Victory Beer Blog

Life in a growing American brewery

Trick Out Your Treats

Friday, October 28, 2011 at 3:18pm

When I was growing up we always had one neighbor who pulled a wagon with him as he took his children trick-or-treating. As a youngin’ I was too preoccupied with my quest for candy to pay much attention to what was he was lugging. I just assumed he might need to tote some candy when the haul got too heavy. Now, as an adult, I recognize his brilliance. The Radio Flyer was his very own Brew Pub on Wheels.

As the kids were amassing goodies, the adults were enjoying a few treats of their own. Genius!

Today I’m expanding on my old neighbor’s ingenuity by offering suggestions to turn your kids’ treats into adult indulgences. Trick out your treats with these beer pairing suggestions.

Festbier + Peanut Butter Cup

Back in 1990, the good folks at Hershey told us “there’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s.” We agree with that sentiment entirely! Here’s our suggestion for one right way to eat one: pair it with Festbier. The malt used in our Festbier has a sweetness and roastiness that gives it a peanut character which pairs perfectly with the delectable treat from Reese’s.

Storm King Stout + Tootsie Roll

I remember scoffing at Tootsie Rolls on Halloween as a kid. The little midgees were weak in comparison to the coveted Reese’s mentioned above. But, in my adulthood, I’ve come to appreciate the goodness packed in that little wrapper. Pair the chocolatey taffy treat with a big beer like Storm King Stout and you’ve got a powerful pairing. Like our Russian Imperial Stout, Tootsie’s got a toasted edge to it. There’s more at play here than just sweetness. The burnt chocolatey undertones of the midgee paired with the roasted malt in our Storm King make for a dark and intriguing tempest of flavor.

HopDevil IPA + Candy Corn

Pairing the most widely available Halloween candy with our most popular beer makes perfect sense. Not only can you track down both of these goodies with ease, but the complementary flavors are a no-brainer. The caramel sweetness evident in both the sugary kernels and the devilish ale meld wonderfully when enjoyed together.

Golden Monkey + Almond Joy

Almond Joy’s got nuts, Monkey’s don’t because, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t! Actually, this pairing has nothing to do with the almonds. It’s the coconut in the candy and the banana notes in the Golden Monkey that make this a joyful duo. Both boast tropical fruit flavors that work well together. (If you aren’t feeling nutty, Mounds is a simple substitute for this pairing suggestion.)

V-Twelve + Sweet Tarts

Pucker up for a brilliant combination of sweet and sour. The fruitiness and sweetness found in our V-Twelve balance perfectly with the aptly named candies.

With these suggestions in mind, I encourage you to load up your wagon, snag some of your kiddos’ candy and Taste Victory!

- K.N.

You Ask, We Answer (Part 2)

Monday, July 25, 2011 at 5:06pm

After last month’s question and answer blog post, you all seemed inspired to send in more questions than ever. It was great to hear from so many Victory beer drinkers and brewpub visitors. We did our best to compile and answer as many of your questions as possible. Keep reading to see if your inquiring mind can be put to rest.

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: Will Dark Intrigue be coming back this year?

A: Yes! In fact, Storm King Stout has already been poured into the bourbon barrels and begun the barrel-aging process. We were thrilled by the popularity of this brew last year, so this year we’re more than doubling our batch. You can get yours at in the retail store at the brewpub on “Dark Wednesday,” the day before Thanksgiving. Fun fact: Last year, we sold 80 cases in just 43 minutes!

Q: Does it truly matter what glass I use (assuming I’m not talking about a coffee mug or sippy cup)? How do I know which kind of glass to use for different styles of beer?

A: We firmly believe that the glassware you use when enjoying beer does make a difference. The experience can be entirely different based on the shape and size of your glass. The shape of the glass directly impacts the amount of aroma you can capture, the color you see and the size of the gulp you can take. Using the coordinating glassware for a specific beer style will allow you to enjoy the full experience as the brewmaster intended. For a good reference to match your beer style and glass, check out this guide from Beeradvocate.

Q: Have you considered canning your flagships?

A: Per CEO and Brewmaster, Ron Barchet: “We already package in cans: 5.16 and 15.5 gallon returnables.” Joking aside, it is something we have considered and it is a possibility down the road. However, at this time, we do not have the space in our tight facility to add another packaging line.

Q: I love all your brews! The 1st one that I tried was V-12. Will this ever be available in 6 Packs?

A: We are glad to hear you enjoyed it! V-12 is a special beer that deserves the regal, 750 ml corked package in which it currently lives. We bottle condition V-12 within the large bottle, which adds to its complexity over the long term. It is also important to note V-12 has a pricey production cost, which makes it hard to price competitively for a 6-pack market.

Q: I was wondering if you could give a status update on WildDevil?  It is hands-down my favorite beer.  Is there any chance of seeing it again?

While we can’t give you exact release dates for the next batch of WildDevil, we can tell you that it will make an appearance again some day. We consider WildDevil to be so wild that we never know when it’s going to be peeking its head back out. There is no specific date for release, but Bill and Ron have heard your request (and the request of others) for the return of WildDevil and it will likely be brewed again sooner than later. Rest assured; WildDevil will live again.

Q: I was wondering, what are Bill and Ron’s favorite mash-ups of their own beers?

Ron occasionally likes to combine Victory Lager with Bockbier, or he enjoys Festbier with a splash of Prima on top. For some of Bill’s favorites, check out this video.

Q: Would you consider doing a year-round Dunkel similar to say a hofbrau or ayinger? You seem to tackle the German style well and there are so few good American dunkels.

