Lagers: Funny how tastes change over time

I have seen folks describe this beer as being a Helles but I pick up a noticeable amount of hop aroma - not a strong hop aroma but notable none the less. Because of this 'feature' I personally would not classify this beer as being a Helles.

Victory Brewing does not categorize this beer using a beer style. On the front of the can they advertise:

"Since back in the day

Victory Classic Easy Drinkin' Lager"

A beer style of its own?

I drank one last evening while sitting on my back deck and it put a smile on my face.

Cheers!

 

Well I'll try the new when available but may get one more twelve pack before the sale ends. Funny have not had in years thought now I should start putting into my beer rotation I guess not.

 

For me, I discovered lagers right in the middle of my "bigger/better/faster/more" phase. Back in the days of IBU wars and everything starting to be labeled as "imperial."
At least for me, that didn't matter. My reference point for lagers came down to macro lagers. Light ones more often than not, too. My reference points for old world classics were stale/skunked bottles of Beck's, Urquell, and Lowenbrau from the Winn Dixie.
For me, I just didn't know what a fresh full-flavored lager could be. A trip to Munich changed all of that. Even for a guy who thought imperial stouts were the end-all-be-all at the time.
We're actually pretty fortunate to have decent lagers on the shelves now. They might not all be "Munich good" but we're way ahead of where things were 15 years ago. Even some of the shaky craft examples are still better tasting than skunked imports or Bud Light. Yet we're seeing more importers striving to bring us old world examples in good shape. We have places like New Glarus, Bierstadt, Bierkeller Columbia, Dovetail, Enegren, etc. brewing lagers on par with the old world, too. It's a good time to be a fan.

 

Damn straight! Sometimes you just need a beer, and sometimes Budweiser etc. just hits the spot.

 

This is more or less exactly how my beer journey went as well (perhaps our journeys overlap in terms of when we got into craft too).

I also agree with your assessment of the current landscape.