The selection of these two flagship brews, from breweries located less than 40 miles apart in the western suburbs, should strongly underline the Philadelphia region's reputation as not only the nation's leading market for lager beers but arguably one of the best in the world.

The tasting panel consisted of writer Eric Asimov, who often writes about craft beers for the Times; Times food critic Florence Fabricant, local beer writer Lew Bryson and Phil Markowski, award-winning brewery at Long Island's Southampton Publick House. They tasted 25 beers, "including 11 from Germany, 8 from the Czech Republic and 4 from the United States, as well as 1 from Poland and 1 from Thailand," and selected the top ten.

Tasting notes for Victory Prima Pils, which was awarded three and a half stars out of a possible four, were "alive in the mouth, with citrus aromas and a fine bitterness." Stoudt's Pils earned three stars and its notes read "lively and refreshing with brisk, subtle flavors."

Another American beer, Dortmunder Gold from Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing Company finished third in the judging. The others in the top ten, in order: Würzburger Hofbräu Pilsner, Radeberger Pilsner, EKU Pils and Dinkel Acker Pils, all from Germany; Pilsner Urquell, Czech Republic; Pinkus Organic Ur, Pils, Germany, and Czechvar Lager, Czech Republic.

Asimov noted that "we were all struck by how vibrant and alive the American brews tasted in comparison to some of the European beers....Unfortunately for some of the imports, lack of freshness was a real problem."

He also commented that "it's a pity that we could not find many American craft beers made in the pilsner style. It may be that American beer fans (including most craft brewers) were weaned on the pallid mass-market beers and hence gravitated toward more full-flavored styles. Or it might be the difficulty of making good pilsner."

Many brewers in the region have said that they look forward to displaying Philadelphia's expertise with pilsners and other lager styles when the Craft Brewers Conference is held in the city April 13-16.

Asimov's complete article can be read here. A related sidebar story by Fabricant is here.