Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski\u2019s journey began in 1973, when they were just two fifth-graders boarding a school bus on their way to a new school. The two quickly became friends and remained so, even as they grew up and went to college on opposite coasts. And that\u2019s how the story of Victory Brewing Company began.<\/p>\n
After college Bill pursued a career as an art director, and Ron began his career as a financial analyst working on government defense contracts.\u00a0 Just months out of college, Bill\u2019s appreciation of good beer and access to his father\u2019s home brewing equipment inspired him to explore the hobby. That same year, 1985, Bill gave Ron a home brewing kit as a Christmas gift. With that, both Bill and Ron developed their love of the craft, and a friendly rivalry grew between the two. The good-natured competition pushed Bill and Ron to become accomplished home brewers, and as they both grew disillusioned with their jobs in the corporate world, they suddenly realized their combined skill and love of brewing could pave the path to successful careers as brewers. They joined forces and became two good friends just brewing beer\u2026you can feel the love!<\/p>\n
Ron left his job as a financial analyst and started an apprenticeship at Baltimore Brewing Company (BBC), working under a Dutch-born and German-trained brewer named Theo DeGroen. After working there for nearly a year, Ron had the necessary prerequisites to move on to study at the Technical University of Munich at Weihenstephan.<\/p>\n
Immediately upon Ron\u2019s departure, Bill took over his emptied role at BBC. While Ron was enhancing his German brewing knowledge, Bill was expanding the line of beers produced at the BBC to include several German specialty beers, many of which went on to win multiple awards at the Great American Beer Festival. After his time at BBC, Bill completed his brewing studies by traveling to Munich, Germany to attend Doemens Institute.<\/p>\n
After Ron\u2019s year of education in Munich, he returned stateside and took a role at Old Dominion Brewing Company in Virginia. Over the course of four year as the brewmaster there, he helped to increase production from 1,500 barrels annually to nearly 15,000.<\/p>\n
With knowledge, experience and a love of quality beer in place, Bill and Ron decided they were ready to pursue this crazy career, and they opened their own brewery near where they first met in Pennsylvania. It has become a right brain\/left brain operation as they complement each other with their different skill sets.<\/p>\n
Victory Brewing Company opened its doors to the public on Feb. 15, 1996. What was once a Pepperidge Farm factory became home to a 142-seat restaurant, 70-foot-long bar and a full-scale brewery. In its first year, Victory Brewing Company brewed 2500 barrels of beer. Since then, Victory has increased the size of the restaurant, adding 200 seats. The brewery has also expanded, producing 58,850 barrels of beer in 2010. As loyal craft beer drinkers continue to show their dedication to flavorful, quality beer, Victory plans to continue its own growth. Onward to Victory!<\/p>\n
Victory Brewing\u2019s current production is 82,000 barrels. They brew eleven beers year- round: HopDevil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey, Headwaters Pale Ale, Storm King Stout, Hop Wallop, Victory Lager, Donnybrook Stout, V-12, Helios Ale, Festbier, and nine seasonal and specialty beers: Moonglow Weizenbock, Sunrise Weissbier, Whirlwind Witbier, Old Horizontal, St. Boisterous, St. Victorious, Baltic Thunder, Yakima Glory, Summer Love Ale.<\/p>\n
Victory is distributed in 29 states and in the United Kingdom and has successfully been on the market for 16 years.<\/p>\n
In 2012, their current brewery in Downingtown, PA reached capacity. In order to keep up with consumer demand for full-flavored, high quality beer, they\u2019re forging ahead with expansion plans. \u201cOur thirsty fans have been asking us for more,\u201d said Bill Covaleski, President and Co-Brewmaster of Victory Brewing Company. \u201cIn order to give them what they want, we need more space to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
So in 2013, Victory will be opening a second brewery in Chester County, PA, which will allow them to continue to create new, innovative beers and add additional employment opportunities. The new brewery location was chosen because of its similarities to our home in Downingtown. Just as the Downingtown brewery recycled an old Pepperidge Farm factory, the expansion brewery is being built within an existing complex in Parkesburg, PA. Their home brewery is situated a mere 14 miles from the headwaters of the east branch of the Brandywine Creek, and the Parkesburg brewery will be just 17 miles from the headwaters of the west branch.<\/p>\n
Environmental impact and water quality were major considerations for this expansion. Nearly eight months of water-quality research found that the mineral composition of the west branch water is nearly identical to the east branch.<\/p>\n
