Agree about the label art...it looks like a hallmark card. Not hideous, but definitely not aesthetically pleasing. Won't stop me from buying it, though.
Label Art- If San Pellegrino made a saison. Still, going to be drinking this stuff as long as it is around.
I know it was inadvertent, but a San Pellegrino saison sounds awesome. Blood orange and grapefruit in my saison, please.
Uhhh, this has the same grains and abv as Tired Hands FarmHands. I find that kinda odd and a pretty interesting "coincidence". Maybe the competition's pushing things along. March will be time for a side by side, blind tasting.
I doubt Tired Hands is cutting into Victory's market share all that much. Victory is one of the top 30 largest craft brewers in the country and Tired Hands, being a small brewpub which isn't putting out a ton of beer, doesn't have the volume right now to hurt the big brewers. That said, because brewing tends to be a copycat business so maybe they just liked the profile (that is, if it's not a legitimate coincidence).
Yeah my feeling is that rather than trying to copy Tired Hand, Victory was more inspired by traditional saison grain bills that include a mixture of grains and malts. You could pretty easily say that Tired Hands was "copying" (probably more accurately, "inspired by") any number of old-school saison recipes, or that Victory was.
"I’m thrilled to announce that March 1st will mark the launch of our brand new spring seasonal, Victory Swing Session Saison. Swing represents a blend of American and European brewing traditions, made with both whole flower US-grown and German noble hops, and an heirloom Belgian farmhouse yeast strain. Swing is brewed with wheat, rye, oat and barley malt, as well as peppercorns and lemon zest, to evoke an herbaceous, bright, citric and robust yet eminently refreshing character at 4.5% ABV."
The victory rep brought a bottle into work.it didn't even have a label yet bit it was one refreshing brew.
I like the fact that the alcohol percentage isnt high. Getting so sick of super alcohol loaded saisons!
Right on. Oak Horizontal has the most pleasing hop profile of any fresh American-style barleywine I've ever had, it actually accentuates the beer rather than drown it in hoppiness. I'm expecting Red Thunder to mellow into a dynamite beer in another 6-9 months. Also, if any of you ever spot Uncle Teddy's Bitter on cask, do yourself a favor and order it. It's remarkably flavorful given its 4% ABV. Victory does a lot of different things very well. I think they need to release something that generates a lot of buzz to truly get the reputation they deserve, although I doubt they feel it's necessary considering they've been at capacity for months now, and should have no problem gearing up even more once the new brewery comes online.
I attended a beer and cheese pairing lead by Victor Brewing's Pete Scheider a few days ago. He talked a lot about the new brewery. Pretty awesome for them and for us.
Yesssss. Although I notice that you said the carbonation is a bit subdued, doesn't sound very saison-ish in feel. Is that a fair judgment, or am I reading it wrong? I just ask because GD Colette is one saison that could've been a lot better but the appearance and feel are two things kind of killed it for me.
I had this last week at a cheese tasting in Philadelphia. It tastes completely different from Helios and is very herbaceous as the description says. A solid six pack brew from Victory.
Just had my first one this weekend...I think they nailed this one. The price is the same as Prima Pils.
I'd be willing to try this. A 4.5%abv saison available in 6 packs? I've been waiting for this. For the money, Helios wasn't a bad beer, so I would be more than willing to give this a shot
I love that this is true. Nothing like a nice, crisp saison with springtime weather. Also love that this is 4.5%.
I have some in the fridge. The label looks like it's a Snapple product, their worst yet! Hope the beer is good enough to override that...
Well gee, this was a tad underwhelming. I thought for sure with a stupid label the actual beer must be awesome. Sad to say though Helios is waaay better.
Agreed. Not everyone has to drink ultra hoppy IPA's all the time. Pretty soon they will just pull hops off the vine and bottle them. More farmhouse ales / saisons and belgian ales, please.
