Headquartered in Downingtown, PA, Victory Brewing Company is a craft brewery founded by Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet. Growing up near Philadelphia, this is a brewery that everyone is familiar with.
In 1996, Victory opened its doors to serve customers its full-flavored, innovative beers melding European ingredients and technology with American creativity. Their success was a shock to none and by 2014 Victory outgrew the original Downingtown brewery and opened a second brewery in Parkesburg, PA.
We stopped by their newest location in Parkesburg to check out the process and food. Today Victoryoperates three brewpubs; the first at the original Downingtown brewery, second is Victory at Magnolia in Kennett Square and finally Parkesburg where the brewery features self-guided brewery tours in a relaxed environment. The company is growing non-stop, in February 2016, Victory announced an alliance with Southern Tier Brewing Company under the parent company of Artisanal Brewing Ventures. Today Victory products are distributed to 9 countries, 35 states across the US, plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.
If you’re looking for good food and good beer, do yourself a favor and stop by one of the 4 Victory brew pub locations. They’ve got lots of special events going on yearround.
- Philadelphia: (Xfinity)1100 Pattison Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
- Downingtown: 420 Acorn Ln, Downingtown, PA 19335
- Kennett Square: 650 W Cypress St, Kennett Square, PA 19348
- Parkesburg: 3127 Lower Valley Rd, Parkesburg, PA 19365
Today, November 23 marks Victory Brewing Company’s Dark Wednesday, the brewery’s annual specialty bottle release. This features two brews: a favorite returnee, Java Cask and a brand new, limited edition bottle sold only at Victory’s three retail locations, Java Cask Rye. Every year Victory releases a special dark beer the day before Thanksgiving to usher in the holiday season. These fan favorite, cult classic dark brews come in very limited quantities in large-format 750ml bottles ONLY. Java Cask was introduced on Dark Wednesday in 2015. The recipe has been slightly tweaked for 2016 but it’s still the 14.3% ABV bourbon-aged beast with the perfect blend of coffee, sweet bourbon heat and a luscious stout base.
Unwilling to stop at just one brilliant brew, Victory diverted a portion of the Java Cask base stout into Bulleit Rye barrels to create Java Cask Rye. While Rye’s ABV is slightly lower at 12.5%, the rye barrel aging imparts a unique spiciness and adds richness and complexity to the robust coffee and chocolate flavors found in Java Cask. Both beers are infused with different strands of One Village coffee beans that best complement the final product.
Java Cask is available today for $15 per bottle, limit of one case (12 bottles) per customer. Java Cask Rye is also available for $22 per bottle, limit of 4 bottles per customer. One Village Coffee will also be on hand at the Downingtown location distributing free coffee to beer fans in line today.
Do yourself a favor and try a beer flight when you’re stopping by Victory Brewing. They have such a vast variety of beers on tap and you won’t want to miss out on trying them all. We created our own flights to get a little bit of what we love, as well as branching out to some of the seasonal varieties now offered.
Golden Monkey is our absolute favorite beer from Victory. Fans of the beer have loved and supported, the all-seeing, all-knowing, mystically spirited, metallic simian since its introduction in 1997 which has made it Victory Brewing Company’s #1 selling brand ever since. Appropriately, the history of the Golden Monkey traces back to a celebratory occasion when Ron Barchet, Co-Founder and Brewmaster of Victory Brewing Company, and his wife were expecting their third child and wanted a great beer to cheer the occasion. It seemed only appropriate that Victory would rise to the occasion and so the smooth Belgian-style tripel, Golden Monkey, was born. Try it with everything, but it especially pairs well with sheep’s milk cheeses and seafood
Festbier is a Märzen / Oktoberfest brew that hit the shelves a few months ago. They say friendship and camaraderie are the two keys to any festive event. And then there’s the beer. It should be full-bodied, yet infinitely smooth. Seductively malty, with a kiss of the hops for balance. This is Festbier. Painstakingly crafted from German malts, decoction brewed for full flavor and carefully aged for depth of character. Gather with your friends for a festive moment of Victory! Subtly sweet with a delicate malt nose, our Festbier gains its impressive body from our use of all imported German malts and decoction brewing process. Pair with spicy Latin dishes, pizza, and burgers.
Winter Cheers is another great seasonal classic. Winter weather may drive us indoors but cannot dampen our spirits when hearth, home and hops meet in jubilation. Hoisted high in its golden glory, Winter Cheers lives up to its name, fueling festive times and chasing winter’s chill. Glowing and glimmering, frothy and shimmering, our celebratory wheat ale features luscious fruity and spicy notes, making it a perfect brew to brighten spirits even on the deepest of nights. Light in body, this fruity and warming holiday brew delivers a crisp finish, with spicy hints of banana, clove and citrus. Pairs well with cheese and seafood.
With all these beer, of course we needed to order some food. The brewpub menus at all 3 locations are surprisingly vast offering starters, flatbreads, salads, sandwiches, entrees, and every weekly specials. They even have a kids menu!
The philosophy of our Parkesburg restaurant mirrors the Downingtown location in sourcing local ingredients, maintaining high service standards and sustaining green initiatives. In addition to the above menu items, Chef inspired menu additions will be created daily using the freshest ingredients available and will be perfectly sized to share.
We started with the Hand Tossed Pretzel with Düsseldorf mustard and cheese sauce because what honestly goes better with beer?! The pretzel was soft and delicious, the mustard and cheese sauce just putting it over the top. Another starter that blew us away was the Queso Fundido this hot dish of broiled cheese, ground chorizo, cilantro onions, and shaved jalapeno was served with warm flour tortillas. We could not get enough of this indulgent plate- if you stop by, you MUST order it.
Other great starter options include Mac & Cheese with cured pork belly, Conebella cheddar and colby cheese from Conebella Farm, Elverson, PA. Pub Nachos with tortilla chips, seasoned ground beer, mozzarella and cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, jalapeño peppers, sour cream, and pico de gallo.
If you’re looking for some flavors of Fall to pair with your beers we’d suggest the Fig and Pancetta Flatbread with herb fig spread, crispy pancetta, goat cheese, and arugula. Or the Cavatelli Pasta with wilted Tuscan greens, dried cranberries, walnuts, goat cheese, herb brown butter. Both these dishes were well balanced with savory and sweet notes.
This week some of the specials catching our eye include the Loaded Pulled Pork Poutine with pub fries, gravy, cheddar cheese curds, hickory smoked pulled pork, bacon, and fresh chives. As well as the Buffalo Cauliflower with fried cauliflower, blue cheese crumbles, carrots and celery.
Every Monday stop by for $5 Cheesesteaks (steak, chicken, or vegetarian)(Dine In Only). Taco Tuesday has got Mexican street tacos including Ancho Beef for $2.50, Chipotle Chicken for $2.50, Jalapeno Cauliflower for $2 and Blackened Tilapia for $3, all served on your choice of corn or flour tortillas with shaved cabbage, roasted corn salsa, jalapeno sour cream, and lime wedge. Tuesday nights 8:00-10:00 pm also offers Quizzo with $2 Holler Select Beers. Wednesday is Wing Night with half-priced wings. And Happy Hour is offered weekdays 4:00- 6:00 pm with $2 Holler Select Beers and $5 Small Plates.
The Parksburg brewpub is open Sunday – Thursday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm, Friday – Saturday 11:00 am– midnight. Please call for reservation availability for groups of 6 or more.
