NZ Pils
Wolverine State Brewing Company

12oz can. No dating information found.
Partly cloudy, straw colored body. One thick finger of white head with the pour, and this reduces to a bubbly cap and high reaching ring. Leaves behind intricate lacing webs.
Aroma of toasted bread malts and hops that have smells of fruit and white grape.
Taste has flavors of black tea, white wine, and citrus fruit pith. Has a spice note that works with the tea. Overall earthy. Yes, there are sweet toasted malts that provide a strong base to support the hop flavors. Aftertaste supports all flavors.
More than medium mouthfeel. Full bodied pass through. Low bitterness. Very good carbonation.
White wine influenced pilsner with prominent hops.

On-draught at the brewery:

Low C- / BELOW AVERAGE

Pours a cloudy daker leaning pale color; white head, no retention worth mentioning but some minor splotchy lacing.

The nose is very straightforward to me and is pretty much a very deep earthiness, imagine green things earthiness...there is some floral like fruitiness as it warms.

The taste is very hop forward in the same way as the nose, again to me very earthy green flavors...there is some pale malt presence, a more pleasant aromatic floral earthy green flavor in the aftertaste.

Light in body but the heavy hops make it feel much heftier; in drinks very clean and finish with a parching dry feeling; grass bitterness on the finish.

As a very hoppy pils I enjoyed this beer, its earthy and grassiness is quite strong and these are flavors I enjoy.

Thanks to Foundersasap and BigIronH for this one. 12oz can (no visible date) poured into 16oz tulip. poured a lightly hazy honey-gold color with an inch of white head that dissipated steadily and left light lacing. The aroma had a light, earthy grain base, with citrusy and floral hops on top.

Fairly similar on the tongue, with a refreshing bitterness on the finish. The body light-medium, smooth, and had a dry finish. Drinkability was good, an enjoyable brew. Overall, a really nice brew. Worth trying if you see it.

It started out very well, slight orange tint to the amber liquid and a 2" tall off white head capping it. Looks so inviting.
The aroma, well, my nose is damaged (wear a respirator when working with chemicals kids!) so other than "yup", this is beer" I didn't get much. Which is normal.
The taste, to my as of yet not fully trained taster, seems to be a cross between a pilsner - with its cracker flavored malts and pepper spices, etc... and an IPA with it's hops bite. Not that it tastes bad, but if I want bitter I'll drink an IPA. Or Yeti. So it still has a nice taste, and maybe an American take on a NZ Pilsner is meant to taste like this. I don't know. It's tasty and refreshing so if handed one in the future I'd happily drink it.
The feel was really quite nice; enough effervescence to go with the bitterness of the hops and provide a cutting through the dust sort of edge. Nice.
OA, @FBarber has inspired me to learn more about Pilsners, and this is a step along the way. I hope I actually get to the point when I can determine a Czech style from a Bavarian style from an American style, NZ or otherwise.

Pours a crystal clear burnished golden color. Rather effervescent. Three finger head forms on the beer when it is poured. The head dissipates until just a thin layer of velvety foam remains on top of the beer. Sticky white lacing coats the glass as the beer is consumed. Aroma has notes of lightly toasted white bread with notes of white grape, wood, and gooseberry. Its 100% nelson sauvin hops and that is easily verified by the nose.

The taste follows from the nose with the nelson sauvin hops dominating the flavor profile. Notes of white grape, gooseberry and a woody note come through. There is an underlying light pilsner malt backbone. Feel is light, crisp, with a moderate prickliness. Pretty lively carbonation.

Overall it is a nice american pilsner - the use of the Nelson hops in this works really well and as I do like nelson hops, I enjoyed this.

 

not a trained beer taster. This has some of the light bitter flavor I associate with a pilsner like Pilsner Urquel, but has pretty low carbonation and a sort of resiny consistency that I associate with an IPA. It's not very malty. Beeradvocate's listing for this beer says the IBU is 28 but the label on my bottle from the brewery says the IBU is 70 and I think 70 is closer. To me it's almost like a hybrid Pilsner / IPA, with a light character but strong hops consistency, so the strength of this beer is it is innovative, not traditional. I was going to score a 6 of District 16 but got a taste and went for this. WSBC runs a great operation and I'm grateful they set up shop in my neighborhood. But like I say, I'm not a trained beer taster.

 

 

Bought a 6 pack at Sawyer Market, Michigan on an out-of-state beer run.
NZ is an effective hops variation on the pils.

I like NZ's orange tinge for its Looks (although more foam would be nice.) Smells like a classic pils with some sweet malt balanced by some grassy hops and some winey, cidery aromas. Tastes are largely the same; a well-integrated lager. Finishes nicely dry like the winey aromas promised. Could have more bubbles, but I suspect that is by-product of the compromise made on the low foam.

I went on Wolverine's website and was very impressed by their dedication to the lager tradition... some 66 lagers they describe. Seeking to perfect a focus could be a formula so more micros produce better beer. Quite simply, a focussed business strategy makes better beer. For sticking to their knitting, I give Wolverine some pretty good OA Hugs.

 

 

 

Nice crushable pils here. Looks nice in the glass, a noticeable bright orange sheen, initially a bit hazy, recedes, minimal head. Smells like a pilsner, nice pale malt, some earthy grassy field aromas, tastes very solid, a bit of white wine grape, apple cider, hops not too prominent but you can taste the Nelson. Enjoyable example.

 

 

 

12 ounce can into lager glass, canned in 5/2019. Pours crystal clear medium golden amber color with a small fairly dense and fluffy white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lace cap that lingers. Nice spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big lemon, lime, orange, red grapefruit, peach, pear, apricot, passion fruit, mango, honeydew melon, red apple, gooseberry, white grape/wine, citrus peel/zest, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops and pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big lemon, lime, orange, red grapefruit, peach, pear, apricot, passion fruit, mango, honeydew melon, red apple, gooseberry, white grape/wine, citrus peel/zest, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, lime, orange, red grapefruit, peach, pear, apricot, passion fruit, mango, honeydew melon, red apple, gooseberry, white grape/wine, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops and pale malt flavors; with a fantastic malt/bitterness balance; and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Perfectly clean on lager flavors, with zero fruity/yeasty notes present. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth and moderately bready/grainy/sticky balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Light lingering resins/rinds through the glass. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5.1%. Overall this is an outstanding hoppy pilsner! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/fairly earthy hops and pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the modestly bitter/drying finish. Not aggressive. Very flavorful and not watery for the ABV. Fantastic Nelson Sauvin showcase as expected. Very vibrant and fairly juicy/dank/earthy hop complexity; with a perfectly balanced clean pils malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and outstanding style example.