Hersbrucker Pils - Victory Brewing Company

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap @ the Victory Brewing Company (Downingtown, PA) on 4/23/11. Served in a Pils glass.

Pours a clear copper, topped with a tight finger-width foamy cap of bright-white head. This retains with roughly a ¼ of a finger, leaving back a frothy cascade that settles into some thick and patchy swathes of lacing. The aroma smells freshly floral (with a mineral edge to it), along with some ripe fruitiness, and a touch of a danky presence. A tight feeling, yet still softer, sweet graininess pushes up from underneath.

The taste has a citric bitterness to it that prickles the tongue, along with a splash of some fairly prominent tarter lemon character. A supportive backbone of bready grains lies underneath but this keeps the focus on the hops. That same mineral presence from the nose is present here as well, hanging on the edges of the profile and then pulling together into a dry finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a firm crispness to it the whole way through. Just a very easy feeling body here on this.

This is just another in a long line of solid Pilseners from Victory. This was well balanced and thirst quenching and I thought that those Hersbrucker hops brought a little something different to the table. I could have drank a couple glasses of this easily.

Serving type: on-tap

05-02-2011 16:57:36 | More by Kegatron

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.55/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hersbucker Pils pours a rich golden. Aroma is fresh noble hop goodness, some euro lager smells as well. Flavor features a great hop flavor, herbal, citrus and tealike. Malt is pale and lightly bready. The taste is spot on and I find it remarkable how Victory gets the most possible flavor from the hops they use. Mouthfeel is medium to light bodied, crisp and quenching. Overall, I thought this was the best beer I had at my visit to victory. Kick ass!

Serving type: on-tap

03-22-2011 16:42:01 | More by Stinkypuss

Hojaminbag

Colorado

4.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Victory Hersbrucker Pils has a clear, golden-yellow body with streams of carbonation bubbles that move to the top of the glass in a cyclonic motion. The head towers out of my pils glass; it is rocky, thick and bright white.

The aroma has a lot of floral hops, with a touch of a mineral scent to them. Light malts linger in the background.

Hops run the show here, just like in every other Victory Pils I've tried. Lots of floral and grassy flavors, but also a distinctive mineral note. There are also hints of lemon from the hops. The malt is in the background, providing nothing more than support with lightly sweet, bready flavors.

The mouthfeel is bitter, crisp and well-carbonated.

Victory makes some good-ass pils if you like hoppy pils, and this one is no exception. Best brewer of pilsners in the USA? Maybe.

Serving type: on-tap

05-04-2011 20:36:12 | More by Hojaminbag

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours a transparent golden yellow with a tight white head. The nose is bready with light notes of dough, mild and soft. herbal grassy hops are well integrated and provide a nice balance. The taste is lightly toasted bread, a touch of peppery spice, caramel malt undertones and some doughy malts as well. The hops provide honey notes, citric hops and a touch of herbal hops with no bitterness at all, just a clean crisp finish on a soft delicate body and gentle carbonation. What an easy drinkable, slightly sweet pilsner!

Serving type: on-tap

12-27-2011 20:16:37 | More by cpetrone84

xnicknj

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

on tap at devils den in philly

Pours a clear straw golden yellow, nice fluff of bubbly white head, retains with wispy film and some spotty lacing.

Nice snap of hops with biscuit malt and lemongrass. Some citrus with crackers.

Bit of hoppiness with herbal notes. Slight sweetness with some fruit tones with a sturdy cracker and straw malt base. A bit bready and citrusy. Finishes somewhat dry and refreshing.

Medium body, decent carbonation, superb drinkability and very refreshing on the senses. I downed my pint quicker than anything else I tried that day and wanted more almost right away, really tasty stuff.

Serving type: on-tap

04-20-2011 00:14:30 | More by xnicknj

Stigs

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - pours with a hefty amount of pillowy white foam. the beer is crystal clear, bright gold/straw in color. as the foam falls, a few dozen random wet spots of lace are left around the glass.

