Storm King Stout - Victory Brewing Company

gentlebubbles

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

on tap at Redbone's.

Black, black, black with a sweet sharp scent. Served with no head. Syrupy, smoky, winey, sharp and strong, smooth and silky--this bad boy doesn't mess around. I could sip this one all night, but I'd be wrecked if I had more than one.

Serving type: on-tap

03-17-2004 01:12:17 | More by gentlebubbles

PSUDREW

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Honestly, I so much prefer this beer aged a year or so. becuase the hop presence is the dominat taste in the beer when served "fresh".

The pour is no doubt black, with a nice layer of creamy head, and some lace following later on.

Very thick very creamy. if in an aged botle, the malty, roasted chocolate is present more then anytihng else, and it makes a nice sipping beer, very very drinakble

when fresh out of the bottle, it is a different story. Very strogn taste, has not had time to level out. Hop presence over anything else really. Still good, but takes time to finish consuming.

well played indeed

****after further review of the play*** After agin it some, and going back to the brewery for it a couple of times, this brew has really grown on me after time. The taste no longer is that smack you in the face nature that the hops have, but more blended, and subtle. The hops presence has dimished in the profile, but the roasted presence increases, and, the chocolate blends nicely as well. Still, a great beer. It make take some time for this beer to grow on you, but man, it is nice

Serving type: on-tap

02-10-2004 14:11:32 | More by PSUDREW

beerman599

Connecticut

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

cask is even better than the bottle wow!!! as far as i'm cocerned their are only two imperial stouts wourth drinking old rasputen and storm king with storm king winning hands down. mouth fell is great and the aroma is out of this world, this could be my desert island beer!

Serving type: cask

12-30-2003 01:13:30 | More by beerman599

CBFanWish

New York

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured a thick deep black color with a dark tan head with a wonderful lace effect. A nice coffe, chocolate malt mixture made for a graet tasting beverage. It also didn't seem to have a strong after taste. A great winter brew. Very smooth and easy going down. I would and will buy this again.

Serving type: on-tap

12-26-2003 17:20:42 | More by CBFanWish

ChrisBowers

Virginia

4.68/5  rDev +13.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Wonder what everyone's talking about? Then go get one. Or ten. This is an amazing brew from the boys at Victory. Most recently had it on tap at their brew-house. Pours with a great caramel colored head and a nearly opaque body. Smells of chocolate, espresso... Taste is amazing for an american brewed beer of this high ABV. Alcohol is balanced beautifuly. There's just that hint at the end reminding you it is there. But it takes nothing away from the rich flavor of roasted hops, coffee and chocolate. Damn this is good stuff!

Serving type: on-tap

12-06-2003 23:41:08 | More by ChrisBowers

oberon

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

What a great find to see this on tap at the Spring House Drafting Room,pours a deep black with a light moch head that leaves some small traces of lace.Aroma is alcoholic and chocolaty with some burned fruit aromas,taste is of roasted malt and alcohol with some dark chocolate hints and even a little tar-like flavor as well.A real complex beer and way to easy to drink for the style I can see why the high marks are given.

Serving type: on-tap

11-30-2003 17:03:24 | More by oberon

crookedhalo

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Absotulety opaque ebony with a nice thick brown head that dissipated real quick. Subtle carbonation, but than again, those tiny bubbles have a lot of work to do to rise through thick thick brew. Grainy, roasty, and scorched organic goodness all come through in the nose. Surprisingly, I picked up on a fair amount of hops, too; something strange, though, maybe Challenger. Black strap molasses meets baker's chocolate with an extreme dosage of dark malts, mixed with a sweetness that plays on the tongue for minutes afterwards. Throw some quality espresso in there, too. I've had a fair share of Imperial Stouts in my day, and there are many variations on the style, but this one's been one of my favorites by a long shot and will be for years to come.

Serving type: on-tap

11-20-2003 08:08:46 | More by crookedhalo

NickLovesBeer

Massachusetts

4.78/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Sampled on tap at Anam Cara with fellow BA Sakaroo

Storm King pours a pint black as night with a medium sized tan head, amazing retention and almost no carbonation. It looked extremly ominous and syrupy, one of my roommates refered to it as Guiness on steroids. Storm King smells of roasted espresso beans and unrefined chocolate. The taste: Think and creamy with the prevelent flavor of the espresson and a slight bitterness that finishes every sip. Overall the finest beer I have ever tasted.

