By Greg B. I’ll admit, I’m not usually one for the pale lagers.  I like my beers to have more complex and kind of far-out flavors sometimes.  The trouble (and the benefit) with a pale lager is that the flavors are simple.  You don’t really get any crazy aromatics and the yeast that ferment this really let the beer speak for itself, they don’t contribute any fruity aromas, like in ales.  So in a pale lager, you really can taste the malts and the hops if they’re there.  With this in mind, we go to the Victory Lager.

The beer pours a very very very pale yellow color, with a small white head that has large bubbles.  I used a traditional thick glass lager mug, since the beer was chilled very cold (about 45F) and I even chilled the mug briefly.   The aroma on this beer is very clean, with some mild hop aromas but nothing surprising.    It tastes very light, with a very light grain/malt flavor and it has a little crispness from both the yeast and the hops, though not much.  I think in general, this is an OK lager, though it is certainly not my style.  It would, however, be a good summertime drink for friends who are not a) beer snobs b) beer drinkers c) just want to pound beers and not really taste them so as to get intoxicated at a party.  It is refreshing enough, and will certainly quench the thirst on a hot day, while the alcohol content is rather low, but still respectable at 5.2%.  I give it a 2.7/5, good in the style of American lagers, but not my favorite beer (so I’m letting you know my opinion is a bit biased here!)