S - immense amount of grasses, field, hay, hints of lemon rind and pepper. light layer of semi-sweet, doughy malt underneath.

T - immediately hit with a huge booming blast of noble hops, bringing their characteristic grass, floral, and lemon notes. malts are present, quite crackery, though just adding a bit of balance and coming out more through the aftertaste. beautifully simple.

M - light, refreshing body. carbonation is a half step below moderate, took this growler a couple days to make it home to proper storage. lightly oily through the swallow, with a dry, lingering bitter and floral finish.

O - wonderfully crafted, flavorful, and drinkable. on par with Prima and the other world-class pilseners of Victory. follows about the same flavor profile as Prima, but with a bit more hay and earthy notes in the nose which carries over a bit to the taste.

Serving type: growler

03-20-2011 22:45:11 | More by Stigs

JAXSON

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

One of the 2011 Craft Brewing Conference beers. Interesting to see that this was brewed back in 2002 as well. As usual, an absolutely stellar single hop pilsner from Victory. Pours a very light straw color. Seemed to me more in the Czech style than German. Just wonderful balance, a fairly long grassy finish. Not as snappy as the Tradition Pils from 2009 but nearly as good.

Serving type: on-tap

03-26-2011 02:56:39 | More by JAXSON

HopheadEd

Pennsylvania

4.22/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

It poured heavy off the tap, with a big head that held pretty well. Pale yellow, but not quite clear, nice aroma of hops. The first sip was quite surprising, mellow malt taste with a good, sweet hop finish. the head stayed pretty good, with good lace throughout. Similar to their other pils, (Prima, Hellertau) which I also enjoy. I'm pretty sure it is just an occasional offering.

Serving type: on-tap

10-06-2002 06:45:09 | More by HopheadEd

jlenik

New Jersey

4.72/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

purchased a growler from the Victory brewpub on 03/18/2011. Beer was listed as 5.3% ABV

a: Two fingers worth of head. Beer is as clear as can be, I'm almost amazed.

s: some hops with a light airy sweet aroma.

t: there is some hop bite, this is definitely a german pilsner. the sweetness of the aroma is not present in the taste.

m: starts sharp and finishes dry.

d: overall I really enjoyed this beer. Victory makes some amazing pilsners and I wish they bottled more than just prima pils.

Serving type: growler

03-18-2011 04:12:38 | More by jlenik

rotsaruch

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on tap - 12/8/02. A classic unfiltered German Pilsener with a dense white head and a pale golden color. Noticable lacing from start to finish. The Hersbrucker Noble Hops give this brew a distinctive hoppy bitterness. The hop aroma and flavor are usually high and quite obvious. However, there is a slight malty residual sweetness that can be perceived, but it clearly does not the dominate the aroma or flavor. Enjoyed two drafts with some nice spicy buffalo wings. Look forward to next Noble Hops offering.

Serving type: on-tap

12-09-2002 09:26:47 | More by rotsaruch

evantwomey

North Carolina

4.72/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This beer was called "Hersbrucker Pils" by the server and "Braumeister" on the chalkboard. Anyways...

Enjoyed my first visit to Victory during a long drive from North Carolina to Maine. I was dead-set on getting some fresh pils from the best pils brewer on the planet. This beer comes out in a big fat Stange glass, big fluffy head sitting atop a pale gold beer. Utterly angelic. Good retention. Slight haze, which somehow makes the beer seem more 'real'; the fiber-optic clarity of most pilsners is a little unsettling to me. Aroma is magical: very flowery, perfumey hops. Pure hops...blissful! It is different, but similar to Prima in that it is more flowery and ethereal. Taste: smacks you with flavor. Huge hop presence, little bitterness (less than Prima). Malt is pretty faint but crisp and provides some nice body. Mouthfeel is effervescent but slick too. Drinkability is perfect. After 7 hours on the road I nearly cried when I had my first sip.

If an American IPA is like Pamela Anderson then this beer is like Claire Forlani. Soft, subdued, and beautiful!

Serving type: on-tap

08-04-2009 00:11:37 | More by evantwomey