Bill said \u201cIn keeping with our \u201clocally brewed, locally loved\u201d motto, the choice to expand was not made lightly. The Parkesburg location will allow us to produce even more locally brewed and locally loved beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing in to a new facility will have some growing pains,\u201d said Ron Barchet, CEO and Co-Brewmaster of Victory Brewing Company. \u201cBut once we are up and running, it will allow us endless opportunities to experiment with new flavors and re-create old favorites.\u201d What most people don\u2019t realize is that brewing in America is much more liberating than Europe. Victory feels blessed that they have that creative freedom.<\/p>\n
In our exclusive interview with Bill, he stated that women are the largest growing market for craft beer. Bill definitely has a passion and love for the craft; he loves the ability to be creative with flavors now instead of images.\u00a0 He definitely loves the work and craft involved in brewing beer. It\u2019s alchemy; you add ingredients and things magically appear! Bill definitely has passion and respect for the industry, and that shines through in the quality and success of the beer. Bill and Ron\u2019s passion shows as they have definitely fallen in love with the people and the culture of craft brewing!\u00a0\u00a0 Nightwire<\/em> wishes Ron and Bill, partners at Victory Brewing, continued success.<\/p>\n Some of their most popular beers available here locally are:<\/p>\n HopDevil <\/strong>– Menacingly delicious, with the powerful, aromatic punch of whole flower American hops backed up by rich, German malts. HopDevil Ale\u00ae<\/sup> offers a roller coaster ride of flavor, coasting to a smooth finish that satisfies fully.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Golden Monkey<\/strong> – Strong and sensual, this golden, Belgian-style ale glows. The richness of German malts and Belgian yeast are tempered by a sparkling approach and overall light body. Abundant herbal, fruity notes make Golden Monkey\u00ae<\/sup> one to savor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Headwaters Pale Ale –<\/strong> Our brewery is blessed with exceptionally pure water that travels just over a dozen wooded miles to reach our brewery. With this pristine water we have transformed floral American hops and subtle, crisp German malts into a refreshing delight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prima Pilsner<\/strong> – Heaps of hops give this pale lager a bracing, herbal bite over layers of soft and smooth malt flavor. This refreshing combination of tastes makes Prima a classy quencher in the tradition of the great pilsners of Europe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Summer Love Ale<\/strong> – With the sublime, earthy familiarity of noble, European hops backed up by fresh and clean German malts, Summer Love Ale\u00ae<\/sup> ends with a surprising burst of lemony refreshment from fistfuls of American whole flower hops. Love Summer, now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be sure and stop by The Hop House to try one of the Victory beers (mention Nightwire and receive \u201cfree\u201d merchandise (while supplies last)<\/em> plus register to win a grand prize giveaways)<\/p>\n The Hop House \u2013 Greentree, 2749 Noblestown Road, Pittsburgh, 15205<\/p>\n North Hills, Ross Twp \u2013 5510 Babcock Blvd, – Pittsburgh, 15237<\/p>\n Current annual production:<\/strong> 82,000 barrels<\/p>\n Square footage of brewery:<\/strong> 100,000 square feet<\/p>\n Year-round beers:<\/strong> 11 \u2013 HopDevil, Prima Pils, Golden Monkey, Headwaters Pale Ale, Storm King Stout, Hop Wallop, Victory Lager, Donnybrook Stout, V-12, Helios Ale, Festbier<\/p>\n Seasonal and specialty beers:<\/strong> 9 \u2013 Moonglow Weizenbock, Sunrise Weissbier, Whirlwind Witbier, Old Horizontal, St. Boisterous, St. Victorious, Baltic Thunder, Yakima Glory, Summer Love Ale.<\/p>\n Number of brewery and corporate employees:<\/strong> 48<\/p>\n Number of restaurant employees:<\/strong> 170<\/p>\n Restaurant:<\/strong> 300 seats, 60 foot-long-bar, 24 rotating taps<\/p>\n Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski\u2019s journey began in 1973, when they were just two fifth-graders boarding a school bus on their way to a new school. The two quickly became friends and remained so, even as they grew up and went to college on opposite coasts. And that\u2019s how the story of Victory Brewing Company […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-839","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8aPSh-dx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840,"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/839\/revisions\/840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nightwire.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Victory by Numbers<\/h1>\n
Victory Brewing Company is located at 420 Acorn Lane \u2013 Downingtown, PA 19335.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"