Victory Variety Pack Round-Up: PrimaPils

Brewed By: Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, Pennsylvania 

Purchased: 12oz bottle from Victory's Variety Pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: American-style Pilsner, 5.3%
Reported IBUs: ?

I realize that reviewing Victory's heritage brews is like reviewing Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale or Anchor Brewing's Anchor Steam. Here's the thing. The four beers contained in this Variety Pack (PrimaPils, HopDevil, Headwaters Pale Ale, Golden Monkey) are classics in their own right. But the times, they've been a-changin'. So it reasons that what was once a classic might be viewed differently today than in retrospect. You know. Plus this is my blog/LiveJournal. If you don't like it, suck on deez nuts. But  About Victory: 

Victory Brewing Company is a brewery based out of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. The brewery was founded by Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski, two avid brewers and lovers of beer. Although Victory opened on February 15, 1996, the duo were brewing brewing beer long before opening their own company. You can read more about their accomplishments on the brewery's about page. The brewery uses German malted barley and European and American whole flower hops (the use of whole flower hops is one unique aspect of Victory). Victory is currently working on expanding to Parkesburg. For more information about Victory, check out their website or their Facebook page. 

The PrimaPils is literally a classic, with the BeerAdvocate review dating back to 2002. This overly-hoppy American-style Pilsner is brewed with imported 2-row German malts, and a fuck load of whole flower German and Czech hops. 

Victory PrimaPils

This is an admittedly good looking beer, with a bright lemon-yellow body and a finger of nicely defined white head. Head retention and lacing both excel, courtesy of the hops.

The aroma is aggressively hoppy and floral, with overt flowers and grass smashing your nostrils like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Embedded with the floral, Sweet Tart-candy-like aroma, are some serious malt characters. I'm getting cracker and biscuit on the nose for sure. There is also a suggestive minerality note in here. 

On the taste: a lot, actually. This is fairly complex, albeit overly hoppy to a fault. This beer drops a ton of floral, Sweet Tart hops. The hops are laid down with a solid backbone of deep biscuit and cracker, and some nice minerality. This beer is oddly familiar, but I can't place it...it is also incredibly unique. The grains do stand out, imparting fantastic aromas of a brewery making beer. 

In terms of depth, this is far-reaching and has a long duration. It's complex, and it also drinks well at 5.3%. I'd call this light-bodied, refreshing, and carbonated. I think as the style goes, this could tone the hops down a notch and ratchet up some of that complex malt base. Still, this is an effective delivery for floral hops up front, a mineral-driven biscuit and bready middle, and a back end that finishes clean, grassy, and dry. This beer has held up well over the years, and is still relevant in 2014. It's very much an American interpretation of the style.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This is actually not my favorite American Pilsner, but it is a good beer...this beer must have been quite the revolution 10 years ago, and I see why it is historically rated so highly. For me, this is almost too hoppy, which throws off some of the malts. But the malts still come through in here in a big way, so if you are looking for an aggressively hoppy American Pilsner, you really need not look further. Pair this beer with pizza, because that's the best thing to pair this style with.

Random Thought: And so begins the Chicago Bears meltdown of 2014. 

Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp 2014: Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner (brewed with Firestone Walker Brewery Company in Paso Robles, California)

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from the 2014 Beer Camp bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 (PKG 05/29/14)
Style/ABV: Belgian Pale Ale, 5.2%

Reported IBUs: 45

What is Beer Camp? It is Sierra Nevada's celebration of craft beer and the numerous breweries across America that make that craft beer. For 2014, Sierra Nevada collaborated with 12 different breweries to make 12 different beers. They also have a Beer Camp Across America Beer Festival, which will stop at seven different cities and feature many different breweries and beers.

About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

The hoppy Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner is a collaboration with the fine folks at Firestone Walker Brewing. My bottle reads: "Torpedo Pilsner is a hop-forward take on the crisp, classic lager. We and the folks at Firestone Walker share a passion for New Zealand hop varietals, so we loaded our legendary Hop Torpedo with the southern hemisphere's finest hops for a fruity, floral twist on the Pilsner style."

