Victory Red Thunder
Victory Brewing Company is known for melding traditional styles and unique concepts to produce the highest quality, full flavored beers. Red Thunder does just that. By aging their popular Baltic Thunder in once-used red wine barrels from Wente Vineyards, Victory Brewing Company created Red Thunder. The burnished cocoa creaminess of the Baltic-style porter is accented by the tannic dryness of the wood to produce a rich, fruity final product.
3.6
246 reviews
Downingtown, United States
Community reviews
Unique and interesting wine/beer ratio. Really taste the grape skins and smell the barrels. Interesting mouth feel. Bottle
75cl Bottle shared, thanks Harmen! Black colour, beige head. Aroma of red fruits, red wine, oak, vanilla, wood, light tartness, chocolate, roasted malts, some toffee. Flavour is sweet, malty, vanilla, red wine, oak, wood, hint of leather, chocolate, dark fruits, bittersweet finish. Medium bodied. Tasty.
[6198-20140228] Bottle. Roasty wood and pot pourrie floral dust aroma. Very dark red mahogany body with a medium-lasting creamy off-white head. Smooth woodsy roasted red wine tannins flavour. Full body is noticeably smooth and silky. Very tasty. (7/4/8/5/16) 4.0
(c/o blankboy, w/ him, Greg Clow, HogTownHarry, jercraigs, JoeMcPhee)
Overheard: "If it’s less than 5 years old, I don’t want to know about it." "...He’s got a thing for 6-year-olds?"
Poured from bomber into pint glass. The aroma was a little messy, definite tart fruit mashing with chocolate and roast. It wasn't bad, but it was jumbled. The initial flavor followed suit. While the beer was definitely complex and had many layers, something was off. The porter stood separate from the wine barrel. They didn't conflict, but they didn't really merge either. As the beer warmed, however, everything started to come together. The mouthfeel eased out and brought the flavors together. By the time I was done with this I thought it was really good.
Bomber. Garnet with a minimal head. Wood, tannins and dark fruit. Rich flavors: chocolate, wine and wood.
Look: pours a dark brown. Light red or Amber hues. Light brown sugar head.
Smell: light chocolate. Apples. Slight sour smell.
Taste: red wine. Oak. Light chocolate. Sour wine.
Feel: dryness to it. Medium carbonation.
Overall: not my type of beer. Too much wine. Too much barell.
First drank: home 11/8/14
The aroma is malt, roasty caramel. Pours a dark brown red with big off white head, fully diminishing, very little lacing. The taste is medium bitter and a light sour. The body is medium the texture thin, the carbonation fizzy and the finish bitter and a little astringent. Just OK. But I haven’t been a fan of Porters for a while.
750 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 8/8/2013. Pours nearly pitch black color with a 2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, brown bread, tannic red wine, oak, raisin, plum, fig, vanilla, light char, and roast/oaky earthiness. Damn nice aromas with good balance and complexity of roast/bready malt, wine barrel, and yeast ester notes; with good strength. Taste of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, brown bread, tannic red wine, oak, raisin, plum, fig, vanilla, light char, and roast/oaky earthiness. Slight roast/oak bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, brown bread, red wine, oak, raisin, plum, fig, vanilla, light char, and roast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity and robustness of roast/bready malt, wine barrel, and yeast ester flavors; with a great malt/barrel balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth, moderately creamy, and lightly chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is well hidden with only a light warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent wine barrel aged Baltic porter. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of roast/bready malt, wine barrel, and yeast ester flavors; and very smooth to sip on for the ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
Transfer from BA review on 3-17-14-
Poured from corked 750 ml bottle into a snifter
Appearance – The beer pours an almost deep brown, bordering on black color with a one finger of tan colored head. The head has a decent level of retention, fading to leave a light level of bubbly lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma of the beer is quite heavy of a roasted malt smell as well as some other darker aromas of cocoa and some sweet buttery toffee. Along with the these smells are some notes darker fruits mixed with a big red wine smell and a little bit of a woody aroma which with the roasted, dark and sweeter smells produces a nice warming aroma overall.
