Victory Beer Blog

Life in a growing American brewery

Jeopardy, Victory Style

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 11:04am

It has been really fun to gather all of the questions you submit each month, consider your requests and compose our answers. It’s like Jeopardy, Victory style. Of course, we don’t have to answer in the form of a question, so that’s a bonus. But we don’t win money in the end. And Alex Trebek is nowhere to be found. So maybe, this really isn’t anything like Jeopardy…

Please keep those questions coming! Send them to brewmaster@victorybeer.com and we will address them in an upcoming blog. If we missed your question this time around, feel free to submit it again. We will do our best to address every query.

Q: Are you ever going to bottle a porter? You’re my favorite brewery, but I can’t get my favorite kind of beer from you.
A: We’ve been bottling Baltic Thunder for several years now. It is a Baltic porter, using lager yeast and colder fermentation and aging. As far as English porter goes, maybe someday… You can use our beerfinder to located Baltic Thunder near you.

Q: I just read somewhere that Victory’s brewery is an old Tastykake factory. Is this true?
A: Nope, but you’re close. The brewery is an old Pepperidge Farm factory. You can get more of the back story here.

Q: Where can I find out what events Victory has coming up?
A: We do our best to participate in festivals, tastings and beer dinners around the country and would love to meet you at our events. To see if we’ve got something going on in your area, you can visit our events page and search by state.

Q: Will you donate beer to me?
A: Maybe. That all depends on who you are and why you are asking. We get dozens of donation requests each week and review each and every one of them personally. Unfortunately, we can’t say yes to everyone, but we try to make the biggest impact possible. In order to have your request reviewed, you must complete a community stewardship form and it must be submitted at least six weeks prior to your pick-up date.

Q: I appreciate the fact that y’all date your beers. But my question is how long from bottling is the ‘best by’ date? My question pertains to the hoppy beers like HopDevil and Hop Wallop, which really benefit from the freshness. Are we talking 3, 6, 9, or 12 months? A little reference as to the time frame that y’all think your beer should still be high quality would be very helpful in my decision making process as what beer to buy tonight. I hoist a HopDevil to my waiting lips (with a best by date of Dec 29 2011).
A: Thank you for the kind words about Victory beer. We are thrilled to hear that you take the time to inspect the date codes on our bottles! The dates you find on the bottles are stamped by the following specifications.

Hop Devil – 5 months
Prima Pils – 5 months
Victory Lager – 5 months
Hop Wallop – 1 year (this beer is bottle conditioned)
Headwaters Pale Ale – 5 months
Summer Love – 5 months
Golden Monkey – 3 years
Storm King – 5 years
Old Horizontal – 5 years

For example, your HopDevil stamped Dec. 29, 2011 was bottled on July 29, 2011.

Q: I filled my growler back on 9/1, still have not opened it. How long will it last?
A: A growler with the porcelain top lid and gasket should stay carbonated for at least 7 days. We’ve seen them last as long as 14 days, but haven’t gone longer than that (although we hear that they could technically store for a month). If your growler has a screw top, drink within 5-7 days maximum, as they are more prone to leaking through the threads.

Q: Have you ever considered an ESB or English Special Bitter? Whitbread was the best I’ve ever had, but all I drink now is Fullers. Both are delicious.
A: We usually brew a batch or two of our Victory ESB each year as a draft-only brand. It isn’t on a standardized repeating schedule, but typically we brew it in the fall or winter. As of right now, we don’t have an ESB on our schedule but it is possible we will brew one in February or March of 2012.

Q: Dark Lager is my favorite of your beers, with Headwaters a close second. When is it going to be available again? Any chance that it gets a bigger push anytime soon? Could it be as simple as a name change? Because it sure isn’t the fault of the flavor!
A: We love the Dark Lager as well and look forward to sipping the malty brew each year. As in the past years, Dark Lager will be available on draft in the winter. Right now, the craft beer world doesn’t demand malty beers the way it demands hops. Some day, when malt appreciation grows, we’ll consider giving Dark Lager a bigger push. At that time, we’ll give it a new Victory-like name and character.

