| Victory Brewing Company | |
| Location City: | Downingtown |
| Location State: | Pennsylvania |
| Opened: | 1996 |
| Key People: | Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski |
| Production: | 125713usbeerbbl in 2014[1] |
| Parent: | Artisanal Brewing Ventures |
Victory Brewing Company (Victory) is a brewery founded in 1996 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States. The main brands are HopDevil, Prima Pils, Headwaters Pale Ale, Golden Monkey, DirtWolf, and Storm King, which are distributed in 34 states and nine countries. Victory Brewing is located at 420 Acorn Lane Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335.[2]
Founded in 1996 by Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski in an old Pepperidge Farm bakery, Victory has grown considerably and evolved well outside the traditional small market of a beer-brewing restaurant. The brewery's first[3] three beers were Victory Festbier, Brandywine Valley Lager (now Victory Lager), and HopDevil Ale. Initially they thought that the malt forward Victory Festbier would become their most popular beer. However, they soon realized that consumers craved very hoppy beers, such as HopDevil Ale, the most. On February 16, 2016, Victory allied with Southern Tier Brewing Company of Lakewood, NY to become part of the Artisanal Brewing Ventures holding company.[4]
The brewery uses an automated, energy recovery, 50USbeerbbl system designed and manufactured by Rolec in Chieming, OberBayern, Germany. Victory also brews using traditional methods where appropriate, such as using the energy intensive decoction process for production of certain German style lager beers. Victory uses whole hops.
The restaurant was completely remodeled in spring of 2008 with a new focus on smoked barbecue. A growler filler was installed during the renovation that allows any of 20 draft beers to be routed to the counter-pressure growler filler. This device includes a evacuation step, increasing the shelf life of the beer compared to direct spigot filling. The growlers are 68USoz.[5] Victory makes their own root beer, which is also served in the restaurant.[1]
Victory produces over 20 brands of beer, some of which are:Year-Round
Seasonal / Limited Release
Blackboard Agave IPA: India Pale Ale with Grapefruit. (7.0% ABV).
Blackboard Berliner Weisse: Berliner Weisse with elderflower. (5.2% ABV).
Blackboard Cream Ale: Cream Ale with cold brew coffee added. (6.5% ABV).
Anniversary 20: Experimental India Pale Ale brewed with citrus and pine. (5.5% ABV).
21st Birthday IPA: Birthday India Pale Ale crafted with Chinook, Centennial, and Mosaic hops. (6.1% ABV).
22USoz Bottles Only
Victory Brewing is a full service caterer and offers full party planning for many events. They offer a brewpub on wheels, which is a mobile catering kitchen. It has enough food and beer to serve up to 1000 people and has a cooler capacity of 16 kegs (2500 servings of cold beer).[6]
| Year | Award | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–2014 | Brewery of the Year | Victory Brewing Company | |
| 2013 | Brewmaster of the Year | Bill Covaleski | |
| 2010, 2011 | Best Pilsner | Prima Pils | |
| 2010 | Best Porter | Baltic Thunder | |
| 2011 | Best Belgian Style | Golden Monkey | |
| 2011–2013 | Best Stout | Storm King | |
| 2011 | Best Fruit / Spice Beer | Saison du BUFF (shared with Dogfish Head and Stone) | |
| 2012, 2014 | Best Lager | Prima Pils | |
| 2014 | Best Imperial Pale Ale | DirtWolf |
| Year | Award | Beer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011, 2013 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Headwaters Pale Ale | |
| 2013 | Grand Champion | Headwaters Pale Ale | |
| 2001–2005, 2007, 2008, 2013 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Prima Pils | |
| 2002–2005, 2013 | Grand Champion | Prima Pils | |
| 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2009 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | HopDevil IPA | |
| 2008 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Festbier | |
| 2008 | Grand Champion | Festbier | |
| 2000, 2004, 2006 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Victory Lager | |
| 2000, 2004 | Grand Champion | Victory Lager | |
| 2003–2005 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Storm King | |
| 2006, 2007, 2012 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | V-Twelve | |
| 2012 | Grand Champion | V-Twelve | |
| 2005, 2008 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Whirlwind Wit | |
| 2006 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | St. Boisterous | |
| 2006 | Grand Champion | St. Boisterous | |
| 2011, 2013 | Best of the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast region | Yakima Glory |