Happy birthday Victory Brewing Company! You’ve just turned 21, so you’re old enough to drink! Hey, I’m sure they’re going to hear that a lot this year. I have many fond memories around Victory, including several trips there with my dad not long after they opened in 1996. At the time, Victory Hop Devil and Victory beers in general were some of the most highly regarded brews beer geeks could find.

Every year Victory releases an anniversary ale, but for 2017 we get Victory 21^st Birthday IPA. This is my kind of IPA too, big on the citrus and resin and light on the namby pamby fruit loop hops (there are Mosaics in this one, but I didn’t really get a lot from them as we shall see).

From the website:

We were so impressed with this year’s harvest in Yakima we decided to brew 2017’s anniversary brew with our favorite hops from the trip: Roy Farms Chinook, Roy Farms Centennial, and Black Star Ranch Mosaic. Aggressive kettle and dry-hopping will showcase notes of pine, resinous hop character, and tropical fruit. Slight haze.

And here are the malts, since they didn’t mention them: I tell you, malt gets no respect these days.

Malt: Pilsner, Carapils

Victory 21^st Birthday IPA has an alcohol content of 6.1% by volume. I paid $6 for a 20-ounce mug at Taco Mac, and it runs $10.99 a six-pack at Total Wine.

My mug of Victory 21^st Birthday IPA arrived a pale golden color with a medium head of creamy foam and a little resin and tropical fruit in the nose. Taking a sip, I get a thin maltiness then resiny pine hops into an impressive bitter grapefruit peel finish. I would like a little more of the carapils or some caramael malt but do like that the Chinooks and Centennials totally overpower the mosaics in the body.

A nice beer indeed my friends, one I think that has one foot in old school hopping and one in the new. I’d buy it again, and I guess I’d better hurry. It won’t be long before Victory 22^nd Anniversary beer replaces it.

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