Victory Old Horizontal

Well, after a night of sampling an Armenian Malt Liquor (lousy, tossed down the drain), a Croatian Pale Lager (both chunky and clunky, struggled to finish), a Peach Pale Ale (tasty, though palate-killing), and a Russian Malt Liquor (couldn't throw it down the drain fast enough)..., I felt that I needed to reward my much-abused taste buds with this well-established treat of a beer. And what a treat this is, too. Where to start....

Pours nicely, with an even-handed layer of foam that neither gets too big and fluffy, nor disappears altogether. Nice lacing, even when I know that the glass isn't as clean as I would prefer it to be.

Aroma says a lot about a beer, and again, Victory's Barleywine offering is no exception. Notes of raisins and figs in the nose, with a fair amount of hops, too. And it's such a refreshing contrast to go from a horrible Malt Liquor to something this nice, since it shows how alcohol should be presented in a beer's first impression: a delicate and fragrant gift, not a drive-by shooting...!

The classic American Barleywine flavor profile, that I think was first pioneered by Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot. Malty as all-get-out, of course, but in a controlled and methodical manner (this aint Samichlaus, brother!). And a massive amount of rather benign hops, to keep the malt under control, but not take on a life of their own. I'm a huge hophead, but an overally bitter Barleywine just doesn't meet my needs. Old Horizontal fits this bill to a tee.

Perhaps not the most adventurous of the modern-day Barleywine's out there these days -- I tend to think Stone Old Guardian and the aformentioned S.N. Bigfoot have this category sewn up tight -- but still a world-class Barleywine in it's own right, and highly recommended.
//TB