Victory Golden Monkey

Brewed by: Victory Brewing Company

Brewery Location: Downingtown, PA

Style: Belgian Tripel

ABV: 9.50%

As I do with the majority of beers that I try, I happened to stumble across a few bottles of Golden Monkey whilst perusing through my local beer distributor. I had heard of it through several friends, but had never been presented with the opportunity to try it. As it happened, the price was right, and a 6-pack found its way home with me. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but overall, I was very content with my purchase.

Upon pouring, it was immediately understandable why this beer was named Golden Monkey. A clear, amber-golden color presented itself, with very apparent carbonation bubbles. It had a medium sized, frothy head, which hung around for a decent majority of the beer.

The first smell that I picked up on was that oh-so distinctive Belgian tripel smell. There were hints of spices, and definitely some serious citrus overtones. It was a bit difficult to really pick up on the exact fruit, but it almost smelled like a curious case of lemon meets orange. It was also fairly easy to tell that this was going to be one hell of a boozey beer, as the smell of alcohol was very apparent.

As expected, on first taste the spice and alcohol really punch through, leaving the citrus in the background. It is slightly bitter, but almost…neutral tasting? With other tripels I have tried, taste on opposite ends of the spectrum complement each other, creating an enjoyable and interesting beer. There are a lot of clashing and over the top flavors going on here, which didn’t leave me particularly impressed.

I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad beer by any means. I happily finished by 6-pack, very glad that I was finally able to try it. If someone offered me one, I’d gladly enjoy it, but I foresee myself settling on other Belgians.