Victory Prima Pils

Though it has balance and delicacy, it's maltier and hoppier than the Pilsener designation might lead you to expect.

April 30, 2008

Here's an impressive lager from a small-town Pennsylvania brewery that deserves to be better known out here. Serious craft beer followers are already quite aware of Victory Brewing -- it was the people's favorite at last October's Great American Beer Fest in Denver, where the crowd roared approval when Victory took a gold medal for its Oktoberfest beer and the silver in the German-style Pilsener category with this brew.

Prima Pils (pronounced "preema pilss") is a broad-shouldered sort of lager, 5.3% alcohol by volume, made with Pilsener malt and whole German and Czech hop flowers (hence the flower on the label). Though it has balance and delicacy, it's maltier and hoppier than the Pilsener designation might lead you to expect. It would go as well with a roast as with pizza.

--Charles Perry

Price: $8 to $12 per six-pack

Style: A larger-than-life Pilsener

Where you find it: Beverage Warehouse in L.A., (310) 306-2822, www.beveragewarehouse.com; Cap 'n' Cork Jr. Market in Los Angeles, (323) 665-1260; Red Carpet Wine Merchants in Glendale, (818) 247-5544, www.redcarpetwine.com; Wally's Wine & Spirits, (310) 475-0606, www.wallywine.com.