Victory Brewing Company

I love the smell of wort brewing in the morning. Smells like... VICTORY! Sorry, that's such a great line, I couldn't resist. And speaking of things we can't resist - Golden Monkey Belgian triple. We had a chance to visit the Victory Brewing Company in Downington Pennsylvania. Downington is their original brewery established in 1996. For as much as we say we love nano breweries, pulling into the parking lot at the Victory brewery had an exciting feeling about it. With the grain silos looming several stories over us we climbed up the raised platform entrance to the tap room. Inside was cavernous. As you walk past windows looking in on the brew house your eyes are drawn to the ceiling where the lids from massive copper brew kettles serve as table umbrellas. You round the corner reviling a 40 foot bar with multiple tap manifolds topped with the V for Victory. Every beer we tasted was a victory of brewing. There were 19 varieties on tap plus a few hidden handles dispensing variations on the nitro or a limited aged barrel.
There were just too many to try in one visit. We ordered up a flight and got to work. Golden Monkey 9.5% Belgian triple, Blackboard#5 6,5% cask nitro coffee cream ale, Hop Ranch 9% imperial IPA, V-Twelve 12% Belgian strong ale, and Sour Monkey 9.5% Brett triple. What a line-up! Now I know why they needed that 40 foot bar. It was filled with glasses so quick and there were hands grabbing for every one. After knocking down several 5oz samples we ordered up some pints of Dirtywolf 8.7% double IPA, Donnybrook 3.7% Irish dry stout and a second helping of Golden Monkey. By then we needed some wings and yummy kettle chips to keep us from floating away.
The bar staff were more than just friendly. After talking with them for a few minutes we forgot about the scale of this operation and felt like we were inside a nano brewery. Talk about the best of both worlds. There we were, sampling, talking and tasting great beers in a massive brew haus all while feeling like we were attending our own private nano brew event. To get those great falvors, Victory uses whole hops and brews on a 50 barrel system inside what used to be an old Pepperidge Farm bakery. Read more about their history at the Wikipedia link. Remember that line from the movie? We knew what victory smells like and now we know what victory tastes like. Mmmmmmm!
Victory Brewing Company
420 Acorn Lane Downingtown,
Pennsylvania 19335