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.
History
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 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.
Brewery
The brewery uses an automated, energy recovery, 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 . Victory makes their own root beer, which is also served in the restaurant.
Awards
- Sustainable Agriculture Business Leadership Award – 2014
- Good Food Awards, Beer – 2011
;Philly Beer Scene Awards
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 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
|}
;Golden Icon Awards by Travolta Family Entertainment
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Beer
|-
| 2006–2007
| Golden Icon
| Best Specialty Beer
| Victory Golden Monkey
|}
;United States Beer Tasting Championship
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 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
|}
- Gold Medal – Festbier, GABF 2007
- Gold Medal – Golden Monkey, GABF 2014
- Silver Medal – Prima Pils, GABF 2007
References
External links
- Victory Brewing Company - Official company site
- Victory Brewing Blog - Official company blog
- Map: