#prima pils

[letsgrababeer]

On a sweltering summer day, nothing hits the spot like a pilsner.

[thebeereau-blog]

YoB 1: Victory Prima Pils

Here we go.  Year of Beer entry #1, Victory's Prima Pils out of Downington, PA.  I've had a couple of Victory's offerings before, both the Whirlwind Witbier and the Sunrise Weissbier are tasty, but this is about branching out.

As the label suggests, this beer is all about that hops.  There aren't any undertones of fruits or bizarre spices (not that those are bad), this is nothing more, and nothing less, than a German Pilsner, letting the hops shine through as the dominant flavor of the beer, though it's far from bitter.  It's very drinkable, light and refreshing, and if you're interested in trying a Pilsner, it's a gold standard.  Apparently PA can do German beers as well as the rest.

[sundaymorningpint]

Sunday Morning Pint of the Week: Victory Brewing Company's Prima Pils

The pint of the week comes storming back from a summer vacation with a review that might be a little divisor given the style of beer we’re going to review.  It seems to me that the Pilsner style gets overlooked by craft beer aficionados because of a relation the style has to certain domestic, “lite” beers that might not be so palatable to certain craft beer palates.  I am guilty of this kind of thinking myself but it isn’t without reason. 

There are plenty of shit Pilsners out there, just like there are IPAs with stale hops and watery stouts that don’t live up to the billing.  Victory Brewing Company’s Prima Pils should be a reminder to us all to not give up on a style because of a couple bad experiences.  Ideally you don’t want to buy an entire six pack to realize half way through the first bottle that the beer isn’t for you but that is why build-your-own-six-packs and generous sample giving bartenders exist.  If you want a jolt to the Pilsner style and can find Prima Pils, try out a lawn mower beer that actually has some flavor.

Aroma/Appearance

When Prima Pils is ice cold out of the refrigerator, this pours just like those dubious offerings from Miller, Budweiser and Coors.  It is a perfectly clear, pale yellow with bubbles that just don’t stop.  The pint I drank of this the other night had the bubbles going at full tilt for close to a half an hour.  The head is frothy and white and doesn’t stick around for too long.

The nose is grassy, with a hint of tart green apple.  It is crisp and there is some maltiness there as well.

Flavor/Mouthfeel

Here is where the fun begins.  If you can, try this ice cold as it is the best experience you’ll get with it.  Pilsners are the perfect summer beer; light, crisp and refreshing when the beer is made correctly and chilled.

The first couple sips are bitterly aggressive, the bready malt and spiciness from the hops at the forefront.  The beer rounds out into the grassy and tart apple flavors from the nose, supported by the malt and spicy hops from the beginning.  The whole beer has a nice watery characteristic.  Not watery as in devoid of flavor and flat, but a cool, refreshing mouth-feel with a quality kind of like mineral or pure spring water.  This just adds to the refreshing crispness of the beer.

Overall

If you’ve been put off by certain Pilsners in the past, Victory’s Prima Pils will bring you back over the line.  A wonderful, craft lawnmower beer that delivers the cool, refreshing effect of a great summer beer, as well as having enough character and flavor to be interesting and a true enjoyment. 

[texasbeernerd]

Prima Pils by Victory Brewing Co.

Many beers by Victory Brewing Co. have become go-to when I'm not feeling in an experimental mood and just want something I know is good. Prima Pils is another I can add to that list even though its a light beer. It's a craft light beer though so much better than the macros like Miller or Bud. Prima Pils is a particularly hoppy pilsner, almost to the point I'd call it an Imperial pilsner. It pours the yellow color I expect from pilsners. The body is medium-light so a bit of backbone does exist unlike with many light beers. The finish is somewhat dry thanks to the hops. The overall flavor though is the grass and grains flavor pilsners usually have coupled with a slight lemony tinge. The hop bitterness is a bit soapy because of the overall light nature of the beer. There's less of an anchor. In general, pilsners are my favorite light beers, especially more authentically German-style ones or ones like Prima Pils, amplified with hops in that very American style. It's good that craft brewers are making light beer because they're not going to win over the fans of Bud or Miller by just catering to beer nerds. 

[drinkbeeritsgood]

Prima Pils

German Pilsener 5.3% Alcohol

Victory Brewing Co Pennsylvania

This has a score of 99 at Total Whine and was only $2 so I was very eager to try this. Floral, grassy smell, slightly sweet. Taste is similar to the smell, the grassy flavor comes up more, and has a strong bitter aftertaste. The beer is remarkably smooth though even with this bitter aftertaste. Good summer beer, and easy to drink but still flavorful and a good beer's beer.

9/10

[craftbeerlibrary]

Prima Pils - Victory Brewing Co.

Brew Type: Pale Lager ABV: 5.3% Availability: Unlimited Site: Victory

This award winning Pilsner definitely deserves its accolades. Everything about this beer is done right, and is a perfect example of of what a German Style Pilsner should be. Super aromatic, bursting with flavor and just the right amount of hops so that the beer is not overpowered. Super clean, fresh finish. A must try for any beer lover.

Brewhaus Description:

"Heaps of hops give this pale lager a bracing, herbal bite over layers of soft and smooth malt flavor. This refreshing combination of tastes makes Prima a classy quencher in the tradition of the great pilsners of Europe."

[beerinreview]

Beer 112: Victory Brewing Prima Pils

Prima Pils is not a terribly exciting beer. It smells and has the vague taste of many cheaper macro-brewed beers. The beer lacks a crispness that I enjoy in a pilsner, but it does have a nice citrusy hop bite. This beer is definitely better than so many of the mass marketed beers out there, but unfortunately didn't seem different enough from them in basic composition to really stand out to me. 

[mzmum-blog-blog]

German Pils <3

German Pilsner

by: Alström Bros  First published in: Boston's Weekly Dig

The Pilsner beer was first brewed in Bohemia, a German-speaking province in the old Austrian Empire. Pilsner is one of the most popular styles of lager beers in Germany, and in many other countries. It’s often spelled as "Pilsener", and often times abbreviated, or spoken in slang, as "Pils."  Classic German Pilsners are very light straw to golden in color. Head should be dense and rich. They are also well-hopped, brewed using Noble hops such has Saaz, Hallertauer, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Styrian Goldings, Spalt, Perle, and Hersbrucker. These varieties exhibit a spicy herbal or floral aroma and flavor, often times a bit coarse on the palate, and distribute a flash of citrus-like zest--hop bitterness can be high.  The yeast employed lends a sulfury character to the aroma of the beer; however some Pilsner yeast strains have a slight estery (fruity) or faint diacetyl (buttery) character. Pilsners are well-attenuated, medium-bodied beers, with malty residuals of sweetness in the aroma and flavor. After primary fermentation, the beer usually undergoes a diacetyl rest, to reduce the amount diacetyl, and then a period of lagering (German for “to store"), which is a practice of maturing under cool temperatures (~40F) and which also produces a clear, bright beer. Alcohol content rests at about 4-5 percent alcohol by volume.  Well, that’s the very high-level description of the style, let’s get into some examples …  Domestic German-Style Pilsners  Harpoon Pilsner (Harpoon Brewery, MA) – Well-structured, perfect mouth feel with a German-like Pilsner flare. One of the most underrated beers that Harpoon brews … this one gets our respect.  Prima Pils (Victory Brewing, PA) – Perhaps the hoppiest of the style, not only in bitterness but also flavor. Enough malt to keep the brew in balance and that fresh micro-brew taste we love. 5.3 percent alcohol by volume.  Sam Adams Golden Pilsner (Boston Beer Company, MA) – A very refreshing Pilsner with a great body and use of hops. This is one of those beers to give to a Bud drinker, just to see what they make of it. Who knows? You might convert them. 4.63 percent alcohol by volume  Sierra Nevada Summerfest (Sierra Nevada Brewing, CA) – Crisp, light to medium-bodied, malty with a spicy, tingling hop bitterness that bites right in the middle. A great brew, and quite traditional in character. 5.0 percent alcohol by volume  The Real Stuff – German-Style Pilsners  Becks (Brauerei Beck & Co.) – Jason: This beer is right up there with Heineken and other Euro lagers that have been chewed up and spit out by that stressed brewing process called pasteurization. It is what it is; there are better ones to choose from. 4.8 percent alcohol by volume  Bitburger Premium Pils (Brauerei Bitburger) – clean, crisp and a bit more bitter than other German Pils. 4.8 percent alcohol by volume  Eibecker Premium Pils (Einbecker Brauerei AG) – Todd: This beer didn’t overly impress me, but I did like it. It lacks balance in the malt department, and goes big on the hops. Still a decent beer and its hop character certainly stands out amongst the standard Pilsners on the shelves these days. 4.9 percent alcohol by volume  Pinkus Organic Ur Pils (Brauerei Pinkus) – Very interesting with raw complexities...packed with flavor and could be paired with numerous types of foods, Pan-Asian seemed to work best. A beer from the Old World that brings all of its goodness with it in the bottle. 5.2 percent alcohol by volume  Radebeger Pilsner (Binding-Brauerei AG) – An easy to drink traditional German Pils; a clean, quick, very refreshing, light session, beer that could be paired with just about any meal. Nice hopping to give the beer a spicy herbal finish. Could make for a most excellent year-round fallback beer.  St. Pauli Girl (Saint Pauli Brauerei) – A must try brew, despite those awesomely cheesy adverts and stigma on imported lagers. This is one damn fine imported Pilsner lager, and no, that’s not the t-and-a influence speaking either…4.9 percent alcohol by volume  Spaten Pils (Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu) – A classic. Liken this to a Heineken or Becks, but without the “skunky" character; much more clean and full. 5.0 percent alcohol by volume  Warsteiner Premium Verum (Brauerei Warsteiner) – A very good Pilsner to be had, a step above Beck’s for sure. Good pricing also, you can find it for around $9.99 a 12-pack. Perhaps a little too pasteurized and/or filtered, though not to the point of turning the beer into nothing. This lazy summer day Pilsner does not mind to be served ice-cold either. 4.8 percent alcohol by volume  Würzburger Hofbräu Premium Pilsner (Würzburger Hofbräu AG) – Jason: If all you want is a typical German Pilsner, I’d choose this one over any mass-marketed German Pilsner, any day of the week. Good drinking all around with lots of rustic grain and hop for the mouth to play with.  Veltins Pilsner (Brauerei Veltins) – A very refreshing Pilsner and a nice alternative to US commercial lagers and Pilsners. Not much better than the other over-hyped lagers of the world, but still not a bad brew. 4.8 percent alcohol by volume