Christmas Tasting

Shortly after Stout Tasting Night, I threw in a Christmas Tasting right before the holidays.  There are so many holiday beers but they have an interesting range to them.  There are the Christmas spiced beers, the Winter ales, Winter stouts, Winter IPAs and others.  So of course I wanted to share the Christmas love and have people over to sample all these great brews.  This night saw more of random stop ins by family and friends then a solid gathering which was just as fun. 

My favorite style for the season is the Christmas spiced beers. In that family, the big standouts were Southern Tier 2XMas and Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  Both have that really nice spiced flavor and when I drink them it just feels like Christmas. Another standout for spiced but not pictured because it was a late addition is Hoppin Frog Frosted Frog..I can honestly say this may be my favorite Christmas beer ever..and 5 people at the tasting agreed with me.  Some good Winter beers we enjoyed were Victory Winter Cheers, Bells Winter Warmer Ale and Sierra Nevada Celebration. From what I recall none of the other beers really blew us away whatsoever, but it was a great time and a great way to kick off the holiday week!

Victory Brewing Co. - Downington, PA

On our way back from Philly we stopped in at one of the more famous breweries on the East Coast...Victory Brewing Co.  I have drank most their beers and some I enjoy very much so it was exciting to get to see the brewery. It is in a little town, we actually passed a major high school about a minute before we arrived which I found interesting. We came on a Sunday around open time the day before Memorial Day. I assumed we would have the place to ourselves, I was wrong! 20 minutes after opening this place was PACKED. A whole little girls soccer team dining at a table, couples, families, and guys coming in to get growler fills. A little too hectic for me so early in the morning, but maybe this was because it was Memorial Day weekend?

 We sat the bar, ordered some grub and as usual I got the sampler which consists of 5 or 10 beers on the menu. I went with Hop Ticket Session, Hopdevil, Headwaters, Dirt Wolf and Victory Storm King..all beers which I have had in the past but all enjoyed.  They were as good as I recall so not much else to say about the beer.

As for food I got a chicken sandwich with a side salad (too much eating and drinking in Philly needed a break from fries). Sandwich wasn't anything special but hit the spot!

Gift shop was hidden waaaay in the back in an area you feel like you shouldn't be allowed to go into. But decent amount of merchandise I honestly expected something better though since we had just stopped at Troegs which I see as being on par with Victory and their gift shop was 10x bigger.  But I grabbed a few goodies and we were on our way. 

All in all a nice brewery for the town it is in. I personally wouldn't rush back, too many kids and families, in the middle of no where, parking was kinda tough and they don't serve much that I can't get in my hometown. But if you're driving through it is a worth a look! www.victorybeer.com