Victory Beer Blog

Life in a growing American brewery

Victory Village Returns

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 1:30pm

Peanut butter and jelly. Rocky and Bullwinkle. Green eggs and ham. Wills and Kate. And this week, earning a place in the pantheon of great pairs, Victory beer and One Village Coffee.

The idea for Victory Village, a blend of Victory beer and One Village Coffee’s Smart Blend, started like so many good ideas do, over a beer in our brewpub on a cold January night. Some folks from One Village Coffee were here for a Tweet-up event, and started chatting with Victory Owner and Brewmaster Bill Covaleski. They all realized that combining their coffee and our beer could be a delicious experiment.

They were right. Last year’s batch of Victory Village was such a success, spawning a “Bring Back Victory Village” Facebook page after the beer was gone, that we decided to do just that.

A few weeks ago, when a brown ale we brewed especially to combine with the One Village Coffee was ready, Woody Decasere and Rob Altieri brought 66 pounds of ground Smart Blend coffee here to Victory. Then, along with Bill and Senior Brewer Adam Bartles, they scooped the ground coffee into bags that acted like giant filters and steeped the coffee in one of our tanks. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted down hallways and through the fermentation cellar, mingling with wisps of the aroma of roasted malt and fermenting beer. The scent alone made it clear that combining these two popular beverages was an excellent idea.

Once the coffee was brewed, the brewers took over and blended it with the brown ale. The flavors and aromas of blackberry and blueberry in the Smart Blend complement the fruity plum and raisin flavors in the brown ale, giving this year’s batch of Victory Village a unique, delicious flavor.

Victory Village will be available on draft at the Victory Brewpub, and at select locations in Pennsylvania.

- K.H.

Best of Philly Beer Week

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 2:24pm

By Bill Covaleski

From June 3 through June 12 Philly played host and witness to an incredible 500 beer events, 94 of which involved Victory Brewing Company. From a brewer’s perspective, you can’t help but anticipate this phenomenon known as Philly Beer Week with both elation and dread. Elation is the easy one to explain, because having a 10 day beer love-fest come to town is so very rewarding as you get to catch up with old friends in the industry while watching new converts come to love craft beer. The dread comes from knowing you’ll have ten days of commitments, robbing you of sleep and precious family contact with such a dramatic cumulative effect, that you can’t help but end up exhausted. Thank God for JB Coffee…

Best Philly Beer Week Revelation:

William Reed and the good folks of Johnny Brenda’s have started roasting their own coffee and man is it delicious. The morning after our Grilling With Victory event there at Johnny Brenda’s, a bag of fresh JB Coffee beans meant rich, roasty revival to us here at Victory the next morning. This was no passing passion of instant gratification based on momentary need. Hailing from a Costa Rican co-op that has been producing since 1959, theses beans are thoroughly roasted for a full, deep flavor that allows hints of berry to shine through. Do yourself a favor and try some.

Best Philly Beer Week Beer:

Brotherly Suds BS2, baby! Call me a Homer but this blend of local talent (Nodding Head, Stoudts, Troegs, Victory and Yards) gives me amplified hope for the future with its unique spin on lager brewing. With a malt bill formulated by myself and John Trogner (Troegs) and an assertive hopping created by Gordon Grubb (Nodding Head) and Tom Kehoe (Yards), this glorious alchemy was orchestrated by Brett Kinzer (Stoudts) who applied the Schmidt’s yeast and carefully controlled fermentation. The results are a golden lager that seduces your nose with floral American hops that never let up long past the sip. So happy to work with these Brothers!

Best Philly Beer Week Event:

And it wasn’t the beer… Our The Chef, The Brewer & The Farmer dinner at Fork Restaurant demonstrated so much creativity, skill and passion on the part of Chef Terence Feury and Green Meadow-man Ian Brendle that nothing else could top it. From Chef’s wide ranging menu that flowed seamlessly from red lentil soup to Capon Boudin Blanc, to Ian’s real-life stories of 28 years of sustaining crazy botanicals like Kaffir lime trees and cardamom plants in his Lancaster County greenhouses with waste fryer oil for heating fuel, the delicious results were enthusiastically enjoyed by 92 guests.

