Vestland
Virtue Farm

 

 

 

Tasted in a pint glass from draft at The Vine on July 13 , 2021.

 

 

What to make of this ?
A master craft-brewer retires from Goose Island, studies cider for two years and opens what many think has become a world-class cidery in Michigan. Then he gets lonesome for brewing and produces this... as if the master-brewer is another person and forgot that hops are beer's chief flavor. This is an odd experience. Let's say the baton has been passed to a new generation of brewers. I defer to the four master reviewers who went before me on this one. My high Overall rating is more recognition for Goose's contribution to crafting. And a fortunate pairing.

After opening Vestland, I decided its highest and best use was to pair it with Indian food (out of the packet, of course); and this worked relatively well. The innocuous beer did not interfere with the strong flavors of the food. And the lager was soft enough to calm my mouth from the spices in the food. Call it luck. But, I made the most of what is a below average lager.

I did go on Virtue's website and I sense the love of apples. So, I will start drinking cider a bit more (I now drink it almost not at all.) But I saw no mention of Vestland. I suppose that is a good thing. Brewing beer now seems like a past chapter in this cider-master's life.

"Best by 11/3/21"; drank 7/8/21 @ the Yarchives.

See-through orange/yellow appearance.

A rough pour yielded a small, noisy white head which quickly dissipated; no lace.

Clove, strawberry & dry lager yeast notes in the nose.

Medium thin mouthfeel.

Dry lager notes & faint clove up front; mild strawberry notes on the finish. A bit of cardboard as this settles on the tongue.

A drinkable lager with a bit of depth, but it smells better than it tastes.

Served from the bottle in a Lagunitas mason jar.

Welp, looks like Virtue sold out and made a beer. Cowards. Anyway, this stuff pours a clear bronze-brass topped by a finger of lightly off-white foam. The nose comprises rye bread (that must be the caraway), wet grass, light flowers, and a touch of pine needles. The taste brings in more of the same, the bread a bit closer to sourdough and the pine muted a bit. I wanna say the juniper berries start piping up here, but that might be psychosomatic. The body is a hefty light, with a light moderate carbonation and a liquid feel. Overall, I applaud Virtue for making something a bit out there and unique, but this one just doesn't work for me, dawg. The flavors don't sit well on my tongue, and there's no respite from them at any point. Oh well, maybe next time?

a light lager smooth but not much charecter

Clear yet murky on the edges golden body with a white cap. Yawn is this beer boring: smells like nothing for the longest time before light rye and grains emerge as it warms. Taste adds a touch of juniper pine a maybe, just maybe, a kiss of carraway and metal, but otherwise it is yellow yeasty water. Feel is watery to the max, grains are not robust or shaping at all, yeast is the only personality and it is so mild. It is not offensive just super boring

Pours a crystal clear, bright gold color. Thin, weak fuzzy white head forms momentarily on the head before dissolving. No residual head remains. Aroma has some notes of toasted bready malts, some light rye bread and a hint of a juniper berries. The yeast provides some phenolic notes that come across reminiscent of those old plastic band-aids.

Taste has notes of lightly tasted bread, the rye and caraway come through to give it some of a rye bread like character. The juniper berries provide a subtle fruitiness. The yeast is prominent in the flavor profile and provides some strong phenolic notes. However in the flavor profile they have more of a spicy pepper and clove character and thankful do not go down the bandaid route. There is however a slight metallic flavor in the profile that I can't shake, even as the beer warms up. Feel is light, crisp with a bright carbonation.

Overall this was really disappointing. Between the bandaid on the nose and the metallic flavor in the profile, there were multiple aspects of the beer that I actively disliked.