Two weeks ago I reviewed a barley wine from Dick’s Brewing Company here in Washington state. Since I don’t generally drink barley wine’s very often, I figured I’d review another one to compare it with and decided to try out Victory Brewing Companies Old Horizontal Barley Wine.
Old Horizontal is one of Victory’s seasonal beers that they put out December-January. I know, the summer is ending, why am I reviewing this now? Well, my local bottle shop had it in and had great reviews on it, so I figure why not try it now.
Pouring the bottle I was pretty impressed with how thick the beer looked. I could see some sediment floating around the bottom and some nice carbonation. The head was fairly small and left very little lacing on the glass.
Right when I started pouring, I could smell the beauty of this beer. Nice caramel and fruit flavors filled the air with a fairly strong alcohol smell following. I knew I was in for a big beer.
The first drink was a lot sweeter then I was expecting. As I was drinking it some more however, the overly sweet flavor died down and the malt and hops taste came through. It definitely had a warm finish with some complex flavors, that’s for sure.
Old Horizontal is definitely a sipper beer with 11% ABV. I think if I would have this again, it would definitely be a night cap type of beer. One of these and I’m ready to get horizontal and go to sleep.
Overall I give Victory Old Horizontal a B+.
This is a very complex beer with some great flavors. I’d definitely get it again. The more I drank it, the better it got (maybe that was just the high alcohol content though). I preferred this barley wine over Dick’s.
ABV: 11%
What’s your thoughts on Old Horizontal?
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Comments
I don’t really have a review on this particular beer, but on Dicks Brewing in general. I was delighted to find an assortment pack of Dicks beer next to “the usuals” at our local big chain market. It costs a couple dollars more, but I thought the beer was excellent and was happy to support a local (Washington) product. After some internet research I see they have a brewery/restaurant I am hoping to visit on our next trip northward.
I know I have already referred to you another great barleywine for review, but I just came across another that has made it to the top of my list. Founder’s Brewery in MI has one called Nemesis. Just awesome. Not sure if you can find it around your area because it is mainly distributed in the midwest, but if you ever get chance to try it, please do.
http://www.foundersbrewing.com/the-lineup/nemesis
It is around 13% and they just released it Sept 1st I think. Founder’s said they don’t know how long they will have it and they are not sure if they will ever brew it again, so I bought a case.
best,
nick