What began as an odd notion this past February evolved into a delectable evening as Chef Terence took creative license and infused four Victory beers with Green Meadow goods to bring the already delicious beers in closer harmony with the dishes he envisioned. The results were glorious. Victory Lager received fresh cardamom leaves to connect with a Red Lentil Shrimp soup that also featured lemongrass and ginger. Victory Festbier took on new dimensions next to the Capon Boudin Blanc with pepperonata and Peruvian yellow chili pepper aioli with its addition of fresh, sweet marjoram. Seared Pocono Trout was enlivened with curried remoulade and pickled serrano peppers and floral Headwaters Pale Ale infused with Kaffir lime leaves. Finally, the densely delicious, locally produced Fat Cat Cheese was lifted by the effervescent Golden Monkey that received a dash of harmonious Vietnamese coriander.

None of these delicious combinations came off as heavy-handed or contrived, due in part to the initial test session that Chef, Ian and myself conducted here in the Victory kitchen in March. But ultimately, the success was due to the intense vision Chef has for flavor combinations and the absolute willingness of Chef, Brewer and Farmer to collaborate openly and sincerely. Just ask anyone fortunate enough to have attended.

Best Philly Beer Week Vision Of The Future:

Philly Beer Week keeps evolving due to the creativity that exists among Philly’s passionate beer professionals, who embrace the opportunity to entertain a supportive local audience. But let’s pause and ponder that audience for a second. How does it keep on growing? The answer is youth. Nowhere was the vitality of craft beer and bright hope for its future more boldly displayed during Philly Beer Week than City Tap House on Thursday night, when 35 Victory drafts were pouring for a packed house. The average age of the crowd was probably 26, and those beer fans drained two kegs of Summer Love and one of Golden Monkey before the old guys like me headed home. Awesome performance, all.

Funniest Philly Beer Week Chuckle:

As previously stated, creativity keeps Philly Beer Week ‘young’ and exciting, year after year. Never short on humor, our pal Scoats of Hop Angel Brauhaus and Grey Lodge Public House fame pulled off a “The Sound Of Lagers” karaoke event, replete with members of the featured brewery, Stoudts, family pasted into The Sound Of Music movie poster as the “Von Stoudt Family Singers.” Check it out. I was able to share a few beers with Ed and Carol Stoudt, who were dutifully carrying their bags with lederhosen for Ed and dirndl for Carol at Percy Street BBQ last Tuesday and they were very much looking forward to the event. You gotta laugh, or might just cry, in this business.

Most Impressive Philly Beer Week Accomplishment:

The venerable Four Seasons Hotel has been enthusiastically participating in Philly Beer Week for some 4 years now, executing some of the highest quality beer dinners of each year. This year they made the bold move to ‘take it outside,’ bringing Chef Rafael Gonzalez to the grill to create mouth-watering treats like Lancaster Honey-Glazed Organic Chicken Wings and the soon-to-be-famous Philly Beef Slider which featured a slice of Taylor Pork Roll and grilled onions atop a cheeseburger slider, all within the shady sanctuary of the spacious outdoor courtyard. But wait, there’s more. More, as in delicious beer thanks to the planning and coordination of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, who lent their ‘With Love’ moniker to the beer garden and lined up great local breweries, starting things off with us at Victory. Officially, our June 6 event at the With Love Beer Garden was the debut of Summer Love Ale for 2011. As this brand sets out to prove, there are many reasons to love Philly in the summertime, and Four Seasons’ beer garden proved that point with style and energy.

Best Aesthetic Improvement For Philly Beer Week:

I noted that a Victory neon had replaced the PBC one at The Khyber Pass Pub, a long, long-standing supporter and promoter of craft beers. I’m not sure if it was the colors, but it just seemed to play better with the others there.

Girls Just Wanna Have Suds

Monday, May 2, 2011 at 12:04pm
Whitney Thompson

The idea for Project Venus started (as most good ideas do) over a beer one night.

After a day of judging at the Great American Beer Festival, Victory’s own Quality Assurance Manager and former brewer Whitney Thompson and Megan Parisi of Cambridge Brewing Co. sat back and relaxed with a couple beers. Their conversation turned to what it was like to be a woman working in an industry where most brewers are men. The two decided it would be fun if they brewed a beer together – just women– and Project Venus was born.

