On Thursday night, March 30th, Liberty Craft House welcomed Bill Covaleski, Co-Founder & Owner of Victory Brewing Company. Liberty tapped a dozen Victory kegs as it welcomed the guests and the owner of Victory Brewing Co to their craft house.
The event that started at 5 p.m. quickly filled up with people excited to try the new brews. For us, the night started off with a 20 oz of Mad King's Weiss, a delicious hefeweizen, and a Sour Monkey, which is a sour abbey tripel. The Sour Money tasted like a sour cider, which was more sour than cider-y. Crisp and refreshing, but too sour to drink several in one sitting. The Mad King's Weiss tastes like all hefeweizens do. It is delicious, smooth and refreshing, especially for a hefeweizen lover like myself.
During the beers and the conversations, we noticed the Victory owner walking around and conversing with people. After having a 20 minute chat with Bill about the history of his business, he handed us a couple raffle tickets and continued mingling with the rest of the guests in the craft house. I found it wonderful that he initiated conversations with the people drinking his beer. It was a wonderful way to get further involved with the people who enjoy his beer, and it was nice to be able to ask him questions without having the anxiety of coming up to him randomly.
The night continued with Kirsch Goes, a sour cherry rose with sea salt, that was particularly delicious. It was bold and bright as it overwhelms your tastebuds with a sour, sharp and sweet flavor of cherries. Not as tart as the Sour Monkey, but still sour enough that it will be loved by those who enjoy sour beers. It also has a gorgeous darker red color.
The raffle began after that, during which I, sadly, did not win anything. The one great thing about these events, however, is the gift of a free glass with the purchase of a Victory beer. So I was satisfied enough with my free glass.
After the sour, I switched to the hops and malts of a pilsner that was nicely packed within the Hip Czech Lager. It was a good break from the sour, it was clean and smooth with a slight herbal aroma. Next came a Braumeister Pils, a kellerbier, which was not my favorite but satisfying enough. A more dry type of beer and hoppier than the Hip Czech.
Although there were many more to try, I definitely had to call it a night after several full glasses of some Victory delicious-ness. Tonight's arraignment was primarily German-type beers, which is my absolute favorite type of beers, so Victory Brewing Co really made it's way to the top of my list.