Wolverine State Brewing Co.
Microbrewery
in Ann Arbor,
Michigan,
United States 🇺🇸
Associated Venue: Wolverine State Brewing Co.
- Out of business
Established in 2006
Contact
Description
In Michigan, we have a knack for being creative in less-than-ideal situations. Take Wolverine State Brewing Co., for example. Matt Roy and Trevor Thrall, WSBC’s founders, took a bad snowstorm, a Jeep, and a northbound route on I-75 and turned it into Michigan’s only lager-focused microbrewery.
The snowstorm delayed their trip for several hours, and, to kill the time, they started talking about the huge amount of beer they had stuffed in their cooler for their guys’ weekend. They had microbrews from all over Michigan, imports from Europe, St. Louis, and Milwaukee…
But, as they talked, they realized something was missing: a regular Michigan beer — a kickass, easily-approachable beer that all Michiganders could rejoice over. They spent the remaining hours wishing for such a thing to exist before realizing that they could either keep complaining, or they could do it themselves. And that’s how the idea for Wolverine Premium Lager, our flagship brew, was born.
A few years and a few additions later, we’re operating as the first and only all-lager microbrewery in the state of Michigan. We’re constantly pushing the envelope with what a lager can do -- we experiment with combined cultures, high-gravity lagers, and best-quality ingredients for the most balanced, unique, and innovative beers possible. Our Brewmaster, Oliver, along with brewer Karl and cellarmen Rick and Brandon, spend every day fanatically creating, caring for, and bottling each and every lager. We hope you love drinking it as much as we love making it!
Sold to new ownership in 2025, with the taproom closed, but plans to continue production and distribution of the brand.
The snowstorm delayed their trip for several hours, and, to kill the time, they started talking about the huge amount of beer they had stuffed in their cooler for their guys’ weekend. They had microbrews from all over Michigan, imports from Europe, St. Louis, and Milwaukee…
But, as they talked, they realized something was missing: a regular Michigan beer — a kickass, easily-approachable beer that all Michiganders could rejoice over. They spent the remaining hours wishing for such a thing to exist before realizing that they could either keep complaining, or they could do it themselves. And that’s how the idea for Wolverine Premium Lager, our flagship brew, was born.
A few years and a few additions later, we’re operating as the first and only all-lager microbrewery in the state of Michigan. We’re constantly pushing the envelope with what a lager can do -- we experiment with combined cultures, high-gravity lagers, and best-quality ingredients for the most balanced, unique, and innovative beers possible. Our Brewmaster, Oliver, along with brewer Karl and cellarmen Rick and Brandon, spend every day fanatically creating, caring for, and bottling each and every lager. We hope you love drinking it as much as we love making it!
Sold to new ownership in 2025, with the taproom closed, but plans to continue production and distribution of the brand.
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear deep amber with a tan head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has mainly bread notes but is supported by a touch of grassy hops. Flavor starts with a bit of grassy hops but is mainly dark bread notes. Quite drinkable.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Apr 2013
at 12:29
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear gold with a tan head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma has notes of crisp lager yeast with backing notes of rye and grass. Flavor has a nice rye note that has a touch of grass and a bit of rye towards the finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Apr 2013
at 12:15
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear deep amber brown with a tan head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has dark grains and bread with a bit of heat from the pepper underlying. Flavor is mild up front with a dark bread note but has the heat of the peppers in the finish/aftertaste.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Apr 2013
at 12:08
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear golden amber with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a nice light pine and grass and light pine hop note with a touch of light hay. Flavor is similar with refreshing grass hops with a light grain backbone.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Apr 2013
at 11:55
6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
On tap at the brewery. Pours a clear bright amber witha tan head that lasts throughout the beer. Aroma has a decent amount of bread and biscuit notes with not much else. Flavor is light with bread and biscuit malts with a touch of bitterness.
Tried
from Draft
on 07 Apr 2013
at 11:41
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Sampled from the tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear gold with a white head that dissipates to the edges and laces. Aroma has a nice note of crisp hops and backing light grains. Flavor has a nice balance of crisp hop and sweet grains with a hint of bitter pine in the finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Dec 2012
at 11:48
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Sampled from the tap at the brewpub. Pours black with a dark brown head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has dark grains with a bit of roast and a hint of smoke. Flavor starts with dark grains that grow to include roasted malts and a light smokey note.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Dec 2012
at 11:30
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Sampled from the tap at the brewpub. Pours a clear ruby amber with a near white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has some biscuit and earthy malts with a bit of underlying smoke. Flavor has more peated smoke with a bit of underlying peated smoke.
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Dec 2012
at 10:47
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Sampled from the tap at the 15th annual MBGSF. Pours a cloudy peachy gold with a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma is pretty mild with sweet grains and a hint of flora and light fruit. Flavor has sweet wheat and grains with a hint of light fruits.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Aug 2012
at 12:59
8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8
Sampled from the tap at the 15th annual MBGSF. Pours a clear gold with a white head that dissipates slowly to the edges. Aroma has a nice grassy hoppiness with a slight pine with an underlying crisp lager yeast. Flavor has a nice light pine note with some sweet grains backing and a nice crisp lager yeast note.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Aug 2012
at 12:53