Another rainy, cloudy, not very nice day after a weekend of great weather here in the DC suburbs requires a beer pick-me-up. Something warm, spicy, and flavorful with enough alcohol to take your mind off things…Victory Old Horizontal seems to fit the bill.

Victory Old Horizontal, a Barleywine Ale, packs a decent alcohol punch of 11% ABV and will probably make you go horizontal after a few *rim-shot*. The beer pours a deep semi-hazy red color with a decent two finger head. Thanks to that nice big fluffy head the aromas leap from the glass. Smells of alcohol (duh), malt, sugar and fruit come through rather prominently. The alcohol is rather dominant at first but the other scents come through in their own time.

With such a high alcohol content I expected more of an alcohol taste to come through, thankfully the beer was nice and smooth with most of the alcohol flavor replaced by flavors of caramel and candied dark fruits. The best part of this beer is the sweetness, then bitterness that comes through at the end. It is surprising at first, and refreshing. The bitterness is kept in check until the very end, allowing the other flavors to come through first.

Victory Old Horizontal could be dangerous. It is smooth enough and the alcohol is masked well enough that you could easily have multiple beers and not realize what you are getting into. A great Barleywine to be sure, among the better that I have had. A great beer for sure and one to not be taken lightly.

Overall: 8.5/10