Taste – The taste begins with a roasted malt flavor with some bready flavors and a rather strong caramel and toffee taste. Upfront there is also a nice chocolate flavor that is soon nicely complemented by some flavors of vanilla and some darker fruit flavors of raisin, plum, and prune. The red wine that was detected in the nose starts coming to the tongue more toward the middle of the taste, with it growing stronger as the flavor moves on to the end of the taste. The red wine flavor never gets too strong through and hence just adds nice subtle grapey notes all while not adding the off tannin flavors that are experienced with a higher level of red wine flavor. The grape red wine taste complements wonderfully the roasted flavors, the other darker fruit flavors, as well as the chocolate flavors of the brew. A little bit of a woody flavor develops right at the end of the taste and when mixed with all the wonderfully robust porter and nice subtle red wine flavors, it leaves one with a very robust and warming flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the thicker and creamier side with a carbonation level that is on the lower side. The lower carbonation and thicker body are wonderful for the roasted and sweeter dark flavors of the brew, allowing all the tastes to linger on the tongue all while bringing out the more subtle wine flavors and accentuating them nicely, allowing them to meld in a very nice fashion with the big Baltic flavors.
Overall – Fantastic!! I quite liked Baltic Thunder by Victory, and after the aging in the wine barrels, it only gets better. The combination of the big robust porter flavors with that of a subtle but pleasant red wine flavor really creates a wonderfully tasty and enjoyable drink.
THOUGHTS: Definitely interesting. I didn’t hide the alcohol well. I don’t know if the type of barrel and the style of beer were a good combo. Instead of the wine improving the beer or adding to the complexity it was almost like it muted or muddied the original beer’s flavors. It was acidic and full of tannins. It become more and more sour as it warmed which salvaged things a bit. The aroma wasn’t bad but the tannins kid of wrecked the flavor and I usually don’t mind tannins that much.
TECHNICAL: Drank 3/28/2013. Bottle. Poured a clear, very dark brownish red that looked almost black with a hint of red in the glass. It was bright, almost glowing red when held to a flame. It also had a very small, tan head that mostly diminished and left fair lacing. It also had tiny pieces of cork floating in it. The aroma had light roasted malt; a little cocoa; grape, plum prune raisin, red wine, roses, lots of wood, hints of vanilla and alcohol; and something like woody potpourri. The initial flavor was moderately sweet, heavily acidic, slightly bitter and ever so slightly sour; while the finish was moderately sweet, almost harshly acidic, moderately bitter and lightly sour with a long duration. There was red wine, prunes, a little roasted malt, dark fruit, lots of wood, sour fruit, more wood, sour grapes, amazingly more wood, lots of tannins, grape skins and port. The medium body was a little oily but mostly dry with fairly soft carbonation and a very dry, moderately alcoholic, heavily astringent and lightly metallic finish.
Dark brown color with tan sheen. Nice red wine, vanilla, dark fruit, chocolate, dry wood aromas. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Spicy red wine flavors with chocolate malt, dry wood, dark fruit, vanilla---very tasty.
Bottle... Cajun Cafe Sour Beer Festival 2014… Pours clear and dark with shimmers of new-penny copper and a small, creamy, beige head. Decent retention. The aroma is chocolaty and fruity – raspberry and cherry cordials come to mind. Full-bodied with an oily mouthfeel and soft carbonation. The flavor is roasty and charred with a generous ration of tannic, carbonic bitterness. Raspy, dry finish.
Draft at old chicago. From notes. Chocolate, port wine and a decent amount of oak. Pretty good.
From notes. Enjoyed at the Ashley’s Rare & Vintage Beer TasteFest on June 07. The pour is an orange-y brown with a thin off white head, and no lace to be found. The aroma is strong in sour fruit and a sweet booziness, with a nice light roast and is coming off very earthy. The flavor is pretty interesting. Lots of dark fruit, and a lingering sourness to it. It’s surprisingly earthy. Lots of malts here. The mouth feel is definitely thin for what I was expecting in a Baltic porter with minimal carbonation, and the aftertaste isn’t really that great. It’s lingering, and almost like a muddy, or dirty water.
From a 750ml bottle, shared by ?, crap, I don’t remember. Poured dark reddish brown with a beige head. Red wine and oak tannins on the aroma, which I would guess is the whole idea. Some roast and chocolate notes as well. Chocolate, red wine and oak in the flavor as well. Some tartness. Wouldn’t call it sweet, but wouldn’t call it sour either. Quite unusual. Moderate in body.
750 ml bottle purchased at Julio’s. Dark crimson color with nearly no head. Aroma is dirty gym socks soaked in port wine. Hints of chocolate.