They parted ways that night, but the idea continued to develop over e-mail. They brought in Laura Ulrich of Stone Brewing Company, and the three brainstormed flavors, styles and recipes. Then on a snowy day in January, the ladies gathered at Cambridge Brewing Co. in Massachusetts and brewed.

It wasn’t until after the trio brewed their Belgian Dubbel with oranges and saffron that they realized their beer was historic. It was the first collaboration beer in the country brewed solely by women. Liquid girl power.

Only one keg of that beer made it out of Massachusetts and into Pennsylvania. We will be tapping it right here at the Victory Brewpub on Monday, May 16 at 6 p.m. during our first ever Girls Just Want to Have Suds ladies’ night.

During the course of the evening you’ll get to hear Whitney talk about her brewing experiences, enjoy four different food and beer pairings and get a taste of Project Venus.

Tickets to Girls Just Want to Have Suds are $35, and can be purchased online or at the door.

- K.H.

Victory Village Episode 3: Come and get it!

Monday, August 23, 2010 at 3:47pm

Smoldering, fruity flavor emerge brightly from this brown ale, contributed from three directions as juicy British malt, energetic British yeast and fruity robust One Village Smart Blend coffee converge. get ready for characters of black raspberry to emerge from this refreshing and satisfying ale. 

Watch the evolution of Victory Village, check out the earlier episodes:

Episode 1: Collaboration is King

Episode 2: Cupping at One Village Coffee

Well, it finally happened. After months of plotting and planning and collaborating the Victory Brewing Co. and One Village Coffee project, here and after referred to as Victory Village, is finally being released to the public.

This coffee beer is not like your typical coffee beer in that we (Victory + One Village) decided to steer clear of the heavier stout or porter style and really expose the coffe flavor through a British style Brown Ale. The result: A coffee beer like no other. You have to taste it to believe it. It’s a beautiful, and uniquely balanced, combination of coffee and beer. Not too much beer to muddle the coffee flavor, not too much coffee to make an ‘adult’ Starbucks product.

It’s been a pleasure to work with the One Village team and are proud to support their unique vision of creating a ‘not-just-for-profit’ roasting house that supports the communities of their suppliers in developing countries around the globe. 

Are you still reading this? Why? Get on down to the Victory Brewpub in Dowingtown, PA starting now through September 2010 to try some for yourself (Victory Village will have a very small distribution in the PA + NY markets, we’ll post locations as we get word). Once their won’t be anymore for quites  some time so don’t miss it if you have a chance to try it. 

Details:
Beer type: Ale
Alcohol: 5.1% abv
Composition: Three English 2 row malts and two varieties of European whole flower hops 

Victory Releases The Most Recent Version of Saison du Buff – or – How I Discovered The Joy of Discomfort

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 2:44pm
Collaboration beers are a new thing to us at Victory. But when we jumped into the fray, we were in with both feet and all parts. Saison du BUFF was our first collaborative effort in a season (this spring) that witnessed three collaborations, all different and all totally rewarding. I say ‘both feet and all parts’ because our virginity-vanquishing brew was conducted with two of the biggest names in craft brewing, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Company. Nothing you do with these guys is under the proverbial radar.

Look for Victory’s version of Saison du Buff on shelves in late August 2010

But we happen to know a Sam and Greg that your average beer aficionado may not. We’ve hoisted one another’s cases onto transport trucks and rolled one another’s kegs into festivals, all in the name of getting the job done, in a time when craft beers garnered far less attention and when we related to one another with the giddy, excited enthusiasm of working on a dream that may not actually work out.

But time has marched on nicely for our dreams as a hungry audience has joined our battle for full flavored beer. And now that audience looks on critically as the spotlight swings toward our brew. Would it be worthy? Would it achieve the beer forum scores that our collective beers had? Did we freakin’ care?
Yes, we did care. Deeply. And a as much as we trusted one another and one another’s sensibilities, I may be the first to suggest that there was some discomfort in tossing our hat into a collective ring with such a bright spotlight on it.

So there we were in January, talking bier de garde, then professing our love of sage, then talking protest poetry, all to arrive at Saison du BUFF, a brew that astounded all of us when we popped the first Stone-brewed bottles.

