Not long ago I found myself in the car on the way to a small Pennsylvania town to visit an old friend who had moved out there to be with a girl. She came from an Amish family and, though she had rejected the traditions of her mother and father, still loved them very much and refused to move out of the area. Since my friend apparently sees the universe in this girl’s eyes, he packed up and began a new life in an area he knew nothing about. Fortunately for both of us, he moved to an area of the state nearby the Victory Brewing Company, so he is privy to all sorts of amazing beers that no one else in the country gets to hear about. During my trip we got to talking about new beers we had tried and he told me of the Donnybrook Stout by Victory, which he had recently sampled at a bar a few towns over. I told him we had to go, so we packed up and headed over there.
On the way he began talking about this beer like it had changed his. This is coming from a guy who worships the ground Guinness brews on, so obviously any time he tries a specialty stout beer he loses his mind and claims that he’s found the second coming of awesome. When we walked into the bar it seemed that everyone knew him. The girl behind the bar called to him by name and asked if we wanted a couple of Donnybrook Stouts. He smiled and said, “You know it!” and with in thirty seconds we were sampling this beer that he told me I was going to love.
I trusted him all the way, so it didn’t surprise me when the Donnybrook Stout delivered all that he promised. He warned me that the alcohol content was fairly low, registering only 3.7%. But since I was prepared for this I didn’t mind. Roasted barley makes this beer something really unique. The way this ingredient meshes with the hops is rather enjoyable, although the hop presence could be a bit stronger to satisfy the hop addict in me. The mouth feel of this beer is incredibly enjoyable, as it’s both smooth and silky, just like a Guinness but somehow better. Definitely try this beer if you get a chance.
