Victory Beer Blog

Life in a growing American brewery

17-Syllable Success!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 1:21pm

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today, we’re sharing the love by announcing the winner of our winter Inspired by Victory contest.

You chose a winner
“The Last Malts” claims Victory!
with forty-nine votes.

You have spoken — or typed, — and based on all of the comments, one haiku seemed to be the most inspirational. Clocking in with more than double the comments of any other 17-syllable submission, “The Last Malts” has claimed victory!

Our favorite comment in favor of this poem was from the eloquent Michael who wrote: This poem made me thirsty, then weep, then pee my pants. Now, that’s high praise! Other stand-out comments supporting Steve Krementz’s work include:

Beneath the froth of these tender lines, one finds a deep empathy with the entirety of the human experience. Mr. Krementz deserves more than to just be declared the victor of this contest, I believe he should be made poet laureate of the United States – perhaps the western hemisphere.

Any Haiku that can inlist (sic) the word “Huzzah” gets my vote. Superb!!

In order to rack up 49 comments in support of his haiku, Steve surely had some loyal friends and family submitting comments on his behalf. Like the time-honored tradition where the popular kid gets the most votes, Mr. Krementz used his cool status to secure the win. Kudos! $50 and some Victory goodies will be on their way to you shortly.

Honorable mentions include:
“Beer Traveler” from Brian Altschul, with 24 comments.
“Prima Prose” from Sherri L Clyman, with 21 comments.
“Have Your Beer and Drink it Too” from Maddy Weber, with 20 comments.
“Malty Marriage” from Peter Cunniffe, with 16 votes.
And the one that gave our voting panel the most giggles (despite only garnering one vote), “Reviewer Lingo” from John Blatz.

Thank you all for being Inspired by Victory and for making this contest our most successful so far. We’ll announce our next Inspired contest in April, so get ready for your next chance to win.

To enjoy all of the inspired submissions check out our contest page.

Updated: Long Movember

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 3:39pm

It’s been a long Movember and there’s reason to believe
Maybe this year we’ll raise more money than the last
We can’t remember the last time your face wasn’t skeevin’
Oh your moustache has grown so fast…
*Sung to the tune of Long December by the Counting Crows*

Staffers at Victory Brewing Company put their vanity aside this month and grew moustaches in order to “change the face of men’s health.” And on Monday the 28th a number of other Movember celebrators joined us for our Moustache Monday fundraising event and shared their impressive facial hair and heartfelt stories about their reasons for getting behind the cause.

From Movember.com:
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

Keep reading to see the faces that are changing men’s health awareness this year…

Senior Brewer, Adam Bartles celebrates Movember in honor of his grandfather.
Support Adam’s ‘stache at: http://mobro.co/aebartles

Victory Vice President Steve German rocks some scruff for Movember.
He’s putting his facial hair-growing gumption behind Adam’s campaign.
http://mobro.co/aebartles

Victory Brewpub staffer Joe Pryor has a little fun with his growing facial hair on week #2

Victory Brewpub staffer Sean LeBlanc’s got a fu-manchu forming.
Contribute to Sean’s Movember effort at: http://us.movember.com/mospace/474959

More Victory employees got in on the moustache-growing fun in week two. Take a look at the newcomers to the Movember movement:

Alex put some effort into his hair growth to easily be dubbed
“Creepies ‘Stache” around VBC.

Chris has a little something sprouting.

Rob’s keeping his head and his face warm this Movember.

Brewer Brent is rocking the furry lip.

Brewer Sam is in on the ‘stache action too.

Check out Scott’s Fu-Manchu.

Even the ladies of Victory got in on the action for Moustache Monday:

Moustache Monday judges

Lovely VBC Hostesses

Carving out the Rules

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 1:24pm

We get pretty excited about the Inspired by Victory contests here at the Victory offices. So when the first entry in the pumpkin carving contest came in last week, a group of us gathered ’round the computer and waited with baited breath while the photos from a Victory fan named Josh loaded. Would it be the Victory V? Horace Hop Wallop? The HopDevil? Bill’s face?

Nope.

Now, while we can all agree that is a pretty awesome Jack-O-Lantern, and it might in fact be what happens to Josh when he can’t get a Golden Monkey, the pumpkin unfortunately doesn’t follow the rules. (Rule number one being, it must feature a Victory logo, slogan or brand image. But while we’re in parentheticals here, can we take a moment and think about what the mini pumpkin is supposed to represent, if the large pumpkin is Josh when he can’t get Golden Monkey? Josh, we hope you’re not eating small pumpkins. Or small people for that matter, since that is a cannibal pumpkin.)