We stepped away from the bomb of being the strongest, hoppiest, wackiest beer, and we transported ourselves to summer and breathed deeply of the herbal bounty and thirst and hunger that summer bestows upon us beer drinkers. And from that point we created a beer that would be both novel and comfortable. Comfortable, in the way it pulled together flavors that attracted us in foods and drink. I swear that on my third sip of Saison du BUFF, my mind and stomach screamed ‘MUST GET ROAST CHICKEN’ at me as the savory broth of herbs and malty delight conjured up real desires. So, lesson learned is that a little discomfort can be a good thing and can be rewarded with real soul-satisfying experiences if you choose the right pals to jump into those dark waters with.
The process brought us all closer, to realize that the more things change, the more things stay the same. Especially in terms of common dreams and drive. Searching for the baby ospreys on the Lewes Rehoboth Canal from the SS Dogfish nearing midnight on a June night with a glow stick and a few 90 Minute IPAs will have that affect.
I hope you can taste the love (of this wonderful opportunity we have to create new flavors in the name of brewing) and respect (in terms of the allied minds and hearts doing the creative heavy lifting) in this collaboration. Cheers to all us who can appreciate such gifts.

Cheers,
Bill Covaleski
Head Brewer and Co-Founder
Victory Brewing Co.

How Victory, Dogfish Head, Yards, Flying Fish, and Iron Hill Breweries ignored common sense and changed Craft Beer.

Friday, July 16, 2010 at 1:45pm

Bill Covaleski of Victory Brewing, Sam Calgione of Dogfish Head, Gene Muller of Flying Fish, Tom Kehoe of Yards, Mark Edelson of Iron Hill and Greg Koch of Stone brewing reminisce about the early days of Craft Brewing in the mid 90′s when there was no market, no distribution and no money. Thank god we were smart enough to get this historical reunion on tape! Like their beers they’ll make you laugh, they’ll make you cry, but rest-assured, you’ll always come back for more.

If you’re a fan of craft beer, brewing or just good old fashioned American entrepreneurism then you’ll want to save this in the archives and share it with all the other beer lovers you know.

Highlight: Keep an ear open for Sam’s only HR policy for the first decade of Dogfish Head’s existence (6:00).

Bonus:

Don’t miss the Class of ’96′s ‘If I we’re not a brewer’ sketch.

Older Bud No Weiser – A 1996 Craft Brewer’s Reunion

Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 12:45am

1996 was a seminal year in craft brewing. It nailed the high water mark for craft brewery openings and that class of 1996 included such luminaries as DogFish Head Craft Brewery, Stone Brewing and Victory Brewing. Locally, you can add Flying Fish Brewing, Yards Brewing, and brewpub powerhouse Iron Hill Brewery to that class of ’96. And if you put all six of these breweries and their founders in a room, what do you get?

         Don’t miss thie historic get together. Buy tickets today!

Expect side splitting stories of perseverance and perversion as Sam Calagione (DogFish Head), Bill Covaleski (Victory), Gene Muller (Flying Fish), Tom Kehoe (Yards) are ‘moderated’ by Greg Koch (Stone) while they sit down, sip, and tell tales as part of “Older Bud No Weiser” on June 10, 2010. Hosted by World Café Live for 200 lucky guests, this two hour trip down brewery lane will feature a d.i.y. video that the lads put together featuring themselves as failed brewers, washed up in 2010… Of course their failure never happened and the great beer continues to flow because you, the thirsty craft beer fan, supported their foamy efforts. Thank you. Thank yourself! If you are not up for dropping another well-spent $25 bucks to get with these guys and five of their beers, you can glimpse the video trailer above.

Older, Bud No Weiser, indeed.

Finally Revealed! The All New Philadelphia Summer Love Ale.

Friday, May 28, 2010 at 1:48pm

We’re very excited and extremely proud to announce the launch of Summer Love Ale, a new craft beer from Victory Brewing Company and With Love, Philadelphia XOXO.

The golden brew will debut in Philadelphia on June 4th, 2010 just in time for Philly Beer Week before rolling out to bars and restaurants across the country later this summer.

Brewed locally at the Victory Brewery in Chester County, the Summer Love Ale is a golden ale made with pale malts, German hops and Brandywine River water. This specific style of beer was chosen because it has a broad appeal and will be accessible for casual beer drinkers, but will still retain exciting hop notes.

The brew has a vibrant and refreshing pale color derived from its lean and refreshing malt body. And the initially floral aroma of hops segues into a well integrated, refreshing hop dryness of European heritage.

