Very Merry Monkey Spiced Holiday Ale

Review Date 11/24/2025 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Spiced Ale   Brewery: Victory   Country: USA   State: Pennsylvania   $ Per OZ: $.17 (B)   ABV: 9.5%

Remember Victory Merry Monkey? I sure do. It has been a holiday staple for me for the last five Christmas seasons. This year, unfortunately, there will be no Merry Monkey. Oh, I do have a few bottles left in my stash, but Victory is not releasing Merry Monkey this holiday season. Does that make me a sad monkey? Not at all. If that doesn’t make sense, allow me to explain.

You see, Victory is not selling Merry Monkey this year because it has instead introduced Very Merry Monkey Spiced Holiday Ale. I picked up a single can at Total Wine the Saturday before Thanksgiving at Total Wine, which I am drinking currently. I wanted more, but all they had left were two single cans, so I took a ride down the road a few miles to Everest Spirits, where they did have the beer in six packs. Yay!

Victory says:

Add a little bit of SPICE. Your favorite holiday tradition, Merry Monkey, returns with a lively hint of gingerbread in this Belgian-Style Tripel.​

Victory Very Merry Monkey has an alcohol content of 9.5% by volume (slightly less than the 10% Merry Monkey boasted). It has 25 IBUs and is brewed with malt        Pilsner malt and Mandarina Bavaria and Tettnang hops. I paid $11.99 for my six-pack from Everest, which is $2 less than Total Wine has it listed for on their website. My cans are stamped BEST BY 08 SEP 26.

Victory Very Merry Monkey pours to a brilliant orange amber color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose that screams fresh ginger. Taking a sip the beer is medium in body and again bursts with ginger: gingerbread, ginger ale, Ginger and Maryanne! It’s all here. Finishes dry with spice.

Victory Very Merry Monkey lacks the funky notes of Merry Monkey and Golden Monkey, or at least they are occluded by the ginger. Still, it is very delicious, especially if you love ginger as much as I do.

 When I first wrote about Merry Monkey in 2020, I remarked that after a few of them, I myself would be one very merry monkey. Now, I am one very merry monkey indeed.