We did really like Josh’s pumpkin, and decided to use said gourd to illustrate and amend some of the contest rules.

Rule number 1: Your pumpkin must feature an image of a Victory logo, slogan, brand or brand character.

Addendum: It can also feature the face of one of the Victory co-founders, either Bill or Ron, but you have to actually carve their faces on the pumpkin.

Rule number 4: The pumpkin must be carved. Painted pumpkins don’t count. Neither do foam or craft pumpkins. It has to be a real pumpkin, like the kind you would find growing in a field.

Addendum: Tattooed pumpkins that are also carved are acceptable, as long as the carver has a matching tattoo. Photographic proof will be required.

Rule number 7: Cutting off the top of the pumpkin and filling it with beer also does not count. Please don’t do that. Victory beer does not want to be consumed from a pumpkin, it wants to be consumed from a glass.

Addendum: It’s cool if your pumpkin actually drinks the beer.

UPDATED: Get carving out there, we want to see more Victory pumpkins! Remember, check out the rules, carve it up and e-mail a photo to inspired@victorybeer.com by Monday, Oct. 17. We’ll post the photos on Tuesday, Oct. 18 and announce the winner on Halloween.

 

 - K.H.

Let Your Freak Flags Fly

Friday, January 14, 2011 at 7:55pm

The restored 1996 HopDevil shirt returns Jan. 15 for a limited time.

This one’s for Jerry. And everyone like myself and Jerry who already has one of these shirts. But it was Jerry who first brought the idea up, so like our Jerk Grinder that he also loves so much, we must see this shirt live on.

My art files say that this design was created May 31, 1996, when HopDevil was an infant, pretty much unknown to the world. The fact that we could dress him up in purple, of all colors, splashed with neon green, magenta and black definitely states that this beer was something unique and special. So wonderful and special, that grown men were willing to part with our hard-earned money to walk around in a purple, magenta and neon green shirt bearing the visage of the ale we loved.

Then, years after the purchase and countless beer festivals and outdoor chores, we suffer the scorn of our wives who thought that such a faded, threadbare relic should have been in the trash long ago. No, we clung to our purple HopDevil shirt like the adult version of a baby blanket that somehow embodied our transition from partying, craft beer newbie to seasoned father dealing with teenagers in our households.

So here he is again, in all of his purple glory, to support his old and tired brother in the closet.

Gentlemen, let your freak flags fly!

This HopDevil throwback shirt is the second in our series of 15 Fashionable Finds in celebration of our 15th Anniversary. This and all anniversary shirts will be available for sale on the 15th of each month. You can buy in our retail store or from our online store. But hurry, because there are only a limited quantity available.



Victory’s First-Ever Commercial

Friday, October 1, 2010 at 4:40am

Well, it had to happen someday . . . see the first Victory Brewing Company commercial now! Using only friends, family and brewery employees we put together what will go down in history as the first ever Victory Commercial.

Why? Well, we just recently created what quite possibly could be the coolest ‘Adult Ice Cream Truck’ in history and we couldn’t help but have some fun celebrating its launch. No, it’s not an ice cream truck run by scantily clad vixens, its our new Brewpub On Wheels ( B.P.O.W.) that carries beer for a thousand people and brings Victory beer and BBQ to the front lines of the battle against tastelessness and thirst. Can’t bring your organization’s big event or your private party to Victory Brewery? Then we’ll bring it to you!

Learn More About Victory’s New Brewpub On Wheels

Like the Brewery itself, this commercial would never have happened if it weren’t for the hard core Victory Fans and Staff that make up the Victory family. In no certain order we’d like to thank those who made this fun little project possible.

