Vers L'avant
Wolverine State Brewing Company

 

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Wolverine State Brewing's Vers L'avant for $3.09 at The Lager Mill. This one peaked my interest and I'm interested to see what they can do with this kind of beer, so lets see how it goes. 2017 Vintage. Poured from a brown 12oz golden foiled bottle into a teku.

A- The label looks nice, it's got a nice design to it that goes well with the beer and it's a little eye catching. It poured a cloudy darker orange color that took on more of amber orange color when held to the light and it had almost three fingers worth of fluffy and creamy off white head that died down to a thick ring that stayed till the end and it left some nice rings of patchy lacing behind. This is a good looking beer, I have no complaints.

S- The aroma starts off with a lower amount of high sweetness with a pear juice aroma being the first to show up and it has a fermented like aroma to it. Up next comes a little bit of a soapy aroma that leads into a little bit of a funky aroma. Towards the end comes the malts which impart some grainy, pale malt, bready and sweet malt like aromas. This beer has a pretty nice aroma, but I wish the pear aspect was cleaner.

T- The taste seems to be similar to the aroma and it starts off with higher amount of medium sweetness with the pear juice still being the first to show up and it impart a sharp fermented pear juice flavor that goes right into a herbal and lightly grassy flavor followed by a little funkiness. Up next comes the malts which impart all the aspects that they did in the aroma and they are just a little lighter this time. On the finish there's a lighter amount of medium medicinal like bitterness with a fermented pear juice like aftertaste. This is nice tasting beer, but I still wish the pear aspect was cleaner.

M- A little smooth, slightly cloying, a little sticky, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a higher amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice, but I wish it was a little smoother.

Overall I thought this was a nice beer and a solid example of the style, it didn't blow me away or anything, but it was pretty much just as advertised, i just didn't think it would be as funky and fermented as it was. This beer had ok drinkability, one is enough for me, anymore than that and it would start to wear on me. What I like the most about this beer is the appearance, it's a good looking beer. What I like the least about this beer is that the pear aspects weren't cleaner and it could use a little less bitterness. I don't think I would buy this beer again and I can't say it's a must try, but if your don't mind some fermented pear flavors than it's worth checking out. All in all I liked this beer, but I didn't love it, I liked the direction it was going in and with some cleaning up I could see this being a good beer. It's not a favorite Wolverine State beer and it's a solid example of the style. Solid job guys, but this one has the potential to be better.

12 ounce bottle into lager glass, bottled on 4/7/2017. Pours fairly crystal clear medium golden yellow color with a 1 finger dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of pear, white wine, oak, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of vanilla, pepper, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of pale malt, pears, wine barrel, and light earthy hop notes; with solid strength. Taste of pear, white wine, oak, cracker, and white bread; with lighter notes of vanilla, pepper, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Light herbal/grassy bitterness and wine/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of pear, white wine, oak, cracker, white bread, vanilla, pepper, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice robustness and balance of pale malt, pears, wine barrel, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero astringent flavors after the finish. Perfectly clean on lager flavors, with zero yeast notes present. Light dryness from bitterness and tannic spiciness, increasing through the glass. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, and lightly sticky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is great. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.5%. Overall this is a delicious pale lager style. All around nice robustness and balance of pale malt, pears, wine barrel, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth, clean, and easy to drink. Pretty simple, but on point for execution. Very balanced between clean pils malt, pears, and wine barrels; with just enough earthy hops to round it out. A very enjoyable offering.