Yesterday my husband and I drove up to Downingtown, Pennsylvania on a one-day trip. Downingtown is about a half-hour west of Philadelphia in Chester County, an area that’s still largely rural but with a growing population of suburban commuters into the Philadelphia metropolis. Our visit was for the annual meeting of investors in Victory Brewing Company, a craft brewery that’s probably best known for its Hop Devil and Golden Monkey beers. It was an exciting trip, because after ten years of unrelenting work the brewery is really doing well. They’ve doubled in size in the last three years and have moved well beyond the micro-brewery category to become a successful regional brewery with solid sales throughout the mid-Atlantic and beyond. Mark and I have known the founders, Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet, since long before the brewery was even a gleam in their eye. I’m delighted to see my friends doing so well and to know we had a part in that as two of their first investors.
I’ve always gotten a thrill from visiting the brewery, now just as much as in the days when Victory was a tenth its current size. It’s a surprisingly sensual experience, with fascinating smells from the natural ingredients that go into the beer—the floral green smell of hops, the earthy oatmeal smell of barley malt, and the unmistakable slightly sour, yeasty smell of the fermenting beer. The wing where the beer is brewed and fermented is toasty warm, with bright sunlight falling in from skylights overhead. The rooms where the shiny stainless tanks stand to age the beer are cool, dim and slightly damp, with water puddling on the tile floor.
The finished product is served in a family-friendly restaurant overlooking the lagering tanks. I used to be surprised by how many children I saw in the dining room, but now I understand why. It’s a roomy, casual place with oak tables and chairs and high ceilings. Kids can run around between the tables and no-one seems to worry if they get a little loud. The food is simple but very tasty. The menu includes burgers, salads and barbecue. Most popular is the pizza cooked in two wood-burning ovens.
What draws most people is the chance to sample the full range of Victory’s many beers. There are usually at least eight to ten beers on tap at the restaurant, in a lineup that changes seasonally. Yesterday I sampled a light, fresh-tasting kolsch, a style that originated in Cologne, and a brown ale that’s still in the tanks and hasn’t even been named yet. Both were delicious. Victory has won multiple awards for their flagship Hop Devil beer, an India Pale Ale. They’re also increasingly famous for a Belgian-style beer called Golden Monkey and for their pilsner, Prima Pils. Prima was recognized as one of the best pilsner-style beers in the world by both the New York Times and Men’s Journal magazine in 2005.
If I’ve piqued your curiosity, I encourage you to look for the beer. It’s sold in supermarkets throughout the Washington area and in a growing number of states across the country. The company website has a beer finder to help you find a local distributor wherever you may live. Or you might consider taking your own little trip up to Downingtown. I think you’ll find it worth the trip.
