Victory has new stuff! Lots of it!

September 14th, 2008

Run, don’t crawl, to VICTORY! Yes, there are new beers as a result of some stellar alignment in the heavens above, or perhaps more likely, somebody dumped 7 million bucks into a facility capable of making more beer. You need to get your lazy tuckus up and head on down to Acorn Lane and belly up to the bar and do some sampling.

What they got, Aub? Well, I’ll tell you, drinker.

Right now, their website sucks, and no descriptions accompany the same PDF that ends up in the leaflets of their bar menus. However, what I can tell you from personal experience (albeit, my memory is not completely lucid) is that there are names I didn’t recognize when last I was there. They are:

Gold Rush, Idyll Ale, Almost Anton’s Lager, Braumeister Hellertau, Braumeister Saphire, 132 Cents IPA, and all of the usual suspects from this time of year. Of these, I was shocked, SHOCKED, I say, that Victory released another IPA. I mean, the flagship IPA of Victory (Hopdevil to you dummies), always stood out to me as a special boy, the golden child of a very special brewery right under our noses that would never be compromised by a middle child. I mean, Hop Wallop, for what it is, (to me) is not an IPA. It is more like a dopple-PA, and I never thought it was anything in the same ballpark as hopdevil. WildDevil, well, is a blend. Not another IPA if you ask me. Good, but not comparable or a threat to Hop Devil. 132 does what Sly Fox attempts to do every year with several IPAs released to the public to sort of say, “Look at chitty-chitty-bang-bang #1456, isn’t it marvelous?” NO. After you create 1456 different caricatures of the same damn beer (113 - an awesome IPA), it isn’t funny or creative anymore. You’re just being an idiot (not that I will turn down #1456). What I mean is, I’m just saying - put that energy into something useful.
Anyhoo, Victory’s 132 cents IPA is different from HopDevil, but it does not make HopDevil want to take the hot chick to the prom in order to look cool. Instead, it is a nice reminder that our D-town brewmasters aren’t going to sully the genetic hop pool with attempts at a new “best thing”, but will provide something refreshing, spicy, nutty, and altogether balanced the same way as HopDevil, but is a completely different beer.

Yikes, look at all the verbal diarrhea. I didn’t even get to talk about how much I adore Idyll Ale! Go now - take a peanut butter jar or a ziplock bag and bring some of this fluid home. It is different and GREAT. Anton’s is also good - for a lager (not a fan in general). I actually believe it should replace the Victory Lager. Shoot me. Whatevs. The Braumeister beers are based on the Braumeister Pils, with slightly different recipes, and in all honestly, I didn’t have them, but I do enjoy me some BP when it is hot outside. As for the gold rush - ok beer - fun to try, and better than lots of crap that’s being bottled these days.

Ladies, I do have to admit, there’s not a lot for you who aren’t into hops. I mean, Victory is not Iron Hill, and that’s a good thing to beer lovers like myself. I mean, why make something alcoholic that tastes like banana and pineapple in it that doesn’t use vodka? If you ask me, Victory would be smart to make ciders or Lambics for their female customers. I am a sexist pig - I will not attempt to guide you astray - however, women like lambics - they do not like hops. Some of my guy friends are the same, and to them, I recommend water or Zima. Typically, they’ll opt for hard liquor, but I’m not into being drunk (like my staggeringly obnoxious friends), just happy. Beer provides liquid food happiness, a happiness enjoyed by my wife, who LOVES dry stouts. But, it would be nice for her friends to want to hang out with us and have something cider-y to drink.

Well, go to Victory and admire the new (much needed) chalkboards, filled with new beers. Eat the pretzels and laugh with the waitstaff. Great people there on Acorn lane. Try everything, and post to let us know what you think.

AUB

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