The Beer Circle » Baltic Porter, Beer, Beer Release, Breweries, Victory Brewing Co. » Victory Red Thunder: A Release to be Enjoyed
Victory Red Thunder: A Release to be Enjoyed
December 2nd, 2012 | Add a Comment | Written by J.B. Wawrzyniak (Guest Author)
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I have never been all that into Porters, but when Victory announced they would release Red Thunder–Baltic Thunder aged in red wine barrels–on the day before Thanksgiving, dubbed Red Wednesday, I had to make sure I attended. I didn’t really know what to expect upon sampling Red Thunder and I think that only helped to enhance the release for me. It was my first beer to have been aged in red wine barrels and that, combined with my lack of exposure to porters–I usually go for IPAs and stouts especially of the imperial variety–made this an exciting new experience.
Victory is probably my favorite American brewery, ever. I’ll attribute a lot of that to the fact that I live within 15 miles of the place and frequent it. Up until recently, Victory operated out of a single brewing area combined with a restaurant and gift shop. Due to the immense growth that they have experienced within the past few years the owners have decided that its time to expand, which you can read more about on their website.
I was at the Dark Intrigue release last year with fellow Penn Stater Russ and was saddened that he could not share some of his beer knowledge with me for this release over a brew (or several). With that brief introduction let’s dive in.
I’d also like to take the next couple of paragraphs and compare the actual release event to that of the Dark Intrigue event that I attended last year with Russ.
No need to get to Victory at the crack of dawn for this, the doors were opening at 8am to serve breakfast (a first!). There was a general calmness probably because of the amount of beer on hand, as it seemed no one was going to get turned away from getting their heart’s desire. This to me was especially apparent as they were allowing individuals to get 2 cases if they chose because of the quantity of cases still available when I left.
I got there with a friend I homebrew with right at 8am. We walked in, told the hostesses we wanted a table, and were seated immediately. You could tell that the kitchen/wait staff wasn’t fully prepared for the onslaught of beer-thirsty and food-hungry individuals who were about to cram orders in that early, but I can’t really blame them and half expected that to be a factor. This turned out to be fine because it allowed for more of a social we’re-here-for-the-release type of atmosphere. It also gave everyone a chance to enjoy the beer and not feel rushed to get in and get out. We ended up not leaving Victory until close to 10am.
With that said there was something fun about getting up at an ungodly hour to go stand in line before the place even opened for the Dark Intrigue release. For Dark Intrigue, Russ and I got there right about 7:15am and were within the first 15 people in line. We had about four hours to kill before we would get inside for a beer and food. Red Wednesday was the exact opposite, it was nice in some ways but again there is something to be said about showing up early for something you want…I’ll blame that on my time at Penn State and camping out for first row seats for football games.
Last updated by JB at .

Written by J.B. Wawrzyniak (Guest Author)
J.B. is currently working in the financial sector of corporate America. When he is not busy trying to make the American people money, he's finalizing work for his pilot's license. Some of his favorite beers include IPAs and stouts, but really if it sounds intriguing enough he'll probably drink it. Non-beer drinks that are also a favorite include bourbon, scotch, and your dryer red wines (cabernets and merlots). You can find him purchasing all of this booze at Wegman's, Hop Shop when he occasionally gets back to his alma mater, or across state lines in Delaware (total wine anyone?). J.B. had the distinct pleasure of attending Penn State which is where he met Russ and Garrett.
Filed under: Baltic Porter, Beer, Beer Release, Breweries, Victory Brewing Co. · Tags: Baltic Porter, Baltic Thunder, Red Thunder, Red Wednesday, Victory Brewing Company, Wine Barrel Aged
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