Serving type: on-tap

11-15-2003 15:59:32 | More by NickLovesBeer

DagFishHead

New York

4.5/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

After being somewhat disappointed in this beer in bottle form, I had a chance to review it again on tap (same fall 2003 version).
Appearance: Tightly-bubbled, whipped-creamy dark-tan head. Fades to cloudlike whisps floating in a jet black sea. Super retention and lace.
Nose was much more balanced than bottled version IMO. Both smoked and sweet malt character, ripe fruit tones. Alcohol remains subdued.
Taste: Great balance between hops, malt, and alcohol warmth. Malt/plum/prune sweetness followed by a semi-dry, bitter hop finale.
Mouthfeel: Full and rich, smooth/sweet silkiness.
Drinkability: Flavors much better blended than bottled version. Highly enjoyable... a growler of this is definitely in my future.

Serving type: on-tap

11-09-2003 04:30:22 | More by DagFishHead

stingo

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

The 2003 Storm King, brought home in a growler on Saturday and being enjoyed on the following Tuesday. What an impressive beer - very balanced both at the front and back of the palate. The bitterness is toned by the aging a bit to give a rich smooth taste, along with tasty finish. With all the hype surrounding Victory at this and other websites, it's easy to forget they can deliver the goods to back up the rep. An excellent beer.

Serving type: on-tap

10-21-2003 22:05:29 | More by stingo

maybrick

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Storm King at Victory on Draft came out yesterday. It's still VERy young. However, by comparison when it cam out last year (according to my notes) I think giving this batch some time we'll se it eclipse the overall rating! The Alpine Hops used are at this time overwhelming - however given some time (Mid to lat winter) I think it will mellow out. I'm a big "King" Fan and have bottled examples going back several years and I also happen to live about 10 minutes away from Victory. Tonight I made an intersting black and tan combo (rotsaruh agreed) that was actually quite nice. 50% King and 50% Kolsch.

Enjoy and I'll keep you posted!

Serving type: on-tap

10-11-2003 01:07:59 | More by maybrick

far333

Connecticut

4.2/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

A dark brown 1/4-inch high head sitting atop a black mass of motor oil filling up my pint glass. The head forms a smooth lid of evenly sized bubbles. The aroma has the lightest influence of hops, mostly deeply roasted malt, caramel and molasses, and hints of cocoa. Flavor is rich dark chocolate, bitter espresso, and a lingering bitter chocolate and burnt coffee. Amazing lacing paints the walls of the glass all the way down. Very fine, but very uniform all around the glass. A smooth and creamy mouthfeel helps the liquid to glide down the throat like velvet. Tremendous beer all around.

Serving type: on-tap

09-14-2003 02:26:46 | More by far333

rotsaruch

Pennsylvania

4.9/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Well this SK was not sampled from the bottle, draft or the cask, but was from the firkin. I treated myself to a handsome British pint this evening at Victory. This is a jewel of a treat for "firkin Friday" in the middle of the summer. It was brewed in March 2003.

It's appearance was black as nite with a creamy mocha head. Everything, including the aroma, the taste and presence of alcohol were subdued. Just a perfect balance of hops and malt were present as the initial liquid black gold tantilized the palate. There was this overwhelming combination of chocolate, coffee, mocha, dates and rasions that were present from start to finish. The complexity of this brew was simplified into very incredible level of smooth, silky heaven. It's truly hard to capture and describe something so delicate and delicious.

If SK from the bottle, draft or cask is considered No. 1 on the BA website, I would suggest an aged-version SK from the firkin has to be No. 1 in the world.

Serving type: cask

08-16-2003 00:27:35 | More by rotsaruch

EmoBeerGuy

New Hampshire

4.75/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Okay, here goes my first review!

Had this brew on tap at Monk's in Philly. Being a local they serve this on tap for 2.50, a pitance when compared to the Belgium stuff they've got. And let me tell you, although its a completely different brew than say the Chimay White (I prefered SKS) I had just prior, this beer deserves to be poured with some of the best.

Great head and head retention for a stout. Sharp hoppy nose, like we have come to exspect from storm king. Apperance, black as a moonless night. I described the taste to another patron as imagining the deepest chocolate stout you've ever had and then adding a punchy hop finish to that. He tried one immediately, and I must say that, though my friend had been at Monk's for a few hours by that time, he was immediately impressed. I like this one better on tap than from the bottle though its a beer to get whenever you see it. The pinnacle of the Victory collection and a tribute to American Brewing.

Serving type: on-tap

03-25-2003 20:19:44 | More by EmoBeerGuy

Marty

Maine

4.75/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I had tasted this on tap several months ago, but only had a sample-sized half pint. Therefore, I was very excited to have a whole pint of this all to myself.

My Storm King was delivered by the wonderful bartender at Monk's in a tall pint glass. This is one of the darkest stouts I've ever seen. It's pretty much black. Dark black.