This one pours a pale yellow color, and has good depth of color throughout. This is transparent if not slightly hazy, with fat carb popping away. I kicked up 3-plus fingers of dense, sustaining, white head. There is some lacing as well.

Torpedo Pilsner Hoppy Pilsner

The aroma here is clean and sweet. I'm getting sweet Pilsner malts up the butt. It smells like an adjunct lager. There are grassy and floral hops in the mix as well. DAE lawn mow? Constrained biscuit and cracker show up, like when you are constipated and prairie-dog it deep in your colon but nothing comes out. There are also some faint, non-descript fruity notes. 

Wow. The taste is a real contrast from the aroma, with candy-like hops firing off melon and sweet lemon candied notes. This is fruity with candy berries, dusty citrus, sweet tarts, and layers of dust and dry candy hop notes on light biscuit and cracker malts. This is super sweet. The hops here are floral as well, with dusty flowers and candy in the house. Fantastic.

Now this is a fun twist on the Pilsner style. This is light-bodied and super drinkable, but the balance is shifted towards dusty, candy-like hops. Palate depth is good, and this is complex for the style. Up front: sweet malts give way to sweet tarts and candy hops; the mids roll into grassy and dusty candy hops with some biscuit/cracker; the back end lingers with lemon bitterness. Good.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average on this...this is a very original take on the style, and what this variety pack should be about. Food pairings here are one and only one: pizza. That's it.

Random Thought: Transcribing notes after the fact suuuucks. So does not having Internet for a week.

Dogfish Head Piercing Pils

Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: American-style Pilsner/Fruit Beer, 6.0% 
Reported IBUs: 35

I love Pilsners. About Dogfish Head:

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995.The brewery began as a brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week. In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More info can be found HERE.

The Piercing Pils has serious potential to carve a niche as a moderate-gravity, easy-drinking beer. This "Perry-Pils hybrid" is a "Czech Style Pilsner" that is brewed with white pear tea and pear juice. The juice and tea are added in the kettle during the whirlpool after the boil. This one also features Amarillo and Saaz hops. 

Dogfish Head Piercing Pils

The beer pours into a dark golden body, kicking up three fingers of thick, dense, white head. The head falls off slowly, leaving lots of lacing. The body is transparent, with moderate, mid-sized bubbles rising upwards. 

The aroma features huge floral notes, white tea, Saaz spice, Noble hop character, light citrus, peach, pears, apple slaw salad, wet rain, grass, white peach, kumquats, and big underlying biscuit/toast/cracker from the Pils malts and Pilsner base.

The taste follows the aroma appropriately, with big Saaz spice and floral notes, mild citrus from the Amarillo, and big peaches, white tea, kumquats, pears, and slaw salad from the tea. The back end of the beer drops giant Pils malts on your palate, with huge cracker and biscuit. The finish is bitter with lingering cracker/biscuit, mineral water, and lingering bitter/dry grassy hops.

This is light-bodied, refreshing, and crisp with lots of carbonation. I almost wish it was a bit lighter than 6.0%, because that's a hefty enough ABV that drinking a few of these will get you drunk. Palate depth is good, and complexity is good too: up front is big Saaz and Amarillo hops; the mids roll into peaches, pear, pear juice, white tea; the back end dials up big cracker and biscuit, lingering hop bitterness, Pils malts, and a dry Pilsner finish.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is super quaffable and would make a great Spring or Summer brew. The Saaz and Amarillo hops play off the subtle white tea flavors, and the beer works. I think the base could stand out a little more, but I'm not sure how you'd go about integrating that....I don't get the hate for this beer. It's just a well-crafted, above-average Pilsner. Food pairings: meats with peanut sauces (think chicken satay with peanut sauce), grilled chicken, sushi, white fish, pizza, white pasta, fish tacos, pork tacos. Good stuff.

Random Thought: I hate Sunday nights.