Beer Review – Victory Brewing Company Moving Parts Batch 03

As we do on the weekend, G-LO and I try to exemplify the great parents that we are by getting our boys together for a little fun. Oddly, this usually involves the boys cemented in front of a gaming station, while G-LO and I are ensconced at the kitchen table. Of course, we ARE watching the boys, but we’re not like those “helicopter” parents that everyone keeps talking about. We’re more of the “I think the boys are still here. So what’s next in the lineup?” kind of parents. This day would prove to be no different. I needed to disperse my bounty from a recent business trip to Connecticut while he had a new Brewmail delivery that we just HAD to review. The Brewmail in question was a bottle of Moving Parts Batch 03 from Victory Brewing Company.

Victory is a Pennsylvania brewer with the original 100,000 sq. foot brewery located in Downingtown, PA, and a second 212,000 sq. foot, “state-of-the-art” facility located in Parkesburg, PA. Over the course of our time doing research, we have had a lot of their lineup. Most recently, we’ve reviewed the Moving Parts Batch 02, the Winter Cheers and the Anniversary 19 Ale.

Here’s what they say about their Batch 03:

We like to mix it up. New flavors, new ideas, new ingredients; we welcome them all. In celebration of our penchant for prolific experimentation, we present Moving Parts: The Ever-Evolving IPA. Each release in this series (every four months) celebrates a tweaked ingredient or two, creating an endless array of possible flavor profiles. For us, Moving Parts are a good thing!

And now, our review…

• ABV: 6.6%
• Appearance: Golden sunshine in a glass (normally I would trash G-LO for his florid expression but this one was right on the money). Golden sunshine with 1/4 inch of off-white fluffy froth.
• Aroma
  • Limpd: Really nice. A bit doughy with cloves and citrus (maybe apricots).
  • G-LO: Citrus, citrus and more citrus! Bright and fruity with mandarin orange and grapefruit notes followed by some honey sweetness. A smattering of yeast, too. (You see what I mean by his flowery prose … a smattering? really? just how much is a smattering?)
• Taste
  • Limpd: Crisp, and flavorful with a big blast of hops. There is a great blend of sweet, tart and bitter that follows through to the long, somewhat drying finish
  • G-LO: Medium carbonation with a slight creaminess to it. Light bitterness with all that citrus to brighten things up. A touch of honey sweetness at the middle, but it’s the citrus that dominates. Lingering grapefruit bitterness in the finish with a bit more of tart honey in the aftertaste.

The Verdict

• Limpd: There certainly were a lot of moving parts but they seem to have moved in concert. The blend of flavors and the balance were really well done. I thought the character of this beer was much more to my liking that the Batch 02 (which was more of an English IPA). As this is the Ever-Evolving IPA, I look forward to the Batch 04.
• G-LO: This is the second of the Moving Parts Series that we have sampled and I definitely preferred Batch 03 to Batch 02. I would put this close to the Green Flash Le Freak and on a par with Flying Dog Raging Bitch. Batch 03 was deelish!

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May thanks to the good people at Victory Brewing Company for sending us this very generous sample!