For those of you that are fans of the hop, this is the stout for you. There were hints of coffee, chocolate and mystery fruit. This is a very complex beer.

Serving type: on-tap

03-25-2003 20:01:50 | More by Marty

purplehops

Maine

4.83/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Reviewed from a growler filled from the tap at the brew-pub.

Storm King poured opaque black with a red-brown head that didn't last long or leave much lacing. The aroma is burnt caramel, chocolate, coffee, and malt with a hint of hop spice. The taste starts with a sudden rush of chocolate tinged with some coffee and toffee flavors. This moves along to flavors of caramel and black malt with hints of roasted barley and hop bitterness. The finish is smooth with molasses and espresso flavors demanding your attention along with supporting roles played by subtle flavors of cardamom and citrus hops. Aftertaste is a lingering malt sweetness balanced with a hop and roasted malt bitterness and the first hints of alcohol. Mouthfeel is smooth with a medium-heavy to syrupy body. This one coats the inside of your mouth with stout happiness.
Overall an excellent stout. The tap version seems to have a wee bit less carbonation and a lot more chocolate flavor than the bottle version. Hop flavors seem to be more evident in the tap version also.

Serving type: on-tap

03-20-2003 05:41:56 | More by purplehops

Denali

Pennsylvania

4.6/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Appearance: Opaque black, thick tan head - lace lasted for the entire drink.

Smell: Berries and malt. Incredible aroma. The bottled version even has more of an aroma.

Taste: I was immediately surprised by the initial hops taste. Then a strong and sweet berry-like taste kicks in. The taste very much matched the aroma. There are many many other flavors as well, which I could not identify. More flavors kicked in as the beer warmed. Almost no alcohol taste. Yum.

Mouthfeel: Very rich, creamy and smooth.

Drinkability: Despite the high ABV, I found that this beer did not hit me that hard. Is also easy on the stomach. Considering how enjoyable this beer is, I would be more than happy to drink these all night.

Serving type: on-tap

02-05-2003 18:09:49 | More by Denali

Jarod

Pennsylvania

5/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

First I would like to say that I bought this keg on the recommendation of the BA. When poured into the glass it is BLACK, no light gets through. The head is thick, rich and a creamy mocha tan. It lasted. The lace was beautiful, the same color as the head, and it draped the inside to the last sip. The aroma was amazing and complex and intense. I nosed coffee, chocolate, berries (as it warmed), floral, malt and hops. The taste was amazing, full and smooth. I tasted chocolate, coffee, milk, fruit (berries), roasted malt and hops. Temperature plays a role in this beer. The warmer it got the more intense and distinct the flavors became. It starts off alittle sweet then all the flavors jump at you and then it has a dry long lasting finish. GREAT BEER

Serving type: on-tap

11-27-2002 09:30:00 | More by Jarod

thefireman

Pennsylvania

4.8/5  rDev +16.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

I tried this great beer at the Victory Brewery facility, which is another rating in itself. (great place). This stuff came to me in a pint glass with a small head, which was leather brown in color. I held it up to the light and saw it was black as coal. Great smell-like malty, with a chocolate, coffee aroma. Needless to say, the alcohol was quite evident. That being said, it was time to taste. Great malt, chocolate, and alcohol hit right away-with the hops kicking in after a couple minutes. This stuff felt great, almost like a meal in itself. Fabulous stuff. I had the waiter set a case out for me when I left. Can't get enough Victory brews.

Serving type: on-tap

11-17-2002 14:40:14 | More by thefireman

Scoats

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

I had a year old Storm King last night. Younger batches seemed to have a very noticable alcohol taste, which wasn't obvious in the aged version.

The aged version was more balanced but didn't have a long tailing aftertaste that I was expecting.

Serving type: on-tap

10-29-2002 11:29:52 | More by Scoats

rugbycritic

New York

5/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Victory has scored the perfect Imperial Stout. Others have tried, but never gotten as close as this. It's probably bigger (better?) than the style suggests, but we love things that way here in the USA. Very hoppy aroma and flavor, considering the abv, color, and malt profile. Gotta love it. Looking for something to knock your socks off? Stop here.

Serving type: on-tap

05-14-2002 19:33:49 | More by rugbycritic

QXSTER1

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

This beer in a bottle is great, on tap it's magnificent. A dark, rich brown topped with a dense, quiet tan head it pours thick like an Imperial Stout should. The mouthfeel of the first sip is impressive with full bodied chewiness and surprising complexity. Roasted malt and barley assault your taste buds and then mingle with the resiny hops for a truly complex brew. This is one great stout.

Serving type: on-tap

02-24-2002 08:54:57 | More by QXSTER1