Well, folks, we have reached the twilight hour of our beloved Yakima Twilight for the season and we want to take this moment to thank you for making this brand our most successful seasonal launch to date.
Your thirst caused us to DOUBLE our initial production expectations for Yakima Twilight. We are so pleased that you hung in there for this wild ride of deep, dark roasted malts and bright and brassy hops. We thought that we challenging you with big flavor and you turned tables on us by demanding more than we expected. We make a great team, huh?
January is always a fun time at our brewery. It’s the time of year when we begin planning to make beers to be enjoyed by craft brewers across the nation and world. The Craft Brewers Conferences attract over 1000 brewmasters and brewers for seminars, discussions and a trade show for the vendors that serve the craft beer industry. As many of you already know, for the last three years, we have collaborated with friend and Brewmaster Eric Toft of Schönrammer Brauerei in Germany, along with the German Hop Growers Association, to create unique beers that showcase the great hops of Germany. Our first effort was Saphir Bock, brewed for the 2007 Craft Brewers Conference in Austin. It was hoppy and the craft brewers in audience were excited to drink a hoppy bock beer.
For the 2008 Craft Beer Conference in San Diego, we upped the offerings to 3 beers. The Tettnanger Pils and Spalt Select Pils were an interesting exploration of hop aromas and flavors. Many preferred the flavor of the Tettnang and the aroma of the Spalt Select. Others concluded the opposite. That is the fun of it. We also brewed a . . .
Fortunately, none of us here at Victory have a personal leukemia story to tell. But we certainly know of them, and therefore, how close this disease has gotten to us, while truly impacting the lives of other friends.
When presented with the opportunity to support fundraising efforts of the JMML Foundation and make a difference in the lives of youngsters affected by Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia, we jumped at the chance. JMML is a rare form of leukemia which affects children generally under the age of five. The only curative treatment is a bone marrow transplant and overall survival rate is only about 60%. The JMML Foundation exists to find a cure for JMML, and to improve the quality of life of JMML patients and families through research, education, advocacy, and charity.
The great local bands The Swimmers, Audible and East Hundred are committed to the cause as well. Come on out to Johnny Brenda’s on January 29 and hoist a draft Victory beer or two, and in doing so, contribute to the cause of Victory Over Leukemia.
In case you missed it, we hosted a Tweetup here at Victory on December 28. The event was a fascinating exchange of ideas and wisdom ignited by creative souls who come to give, not take.
The event brought out some heavy Twitter mavens (see below). All of this creative giving is really having a positive impact on the way some of us do business as business opportunities blossom from excited discourse. A perfect example would be our re-introduction that night to the great folks of One Village Coffee in nearby Souderton, PA.
Their coffees have truly impressed our palates since we first met them this summer, and, imagine this, they are fans of Victory beer! Now, with no disrespect for water intended, the two primary liquids of life to we brewers of Victory are beer and coffee. So, on that night a loose, but exciting plan was hatched. We’ll tell you more on this video…
Thanks again to everyone who came out, it just goes to show you what can happen when you put a bunch of smart (and good looking) people in a room. (apologies in advance if we miss your name)
Christmas of 1985 I gave Ron a homebrewing kit. Eight years later, on New Years Eve, we convinced our wives to let us write a brewery business plan. So I guess the Holidays will always be tied to big adventures and big ambitions for us.
But ambition and adventure also need a quiet place to be contemplated and appreciated. That place is called ‘home.’
We wish for you to enjoy this time with your loved ones and their gifts to you of support, faith and maybe even BEER.
Many of us realize that the Golden Monkey has been known to incite silliness. But nothing acts sillier than kids with Christmas approaching. So playing around with one of our more favorite Christmas toys at home, Mr. Grinch, I was inspired to engage his acting talents for a silly scene. My girls willingly filmed my goofy vision for you, adding their own emphasis at the end, which was not on my script but they nailed the idea. How proud that makes me!
As silly as this may be, the notion of ‘Respect The Monkey’ is a wise one.
Which leads me to an announcement. With respect for the life of strong ale in a bottle, we kept a number of cases of Golden Monkey bottled in June of 2002 around for analysis purposes. These were some of the first 750 ml bottles off of our ‘new’ bottling line at the time. Since they had been primed and dosed with yeast at bottling, a bottle fermentation was initiated at that point. We were anxious to assure that that ‘bottle conditioning’ would yield great results. It did in the short term, and the beer was happily enjoyed by us and our audience. But, a fair stash of cases were kept by us for over 7 years now and we’d draw bottles out every so often to see how the flavor was progressing. Having been kept refrigerated for the past 5 years, we feel that the flavor progression has reached a standstill now.
So, time to release the vintage Monkey!
Granny Golden Monkey Gone Wild!?
No, actually, it’s mellower than fresh Golden Monkey, with a very round character full of Golden Monkey vigor, but overall softer with a decidedly honeyed finish. What we have of this is now for sale, only at our retail shop here at Victory.
Why only here in Downingtown, you dear friends from further-flung places ask? Certainly, we are not trying to frustrate anyone, but the reality is that after this long at controlled temperatures, we are not willing to take the risk to roll this out into the brutal world of temperature abuse that can occur on trucks, in warehouses and in brightly-lit retailers. Besides, there really is too little stock to democratically divide over 30 states even if we were willing to take the risk.
So, if you are near to the brewery, come by and treat yourself to a bottle. It’s a available for only a 50% upcharge over our very reasonable standard price. Lots of extra energy cost and TLC in these bottles, you know.
If you are further removed from Downingtown, maybe it’s time you made a friend there who might score you a bottle and wrap it safely in that happenin’ new ‘Respect The Monkey” hoodies I so amply sport in the video.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 4:29PM 
