Pounding Pilsners

Victory Prima Pils

I realized the other day I write in a lot of places. Here, new SOB, EVF, Screenlight, Avid and soon to be maybe more locations. All the while my original site, this one, that’s dedicated to my journey into, through and around [craft] beer gets pushed aside. My bad, y’all.

Enough about my writing tendencies; I’m here because I actually have something beer-related to write about.

The past two-ish months I’ve had more Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, MGD and many other light American Lagers/low-grade Pilsners than probably the past three years combined. Don’t ask. It got me thinking that I’ve never really been into Pilsners. And I think like a lot of beer drinkers it took having other styles to actually get into beer. Even today I don’t love Pilsners. They just remind me of college.

I picked up a variety case of Victory for $28 from Costco last week. I saw it and thought it was a steal! $1.17 a bottle…Doesn’t get too much better in the craft realm. Six of the 24 bottles are Victory’s Prima Pils (the one in the picture above).

Prima Pils is a German Pilsner. To my surprise it gets a 91% on BeerAdvocate but only a 3.45 on Untappd. But pretty much everything gets around a 3.5 on Untappd so take that with a grain of salt. To me, it’s a “decent beer.” Yes, hard-hitting analysis on this one. It’s light and if it was a little warmer out I think I’d enjoy it more.

According to BJCP a German Pilsner should have the following:

• A light grainy Pils malt character and distinctive flowery or spicy noble hops
• Straw to light gold, brilliant to very clear
• Crisp and bitter, with a dry to medium-dry finish
• Medium-light body, medium to high carbonation

IMO, this beer hits the first three bullets almost perfectly. For me and for this bottle, well I don’t really know how to classify “medium-light body.” I’m not really sure how much lighter or thinner this could go. This bottle was not anywhere close to medium, let alone high, carbonation either.

So there you go! My not-so hard-hitting analysis on Victory Prima Pils. Give me a break… I’m just getting back into this beer writing thing.

Have you had Prima Pils before? Ever been to Victory? Leave me some comments so I don’t lose track of this site!!

TWIB – Talking, Studying, Mailing and Drinking

This Week in Beer (TWIB) is a feature where I’ll highlight some craft beers I had during this past week mixed with some related (and unrelated) thoughts. Yes, it’s a play on the name of the show This Week in Baseball which I grew up on and loved.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a TWIB but that doesn’t mean craft beer has been quiet. Here are some recent happenings to me, my blog and the beer world.

I’m a Glass Half Full Kinda Guy

I finally got to sit down for a few pints at Glass Half Full Taproom in Ashburn, Virginia. It is a small bar inside the new Alamo Drafthouse movie theater. No movie ticket is required to enter and the bar is well worth going to even if you aren’t planning on seeing a movie. It has about 15-20 barstools and ten or so tables surrounded by a rugged wood decor.  The staff is highly knowledgeable about their beer. They have 32 taps of which most rotate regularly.