- UwishUnu.com post

We’re already starting to see some great buzz about this beer:

If you’re a General Manager, Owner or Bar Manager who doesn’t want to miss out on serving our limited edition Philadelphia Summer Love Ale please fill out this form (here). Very limited amount that’s already going fast.

Introducing Saison du BUFF: Stone Dogfish Head and Victory Collaboration

Monday, May 3, 2010 at 6:13pm

If you haven’t heard, the collaboration of epic proportions between Victory, Dogfish Head and Stone Breweries has finally been unleashed on the un-expecting world . . . and we apologize for nothing. Saison du BUFF was imagined many moons ago when Greg Koch, Sam Calgione and Bill Covaleski attempted to incite a little controversy in an ultimately doomed media stunt in the liquor aisle of a grocery store in an attempt to bring attention to Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor. Though they didn’t score the media storm they had envisioned they did manage to plant the seeds for something with a little more taste . . . for all of us. The following is a sneak peak at the special note Bill Covaleski printed on the back of the bottle for his version of Saison du BUFF:

BUFF is how we think, how we act, and who we are . . .  Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor! Herbs in our Brew? Impossible where I trained in Germany! But America has granted our breweries the amazing opportunity to create inspired ales an we seized that opportunity with gusto in making this collaborative Ale. Knowing the season this was to be enjoyed, we went for refreshment. Being BUFF we add the challenge of unique flavor and landed in a style that offers ample latitude for both goals; Saison. This decision made our task all the more challenging to bring something new to the proverbial table. In discussion we all remarked how much we liked sage and the idea of herbs cascaded out of the conversation. Picking Rosemary, milling in wheat malt and and dosing the herbs, we three have had more than people are used to with clothing still on. Leave yours and your preconceived notion on Ale behind and be BUFF with us!
Bill

 

Beer isn’t just for your Cheerios anymore! Introducing Beer for Brunch.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 1:45pm

Ahhhhh, beer and cheerios. A time honored tradition among scholastic co-eds. Don’t you just miss Sunday mornings in college? Yeah, neither do we . . .  but maybe it’s time to start asking ourselves if beer really does have a legitimate place at the traditionally unapproachable “A.M. table”, frat houses aside. Perhaps breakfast is a bridge too far, for now, but brunch is definitely ripe for craft brewers to step up and make their mark on the growing yet established dining trend in cities across the US. Make sense? We thought so too. We  only wish we were smart enough to see the opportunity first.

It took our vastly superior fans to help us realize that 1) the potential for beer during brunch and 2) a way for Victory to specifically address the market. Enter Tommy Up and PYT.

Our good friend Tommy Up down at PYT in Philly sells a lot of Golden Monkey at his young but influential bar. Tommy, an accomplished party promoter in Philly, is no stranger to innovation. He’s been pushing the envelope from the very day PYT opened it’s doors. Whether it’s embracing social media, installing unique decor (check out thse background images), rotating a constant stream of jaw dropping burger recipes (try the Buffalo Springfield Burger: Fresh ground Buffalo, Dill Havarti, Avocado, Pepper Aol) or introducing Philly to ‘Adult Milkshakes’ he’s always one step ahead of the masses. Knowing all this you would think that we would expect the unexpected from Tommy but when he showed us his new brunch special even we weren’t prepared.

Meet the Monkey Julius (see video above). It’s a Golden Monkey based libation custom made for warm summer brunches. 1 Part Orange Juice, 3 parts Golden Monkey and a splash of sparkly wine. Simple, refreshing and relatively cheap. Here’s where a beer based drink is genius for brunch: Restaurants and bars have to move product to make money but with the average Mimosa or Bloody Mary in Philly coming in at around $8 in this penny pinching economy the average customer can’t afford more than one (if that). Monkey Julius offers owners and managers an alcoholic brunch drink that’s as equally tasty and strong at a much better price point.

Special thanks to Tommy and all our friends at PYT for opening our eyes to the untapped market of brunch. It’s feedback and collaborations like this with our fans and family that keep us on the forefront of what’s possible. That being said, does anyone else have Victory mixed drink they’ve tried or created? Who knows, maybe someone in the Interwebs finally has the secret to introducing Victory to the breakfast table.

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