Q: Are any of your beers Kosher?
A: Not yet. We have not yet gone through the steps to attain kosher certification.

Read This: We continue to receive many questions about our beer recipes. At Victory, we thoroughly believe that great beer is inspirational and classic beers inspired our own homebrews over 20 years ago. This said, we do believe that the creative scientific mind should remain free of tutorials (from us at least) to create the beer they envision. Clone books are great training and some authors have reverse engineered quite well, which we certainly applaud, but have decided to leave it in their inspired hands.

- K.N.

The American Tradition of Dynamic Associations

Monday, July 26, 2010 at 8:17pm

Our Helios Ale and West Chester’s Shellbark Hollow Crottin de Chevre lead the charge of local associations in the latest Philadelphia Local Food Guide.

Let me start by saying that I sincerely hope that you find value in reading this missive. I can’t guarantee that you will as the thoughts driving this writing are forming in my mind as I type. Like a jazz solo, we can’t predict if it will conclude in glorious clarity and resolution, or muddled chaos. If all goes correctly, it should emerge as a tale of influences, connection and promise. So here it goes . . .

I am currently reading a book that I’d like to recommend to you. In Tocqueville On American Character author Michael A. Ledeen analyzes Democracy in America, the work of a 26 year old French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville written after his 1831 tour of the United States and considered to be one of the earliest works of Sociology and Political Science. Ledeen puts Democracy in America in contemporary context and exposes the all to current fear of living in a world of  finite opportunities and the role of government in support of individuals to avoid it. Consider Ledeen’s book a small time-investment for an introduction to Tocqueville’s two volume masterpiece.

Curiously, my interest in Tocqueville was kicked into high gear upon seeing his portrait painted on the ceiling of a San Diego speakeasy this past March. Asking “who’s that?”, I recieved a passionate response from Arsalun Tafazoli, who himself is seizing opportunities and creating inspiring businesses (Neighborhood and Noble Experiment) that provide his staff with exciting jobs and his customers with quality food and intriguing beverage options. All of this from his sheer ideas and personal ambition. He clearly seemed affected positively by Tocqueville’s work.

In Democracy in America, the author rightly recognizes that America cleaned the slate of European class-based society and initiated a profoundly energized society based on the belief of human equality. And this has caused Americans to remain a culture of collaborators. We build and nurture safe neighborhoods and we set our collective sights even higher, like committing to be first on the moon. Tocqueville muses and marvels over the complexity that Americans exhibit “rugged individualism” but that their societal structure, and its progress, is based on collective collaborative enterprise. “Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed only by the reciprocal influence of men upon one another… and this can only be accomplished by associations,” Tocqueville summarized.

*      *      *

Immersed in Tocqueville’s American Character on the R-5, I close the book when Market East station is reached. I shuffle off to a meeting where I’m greeted by Ann, Marnie and Christina, fellow collaborators on the The Brewer’s Plate food and beer festival for the last two years. David and Ed of Event Navigators arrive and we are complete, launching into the good the bad and the myriad of new directions and opportunities to infuse into our 2011 event (March 13, since you asked). An hour flies by and it begins to dawn on me, this collective embodies the dynamic association of individuals that Tocqueville cites as uniquely American. Dealing as equals with individual strengths to offer to the collective goal, we strive for both creative and economic impact. In this case the main goal being to provide an exceptional food and drink experience to a lucky group.

Energized, I head for the door of Garces Trading Company and glance longingly at their cheese list. Whoa, Landaff and Bayley Hazen both on the board and both from our friends at Jasper Hill in Vermont. I think of our loose association with them, and our collaborations: Baltic Thunder washed Winnimere cheese debuted at Tria for Philly Beer Week 2009 and, ugh, the video I shot in late May at Jasper Hill, edited but unfinished and begging for my attention to reach completion and its audience. Maybe I need to join a video production association? No time for pity, on to the next meeting. At my next stop I get the low down on the next Chifa beer dinner featuring Brooklyn Brewery. Brooklyn, where our friend Garrett Oliver has teamed up with Iron Chef Jose Garces to bring a form of chocolate into all 6 courses of a beer dinner. Whoa, check this out, Chocolate Crusted Venison with Red Chili Tamale, Mole and Macerated Figs for the fourth course! Garrett, who once politely asked if he might pair our Storm King Stout with Bayley Hazen blue cheese for a public session, is another associate on our common mission of flavor excitement.