Victory Truck Drivers: Eric MacPherson (Victory Chef) and Kevin Lesch (Victory Server) 

Man sleeping on couch: Amish Rob (Victory Regular)

Lady w/ Baby: Betsy Benner (Victory HR Director)

Man w/ Suitcase: Bill Covaleski (Victory Co-founder and President)

Man at Mailbox: Dave Drinkwater (Friend)

Voice Over: Doug Russell (Victory Forklift Operator)

Extras: RJ Saunders (Friend) Robyn Saunders (Friend) Chantz Beiler (Friend) David Speers (Victory Digital Media Coordinator) Troy Jackson (Victory Line Cook) Rich Ruch (Victory Regular) Matt Krueger (Victory Brewpub General Manager) 

Directed by Daniel Speers (Friend)

Music by Tom Krueger (Friend)

 

Bring Your Brewpub To Work Drawing

If a commercial wasn’t enough we held a special drawing where anyone could win a chance to bring the new B.P.O.W. to work to share with 300 hundred of their coworkers. That’s right, we’ll just roll up and start handing out beer and BBQ! Pretty cool, uh? 

We just picked the winners today so keep an eye out on our Facebook, Twitter and blog for more info on the winners next week!

Respect The Monkey, Mr. Grinch

Friday, December 18, 2009 at 6:30am

Respect The Monkey, Mr. Grinch

Many of us realize that the Golden Monkey has been known to incite silliness. But nothing acts sillier than kids with Christmas approaching. So playing around with one of our more favorite Christmas toys at home, Mr. Grinch, I was inspired to engage his acting talents for a silly scene. My girls willingly filmed my goofy vision for you, adding their own emphasis at the end, which was not on my script but they nailed the idea. How proud that makes me!

As silly as this may be, the notion of ‘Respect The Monkey’ is a wise one.

Which leads me to an announcement. With respect for the life of strong ale in a bottle, we kept a number of cases of Golden Monkey bottled in June of 2002 around for analysis purposes. These were some of the first 750 ml bottles off of our ‘new’ bottling line at the time. Since they had been primed and dosed with yeast at bottling, a bottle fermentation was initiated at that point. We were anxious to assure that that ‘bottle conditioning’ would yield great results. It did in the short term, and the beer was happily enjoyed by us and our audience. But, a fair stash of cases were kept by us for over 7 years now and we’d draw bottles out every so often to see how the flavor was progressing. Having been kept refrigerated for the past 5 years, we feel that the flavor progression has reached a standstill now.

So, time to release the vintage Monkey!

Granny Golden Monkey Gone Wild!?

No, actually, it’s mellower than fresh Golden Monkey, with a very round character full of Golden Monkey vigor, but overall softer with a decidedly honeyed finish. What we have of this is now for sale, only at our retail shop here at Victory.

Why only here in Downingtown, you dear friends from further-flung places ask? Certainly, we are not trying to frustrate anyone, but the reality is that after this long at controlled temperatures, we are not willing to take the risk to roll this out into the brutal world of temperature abuse that can occur on trucks, in warehouses and in brightly-lit retailers. Besides, there really is too little stock to democratically divide over 30 states even if we were willing to take the risk.

So, if you are near to the brewery, come by and treat yourself to a bottle. It’s a available for only a 50% upcharge over our very reasonable standard price. Lots of extra energy cost and TLC in these bottles, you know.

If you are further removed from Downingtown, maybe it’s time you made a friend there who might score you a bottle and wrap it safely in that happenin’ new ‘Respect The Monkey” hoodies I so amply sport in the video.

Cheers and Respect,

Bill C.

HopDevil is the Official Beer of the The Big 10

Friday, November 6, 2009 at 4:20am

Since 1999, Victory has sponsored The Big 10 Inch Air Cannon Pumpkin Chucker Team. (Yes, it is exactly that… a cannon that shoots pumpkins.) The two-time world champion team has the pre-launch tradition of ‘christening’ pumpkins with Victory’s HopDevil Ale. On November 1st in Moab, Utah, The Big 10 Inch set a new Guinness World record shooting a La Estrella variety pumpkin some 4,623 feet. Enjoy the video of Big 10 Inch’s victory. And check out Big 10 Inch in action at the World Championships November 6-8th in Delaware http://www.punkinchunkin.com/main.htm

:15 of Victory in California

Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 9:52pm

Pennsylvania born Andy Warhol claimed that “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Reality TV has brought us closer to his premonition but at our hyper-kinetic pace no one can really be afforded an overly generous fifteen minutes, now.

So we at Victory are offering our audience their 15 Seconds of Victory. Fifteen seconds, give or take, to muse and expound on anything relating to Victory beers, or victory itself. Stone Brewing’s 13th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday August 22 was our first time to take this to our audience there. Here is profound stuff that they had to say. Enjoy!

Best Quote: “Happiness is Hoppiness”

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