Flavor is vinous with an under current of Baltic porter. The chocolate is subdued with a tannins oak finish. Hints of cocoa powder, lactic oak. Dirty gym socks show lightly in the finish. Medium body with dry oak texture. Drinkable but really just ok. Doesn’t thrill me.
The first thing the hits the nose is the hit of wine and chocolate. There is an aroma of roasted malts as well. There are also hits of oak as well and a sour smell as well. The color is a dark amber with tinges of red. The is minimal head and minimal lacing. There is a heavy roasted taste mixed with chocolate mixed with tinges of wine.
Chocolate and cherry on the nose. Pours a murky auburn with foamy beige head. Taste is interesting: tart fruits and bitter chocolate dont seem to cohere with the roasty malts. As it warms, though, what you have a mild sweetness that gives way to a refreshing tart flavor that cleans up nicely on the palate. Dry body with lively carbo, no doubt that the former feature is from the red wine barrel. Good stuff, really.
Minimal light tan ring covers the deepest Brown pour. Captivating aroma focusing on the fruit, but pairing its raisin/plum juicy profile with liquorice, woodsy, cocoa nibs and slightly vegetal intricacies. Multi-faceted, yet well focused in mouth - juicy and chocolatey enough to give a perception of sweetness, yet in substance, it is dry and actually thin for a beer of this magnitude. I love the acidity dosage and perhaps even more how restrained the roastiness is, avoiding any acid-roast clash. Akin to how trendy it is nowadays to prefer hop aromas over hop bitterness, I must say in sourish beers, I’m really fond of dark malt aromas without the exagerated acidic/bitter roughness that usually comes along. We’re left with a fruit play with texture and smokey, chocolatey complexity, one that could easily play the dessert substitute and one that was a stunning match to my Madagascar chocolate I ate on the side (gotta hate life). I’m surprised this is not rated higher. Has 8.5% gotten too meek to score here nowadays?
Bottle. Pours dark brown with a faint tan head. Aroma of red wine, chocolate, and oak. Flavor of oaky red wine, vanilla, dark fruit and cocoa. Medium body, moderate carbonation, dry finish.
750 ml bottle. Pours a very dark, almost black, brown with little head or lacing. Cocoa nibs, vanilla, licorice, on the nose. Definite notes of dark fruit, cocoa, smoky oak, malts, with bourbon. An interesting Baltic porter.
750 mL bottle. Pours black with a light tan head. Chocolatey with red and green grape, a little creamy. Fruity grape and raisin with creamy, light coffee and dark cocoa. A nice blend of flavors.
Pours a dark brown color with off white foam head. Aroma of oak, red wine tannins, with chocolate and roast beneath. Sweet tarty dark fruit start with chocolate and roast after and a dry oak finish. A little too tart for me to love. But very solid. Just don’t think the wine barrel works with a roasty porter. But the sour guys will likely enjoy.
750 ml bottle from Premier Gourmet. Pours a dark chestnut brown with modest-sized beige head. Aroma is oak, red wine and some dark malts. Flavour has definite red wine character, fair amount of barrel, chocolate, lightly roasty, caramel and some dark fruit. Below average carbonation. Slick mouthfeel. Quite nice.
Draught at Falling Rock Tap House, Denver, April 10 2014.
Black color, brown head. Sweet, raisin, malty scent. Sweet, bourbon taste. Vanilla aftertaste. Medium mouthfeel, medium bitterness.
Pours a super dark ruby red. Aroma is of red wine, tannins, cocoa, coffee, acidity, and citrus. Taste is of chocolate, coffee, cream, tannins, dry red wine, oak, vanilla, sour grapes, acidity. For those of you who are wine buffs, this is a fantastic beer. I work at a winery and craft beer is my true love, but this is a fantastic take combination of both styles. The wine characteristics take over after you get all of the chocolate, creamy espresso coffee, porter notes. Very interesting beer.
Main thing is- doesn't taste like a Ltic Porter. That reflects on body & overall score. Otherwise pretty good brew.
Bottle. Pours dark brown with tan head. Nose and taste of red wine, oak, tannins, chocolate, grape and vanilla. Prickly carbonation. Medium body. Dryish finish.
[Bottle] Pours black without much head to it. Nose is of red wine, smooth malts and wood. Taste is heavy on the red wine. Fig, plum and wooden notes are prominant as well. Decent balance. Roasty finish. A pretty good beer. Interesting for sure. Tasting notes from 2/2014.
On tap smooth Baltic porter with hint of wine.