider breadth of character that includes a fuller Vienna/Munich maltiness, a judicious amount of alcohol, and a touch of what seems like Beechwood smokiness. The bitterness is restrained as might be expected; and it finishes dry with a light wash of drying alcohol and some lingering bready, and very subtly smoky, malt. Quite nice indeed! In fact, ....world class! This ranks right up there with Paulaner Salvator and Ayinger's Fortunator/Celebrator.

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2005 13:13:26 | More by NeroFiddled

ikats

New Jersey

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

This beer pours rich, dark ruby color with minimal tan head which dissipates rather quickly. Aroma is powerful and is apparent as soon as you pour it. Its sweet and toasty bouquet is so pleasant that I start thinking that some company should capture it in an air freshener. The flavor is sweet and rich. The beer goes down easy. May be too easy, as reviewing it proves to be a challenge since I just want to enjoy it without thinking about the technical mambo jumbo. Somewhat high alcohol content blends perfectly into the drink and packs a nice punch. As the beer goes down your throat you are left with sweet warmth wanting more. This would be perfect on a chilly night. Enjoyed from bottle in a quietness of my home. Best before August 2005 (drank May 2005).

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2005 15:39:03 | More by ikats

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

bigbubba

Ohio

4.25/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This beer is a cloudy brown with yellowish highlights. The head was small and short lived. The smell is good, very sweet and malty. There is a alcohol smell and a sort of musky or woody smell. There is lots of flavor. It is sweet and malty, and very fruity. There is a slight bitterness that keeps the sweetness from overpowering. The mouthfeel is thick and round with a warm feeling even though it is cold. The alcohol is very evident. The drinkability is good. A very nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2005 23:22:58 | More by bigbubba

CRJMellor

Arkansas

4.15/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Davo for this sample.
Pours a mahogany brown with gold and red highlights. Obvious carbonation does not really play into self into a big head retnetion but rather bubbles up into a thin tan head.
Aroma of dark citrus fruits and caramel, almost like a make your own ice cream Sundae, the fruit and caramel seem so fresh and alive. Hints of estery alcohol and even a bit a bit of bready yeat make there way through the sweetness as it opens a bit. A faint hint of nuttiness and some roasted malt also emerge upon closer inspection.
Flavors of caramel dominate with some underlying complex fruit and nuttiness interwoven into the flavors. Highly complex, some rye bread notes come across mid palate as well as a light dusting of some earthy hops.
Mouthfeel is rich, thick and palate coating. Doesn't have as pure or crisp feel as some of this style but what it lacks in style adherence it more than makes up for in the complex taste and sensuous coating and work out it gives the tastebuds.
Drinkability is very high. Really went down easy (sort of like Davo) with the only disappointment that I did not have an another to immediately follow it with. Really well-made and complex beer can only imagine how smooth easy and dangerously inebriating this one would be on tap.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2005 11:17:08 | More by CRJMellor

BCMan

Pennsylvania

3.73/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer poured up a deep ruby red. Little foam formed with a heavy pour and it all faded with right away to nothing. The nose is subtle and sweet. The flavor is not as strong as I would have expected. Sweet with a smooth mouthfeel. The taste doesn't linger but it warms a bit after swallowing. This seasonal seems to a bit less than it's billed to be but is still pretty good. Not the best from Victory but definetly worth a try. I would reccommend it.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2005 00:22:19 | More by BCMan

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

beermanbrian

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours with a deep amber color. Nice head but it disipated quickly. Strong hoppy aroma with a definate hint of caramel. Caramel smell carried over to the taste. A little sweet and high in alcohol to drink more than one or two in a sitting. Overall a beer that i would drink again.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2005 00:14:19 | More by beermanbrian

asabreed

New York

4.13/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

One minor thing: this was unfortunately served in a really cold glass. Couple with that is this was my last beer of the night, so I couldn't sit on it as much as I wanted to because I had to leave. Still, I did all I could do and I think by the end it opened up enough for me to have a pretty good idea of what it's capable of.

Appearance: White head quickly disappeared after the pour, maybe due to the temperature? Beautiful dark red / amber color that looked amazing in the light.

Smell: Fruit, fruit punch, complex malt sweetness, yeast, bread, and some caramel or toffee creeping in, too.

Taste: Fruity, malty, and yeasty for the most part. Balanced extremely well, but I was hoping for more complexity for taste as great as the aromas were. Almost like a weaker barley wine without the hops? Or a really young barley wine without the hops?

Mouthfeel: Medium to full-bodied, chewy, and medium carbonation.

Drinkability: This is a pretty strong beer, and it's pretty sweet as I think most Doppelbock's are. However, I still feel this would be great a year or two down the road as I think mine was pretty green off the tap, not to mention the cold glass. Still, very enjoyable, a great take on the style, and if I can find some I'll definitely buy it and cellar it to see what happens.