Thank you for the compliment. We enjoy our Dunkles here in the winter, when we do a single, draft-only batch. Sadly, our love of the style hasn’t translated to the masses. We bottled it for several years in the late nineties and early 2000s, but the sales couldn’t sustain the brand. With the ever-evolving tastes of craft beer consumers, we are hopeful that the demand and appreciation of the style will grow and someday allow for us to package it again. For now, look for it in our brewpub every winter.

- K.N.

The Great American Beer Festival Grows Up

Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 5:15pm

I believe that, despite it’s 29 year run, this past weekend marked only my fourth visit to the Great American Beer Festival. Running a brewery takes some concentration I guess, so you can’t always indulge yourself in 3,523 beers (this year) from 516 breweries!

My how things have changed since the first one Ron and I attended, in 1988! This was my thought as I escaped the din of the main hall for the Farm To Table Pavilion where two of our beers had been selected to be paired with great creations dreamed up by Pizzeria Basta of Boulder, CO. The Pizzeria Basta crew consisted of Alan and Sean who were tireless in their production and enthusiasm to educate the crowd. Chef Kelly, if you are reading this, know you are a lucky man with those two on your team!

 

 

As I poured for and educated guests on our Helios Ale and V Twelve, I listened to them rhapsodize as to how great the pairings were. So when Pete came to help me out, I too indulged in a sip of Helios paired with  wood-fired “Helios” chicken liver mousse and stone fruit gelee with house pickle and apple and thyme foccacia. Grant Family Farm, Rancho Durazno Farm and Red Wagon Farm were the providers, here. Wow, no wonder Boulder just received Bon Appetit’s nod (October issue) as “America’s Foodiest City” with local producers and creators that can pull of such taste sensations. There was a deep, but dry and woody note expressed in the mousse that harmonized wonderfully with the same note in Helios, while fruit and herb flavors swirled all around and faded.

More work and then the reward of a break for V-Twelve with house-made pork sausage,  smoked fingerling potato mash with mixed cabbage and pear slaw. This one was very resonant with the deeply rich V Twelve. Though the sausage was surprisingly lean there was ample fatty richness in it and the savory mashed potatoes for the fruity warmth of V Twelve to wrap it’s liquid arms around, encompassing the entire experience sublimely.

 

 

Just about then, Jeff Mendel of Left Hand Brewing Co. strolled by, as we caught up we found ourselves marveling over the flightpath of the GABF over our many years to a cultural event so expansive that it could put on this stunning exhibition of cuisine that we were currently reveling in. We joked that the Oscar Mayer bologna and Wonder Bread days of our youth were gone for good! It’s a new world now.

Over two sessions I tried many of the 14 pairings, Odell’s Woodcut with Hazel Dell wild mushrooms and thyme with creamy polenta being outstanding, as well as this lovely pairing of Rogue Juniper Pale Ale with smoked trout, corn cake and tomatilla chutney.

With no Farm To Table action on Saturday, and a break between sessions, I was shanghia-ed by Mike Saklad from Stone Brewing Company and coerced into visiting the newly opened Euclid Hall. Robin got us seated in a flash as a swirl of beer industry folks descended. This place is great. Open and inviting like a warm, iron grey dining hall, lively with meat-centric seduction. It’s a Valhalla that you’d not mind perishing to haunt forever. Mike took it upon himself to delve into cocktails with a Rye Old Fashioned that seemingly turned him into a younger version of the legendary British beer bard, Michael Jackson in this shot.

 

Stone IPA

By the way, can you tell that I am currently obsessed with my new Hipstamatic app for iPhone? So Here’s how “moody-ful” this device can make Euclid Hall’s Stilton sandwich with tomato jam and rocket on grilled sourdough look, and, later, two Stone IPAs. Nothing could make the sandwich taste any better as the tomato jam was still summer sweet, tempering the pungent Stilton with the flavor of gently yielding rocket striking in their intersection point.

As a GABF wind-down and staff thank you, we booked a table at Colt & Gray to indulge a bit more. The staff at Colt & Gray were beyond accommodating, clearly demonstrating their pleasure in delighting us. Sensational flavors included their roasted marrow bones that imbued a heap of exotic mushrooms and caramelized mushrooms with silky seduction, and the Summer Braised Long Farm Pork Shoulder with stone grounds grits, bacon and bourbon glazed nectarines. Wow, look at that nectarine radiating sweet, summer glory!

 

Apparently, Colt & Gray’s reputation for their dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding and Bourbon Ice Cream is well established, but, ignorance is bliss in our case, and so was that gooey-warm-rich-cool experience. After the swell of free flowing Prima Pils that had accompanied appetizers and the entrees, bartender Kevin approached our table to unleash the coup d’grace. Throughout our meal he had the kitchen rendering Prima Pils into a reduction that was destined to replace vermouth in his Prima-inspired take on an after dinner negroni. Clean Beefeater Gin and citrus aromas merged seamlessly in this elixir as the Prima provided bitterness in a floral manner with any traces of it’s mineral firmness now melted away. Now as our newly minted ‘king of spirits,’ this photo captures a ‘spirited’ Kevin, grinning back at our ear-to-ear grins, and his staggering creation.

So maybe it’s not the GABF that has evolved, but simply my appreciation of flavors, and the foods and drinks they may been previously hidden away from me in. I’d say it’s both. As we as consumers experience more new flavors, those who are more experienced in conjuring up flavors are encouraged to share their expertise with us. So, it’s totally natural that the good folk out there in Boulder, the Brewers Association, who put on the GABF have embraced this latent opportunity to expand our world of experiences. Good for them and great for us!