Believe me, I’m not just name dropping, I am trying to richly illustrate the point that there are so many ‘associates’ out there converging and creating.

At home that evening, my wife and I flip through the freshly printed Philadelphia Local Food Guide that Fair Food and Grid Magazine brought to life. Good thing it’s dinnertime as the PLFG stokes our hunger for local foods to new heights. In the pages I recognize the names and ads of so many that we at Victory have associated with on projects throughout the years. Yet I see beyond these associations to the consuming audience who both benefit and support the local food and drink producers. I then get that the consumers are willing participants in the associations we’ve been a part of. You are frequently paying a premium and searching hard to gain access to the wholesome products and events we create. You have the individual freedom to make your independent choices and you experience the group joy of participating in a collective cause you believe in.

Thanks for joining our association.

Bill Covaleski
President & Brewmaster

 

The Gift of Experience

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 4:39pm

I was dealt the gift of a great experience last night for simply doing my job. In pouring samples of Old Horizontal and Yakima Twilight for customers of DiBruno Bros. on S. Ninth Street, in the heart of the Italian Market in Philly, I got to interact with this legendary store’s customers and got to share in the riches of flavors that they so actively promote.

Crowded in behind the counter amidst the flurry of service activity as three employees adeptly addressed every customer’s need, I felt in the way initially. But free beer has a way of engaging people and soon everyone coming through the door was in for a sip and some education. Hunter, Asst. Gen. Mgr. of the store, provided the ice-breaking cheese education with samples of the stellar mature Montgomery’s Cheddar from Somerset, England for those sipping Old Horizontal. He followed up with a sensational Gruyere from the Bern Valley of Switzerland, Chateau Erguel, that had a sweet/tangy spike of green onion to it that dueled perfectly with the spicy Yakima Twilight dark and hoppy ale. The flavor sensations became a constant flow as new pairings were offered on the fly. But what remained constant was the bright-eyed approach of wonder and intrigue with which all customers shuffled up to the counter.

Through experience with the shop, they had come to expect delight, and walked in the door anticipating new flavor discoveries. What a great crowd to work with! In a brief lull in the action I stared up to the steel hooks holding provolone and soppressata that have been in service since probably 1939, marveled at the 45 year old cooler bursting with cured meats and breathed in a true sense (scents?) of place. How cool was this to be behind the counter, and a part of the joy that was being delivered to customers? Hunter and Zeke pulled me out of my moment of reverie with offers of more tastes. Midnight Moon, a Dutch goat Gouda aged here in the states by Cypress Grove, had me hankering the dark toffee tones of Baltic Thunder. Quadrello do Bufala, an unpasteurized buffalo milk cheese in the style of Taleggio was spectacular and led me to turn left and inquire about blue cheeses. That turn lead me to the discovery of the night, the truly knee-weakening combination of Old Horizontal and Verde Capra, a goat’s milk Gorgonzola shot full of moldy lusciousness.

Closing time came and as I gathered up the savory gifts that I’d be treating myself and friends to over the next few weeks of Christmas celebrations. At that point I reflected on the gift of experience. As gift-giving has been pushed into consumption of “must have” gadgets and commodities in generally, I thought that a better way to reward friends and family would be with the treat of experience. And so I am recommending that you consider a trip to DiBruno’s, or the quality flavor purveyor that is convenient to you, with someone you deem special, just to eat and learn. I can’t guarantee that the experience won’t come out cheaper than a Walmart gift card, but it will be a valuable experience well worth more than a physical gift.

Happy Holidays!

Bill Covaleski

DiBruno Bros. Italian Market store is located at 930 S. Ninth Street in Philadelphia and conducts beer or wine “happy hours” from 5 pm to 8 pm every Wednesday! Visit www.dibruno.com for other locations or on-line shopping.