Victory Prima Pils

Brewed by Victory Brewing Company
Style: Pilsener
Downingtown, Pennsylvania USA

Bottle, a gift from Odeed! Nose is of some citrus, some grainy maltiness, with a tiny hint of tartness; Hazy urine yellow with a small white head; Flavor shows the citrusy hops, a little yeastyness and a noce bitter hop finish along with the tongue-tingling palate.Tastes a lot more appetizing than it looks!

[upon gaining an appreciation of pilsners, this has become on of my favorite american-made examples] I’m not a fan of pilsners at all, but I’ll try anything made by Victory that I can get my hands on. Looks pretty much like a standard pilsner should look, light golden color with a medium-sized head. The aroma is a subtle mix of hops and malts. The subtle malt character is in the flavor, and the hops come through very much. The finish is all hops and bitterness that I really didn’t enjoy very much. For the style it is very good, at the very least drinkable, but still not my thing. Nice try Victory, but not even you can make me like pilsners. [RE-RATE] (original 12/17/02, now 12/21/02) After a second bottle, I must give the beer props for being the best of its style. That is saying a lot. And I can’t remember the last time I was able to finish an entire 12 ounces of pilsner. Bravo, Victory. This may be a bad style of beer, but there is still something to be said about making the best of the worst.

The aroma is hoppy with corn malt. The appearance is milky white gold with a thin head. The flavor is metallic and sweet with grassy and herbal hops. There malt is corn like. The palate is thin. This beer fails to live up to the hype. It’s actually an average beer.

(12 oz bottle: Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa, CA) I definitely think this is one of the best hops-dominated, American pils out there, and it’s an example of how my tastes have changed over the years. I used to hate this beer; way too bitter for me back then. But while it’s still not my favorite pilsener, I at least can drink a bottle of this beer and enjoy it. It has a pleasant, mildly malty base, but it’s obvious claim to fame is the crisp, assertive, fairly bitter and grapefruity hops that dominates this beer from start to finish. The graininess is a bit more apparent in the nose, but even here, the grapefruit citrus dominates. Light bodied, and as clean and crisp as any pilsener I’ve ever sampled. Medium straw in color and slightly hazy. The snow white head rises to nearly an inch before slowly subsiding to a filmy layer. A sporadic ring of lace remains behind near the top of the glass. If I were to desire a hoppy pilsener, this would probably be my choice. But the thing is, I rarely desire such a beer. If I want a pale lager, I want it to be more malty than hoppy.

Tap at Barcade: Golden beer, with perfect clarity and topped a white consistent film. The aroma is bright with light citrus hop notes, predominately lemon, grassy notes and a pale malt hint. Flavor is similiar. Crisp, with evident smooth lemon-hop notes, with enough malt character to hold the body. Bright and clean with a smooth bitter finish. Solid Pilsener profile.

Re-Rate 06/29/02: Clear gold in color, frothy white head, sheets of lace. Nose is clean and crisp, and malt dominates. Starts malt, the top is light, the finish is nicely hopped, dry, somewhat acidic and quite thirst quenching. Thanks Jayme

Hazy, lemony (I've used lemony in like 3 ratings tonight, but that's what it looks like) colored, OK label, beady white head which fades to poofy meringue. Smells like what I wanted all those Eastern European lagers to smell like: sweaty women, citrus, pine and malt. Nicely hoppy, sprucey. Perhaps a bit too thin, perhaps a bit too fizzy. Very refreshing.

After the overwhelming sweetness of a DD Stille Nacht, this overwhelmingly dry pils balances out well. Tastes like a tough piece of bread. An enjoyable pils to be sure, and a perfect representation of the style.