Victory Prima Pils

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

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

Bottle. Light golden, small to average and mostly lasting head. Moderate, malty and dryish aroma, lots of grassy hoppyness, some floral fruitiness. Body is medium, malty and dryish sweetish flavor, grassy hoppyness, faint caramel. Finish is average, malty and dry, grassy and some citrus hoppyness, faint caramel. Nice dryish and well hopped pils with faint caramel.

12oz bottle. Clear golden beer with a thick white head that laced my glass. Flavor is well-balanced between hops and malt, there is some good bitterness present, and the finish is dry. Overall, this is a crisp, flavorful, refreshing beer.

Poured clear yellow with a decent head. Hops right away with slightly bitter finish. Well-made, but too hoppy for a pils.

Beautiful golden color, with billowing white head. The aroma is herbal hops, straw, fresh grass, and lager yeast. Sprightly carbonation, medium bodied. The taste is first tangy lemons, then a smack of herbal hops, and more straw and hay notes. The finish is clean, dry, and lean and quick, as a good pilsner should be. The only drawback to me is that it is slightly over hopped, but that is a trademark for Victory. All in all it’s very good, but could be a little more refreshing if the hops were held back.

Very hoppy at first to the smell. Pours golden yellow with a thick white head. Sweet smells like almost honey like. Very delicious beer with a great taste with no after taste. Great beer

I’ve been hearing great things about Victory Prima Pils for a long time. Many of my beer geek friends say it’s the best American pilsner they’ve ever had. With a reputation like that, I knew this was a beer I had to try. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t able to see anything in this beer that makes it stand out from the rest. To me it’s a perfectly average beer - definitely not a bad one, but far from good and here’s why:

I poured a 12oz bottle into a pilsner glass.

Appearance: Bright yellow like the skin of a ripe banana. Tons of carbonation bubbles present. Small, bright white, fluffy/soapy head - some retention and lacing.

Aroma: Some green bottle-esque notes of sourness. Light grassy scent and a touch of lemon.

Taste: Yes this is a craft beer but it tastes like something only slightly better than macro. Not much genuine flavor, rather familiar notes of macro grain. Light lemon peel or lemon grass in the second half to impart subtle spice and faint sweetness. Finishes with a dry, chalky aftertaste although it eventually comes up clean. Not a particularly satisifying beer, but nothing I would consider bad-tasting, rather, neutral.

Drinkability: Quite refreshing while it’s in the mouth. Not particularly crisp, which is odd considering it’s a pilsner. Carbonation dies down quickly. Definitely thin and light-bodied. Dry aftertaste prevents it from being a truly refreshing beer, although I think it would work well with summer outdoor food fare. 5.3% ABV seems a little high, especially for a pilsner.

Overall, this is definitely better than all the green bottled European pilsners, but has a ways to go to impress me as a genuine, higher-quality American craft lager. Meh.

I really like the way the hops are the focus of this, the malt and yeast support the flavors of the hops. I could drink these any time since the noble hop flavors are there and fresh with some nice herbal and floral elements. The finish is dry which keeps you coming back for more. Prima is a great example of an American Pilsner that pays tribute to German Pils yet puts their own stamp on it.

On tap at US Beerfest, North Bar, Leeds. Pours a clear-ish golden yellow with fairly big frothy head. Aroma of hops, citrus with a bit of lemon. Taste is very crisp and oddly complex for a pilsener - hops, grapefruit/general citrus. Very refreshing, would really hit the spot on a hot day. Medium-bodied too, so it’s not an inconsequential drink. Very good indeed, this one.