Beer Review: Victory Prima Pils

Victory Brewing Company Prima Pilsner Lager

Continuing in my drinking summer beers in between rich winter beers condition (nothing wrong with variety). I decided to pick up a six pack of the Victory pilsner. I would also like to congratulate Victory on being named the number 3 All-Time Top Brewery in the on Planet Earth by Beer Advocate magazine. Quite an honor. Beer Advocate is also an excellent magazine for those who want to learn more about beer. Though I would still say the best way to know beer is to brew it, second best is to (of course) drink it. Doing both often makes a good lifestyle. The bottle has a best by date of February 09. The prima pilsner pours a light golden color with a decent head that sticks around for a while. Not much in the way of lacing. Very sharp hop aroma probably because of the whole flower hops used. I gotta start growing hops. Hard to beat a fresh, aromatic hop.

Taste is classic pilsner. Very sharp hop bite. Tastes like Saaz hops to me. The malt is very soft spoken but it shouldn't be too rich in this style. Pennsylvania water seems damn good for beer. Though Jersey is no slouch, we produce some great beers as well. This is such a spicy hoppy beer. Really dances around the tongue. The aftertaste is a bit bitter but I don't mind. It would be strange if a beer like this didn't have a bit of a bitter aftertaste.

The great flavor combined with the relatively low price makes this beer one of the best pilsners you can buy. Anyone who wants an easy drinking, hoppy beer will be pleased with this. The most similar one to this is the Stout's Pils. That had less of a hop bite with a larger malt backbone. Less true to the style. I really don't like giving out too many 90%+ scores but I can't rate this any lower than it deserves. I feel confident saying this is as good as pilsners get.

Final Score: 94% (Fantastic Hoppy Pilsner. Good Year Round.)