Serving type: on-tap

03-24-2005 16:14:33 | More by asabreed

tgbljb

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Enjoyed from bottle with use by date of Aug 1, 2005. I am glad to see Victory bottling this beer this year. Poured a beautiful deep copper color with large head. Was not initially impressed with first taste, but it began to grow on me as the glass disappeared. Nice finish. will definitely enjoy again

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2005 02:27:18 | More by tgbljb

RoyalT

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance – This one was dark brown in color with an unusually large head that was lightly browned and showed terrific retention.

Smell – The malts here are really big. They are heavily-toasted and taste more like a Dark Belgian Ale than a DP. There are some refined raw sugars in here as well.

Taste – This one is big and malty, again more like a Belgian than a German Doppelbock bier. The sweetness is like brown or raw sugar and very granular and smooth.

Mouthfeel – This Victory offering is somewhere between medium and full-bodied. It is evenly balanced between malts and sugars.

Drinkability – This is a great-tasting beer that is a bit off-style from an authentic German Doppelbock. I enjoyed it very much though and will definitely seek out again.

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2005 02:29:30 | More by RoyalT

Todd

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz brown bottle. Deep and brilliant ruby hued pour with a thin lace. Soft fruity/leaf aroma and complex dark malts in the nose. Carbonation is a bit lively, creaming up the palate a bit. Thick mouthfeel, with loads of malty character with complex flavors of raisin, grape, ebbing blends of caramel and chocolate, and a slight steely/grain note. Sharpish citric-like bitterness strikes from under the malt, then retreats leaving a slightly herbal character on the palate. Wonderfully rich burnt caramel, toffee, and grape flavors become very pronounced as the beer warms. Touch of spicy alcohol. Sweet bready lingers.

Awesome American stab at the style!

Serving type: bottle

03-03-2005 02:25:15 | More by Todd

PSUDREW

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a dark, brown soda color, with a little bit of aged-bone colored head. Nose reminds me of a abv-heavy, sweet, roasted nutty-ness. Tatse boastes an interesting mix of nutty-ness, wine-quality, solid malt, sweet taste, with a spicy/sweet hop finish. Not the most complex dopple i have had, but, surely a solid competitior, that mixes well on several occasions.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2005 06:30:49 | More by PSUDREW

goodbyeohio

Oregon

3.65/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12oz best by 8/1/05, thanks to geoff..

pours a beautiful brown with red highlights.. no head, but bubbly around the edges. perfect viscosity.

aroma is explosive.. malty and real hoppy with cherry hints and alcohol evident. barleywine-ish for sure with extra sweet.

tastes crazy.. malty but smoky.. barbecue with lots of vegetable flavor.. finishes hoppy and smooth with a mild bitterness and carbonated crisp. tobacco detected as well. truly lives up to its brown color with a delicious charred flavor all around.

for such a complex beer, very drinkable

only negative is a lack of any sweetness in the taste. for 8.5%, very mellow. great accompaniment to a simple meat dish. will seek this out in the future, would like to try it on tap.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2005 15:35:29 | More by goodbyeohio

crookedhalo

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle dated best before Aug 1 2005. Pours a clear medium copper-brown color with a beigish-tan head that dissipates rather promptly. Deep, vinous toffee and roasted malt profile with some underlying dark berry and plummy fruitiness. Hops do play a role in the aroma, but are overtaken by the aggressive maltiness. Very rich and flavorful. Further vinous fruitiness shows in the flavor and some toasty malt comes through nicely. Light husky astringency in the finish. Alcohol shows through the hefty mouthfeel, but not overwhelming. A very nice doppelbock (better even than some German ones) from the brewers at Victory.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2005 08:54:47 | More by crookedhalo

santoslhalper

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearence: Pours a sliky smooth reddish brown with a thin off-white that almost completely dissapears. The clarity is dead-on.

Smell: The smell is of sweet and rich malts combined with a nice alcohol presence that rounds the whole thing off.

Taste and Mouthfeel: This beer is a full on barrage of malts onto the taste buds. The sweet, creamy, gooey goodness of malts clings to your mouth with joy, as the alcohol warms you the whole way down to your toes. The mouthfeel is smooth a lucious.

Drinkability and Overall: A wonderful doppelbock for sure. Smooth and creamy, full of complexity and balance, yet it has enough kick to cure even the heaviest of beer drinkers need for a strong brew. This a warming beer that is one of the best from Victory. I managed to get the only case my local distributor got in, and that was one hour after they got it. Talk about lucky! Well, God bless Victory for making this truly remarkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2005 05:15:21 | More by santoslhalper

oxmasterscream

New Jersey

4.28/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a clear, deep ruby color. Gorgeous. A slow and steady stream of bubbles travel upward toward a tiny head, which should be a bit larger.
Smells of toasty malt, floral hops and caramelized sugar. Some apple-like aromas in there as well.
Tastes of sweetened cereal, toasted malt, spicy noble hops. Sometimes bready. Really clean and dry in the finish, maybe a bit too much for my liking. Not as complex as the best dopplebock I've had but still good.
Mouth is full, thick, smooth and chewy yet riddled with carbonation.
A nice enjoyable dopplebock. Pretty authentic tasting stuff. Just lacking some of the complexity of the real deal from across the pond.

Serving type: bottle

02-21-2005 12:13:54 | More by oxmasterscream