founded in 1996 by ron barchet and bill covaleski in an old pepperidge farm bakery, victory has grown considerably and evolved well outside the traditional small market of a beer-brewing restaurant. the brewery's first three beers were victory festbier, brandywine valley lager (now victory lager), and hopdevil ale. initially they thought that the malt forward victory festbier would become their most popular beer. however, they soon realized that consumers craved very hoppy beers, such as hopdevil ale, the most. on february 16, 2016, victory allied with southern tier brewing company of lakewood, ny to become part of the artisanal brewing ventures holding company.