LERVIG FULLY EVOLVED
'I've been around the world, a couple of times or maybe more…. While I love singing along with the chorus from Home Among the Gum Trees, the line that I really like is 'Just you and me, a cup of tea.’ It reminds me of how important it is to sit down at talk. By all means have a conversation over a cup of tea, but if craft is more your thing, you'll be well served by this offering
Origin – Stavanger, Norway
ABV- 4.5%
Size- 500mL can
Style- Pilsner
Locals buying back their pub is becoming a revolution and a way to save bush towns from extinction. From Nandaly in north-western Victoria to Nyabing in Western Australia’s south-east, locals are banding together and pitching in some of their own hard-earned dollars to ensure that they don't lose their only drinking hole, and along with it, their only meeting place. It's a concept that the townspeople of Stavanger, on Norway's south-western coastline took to a whole new level. Angry that the towns Tou Brewery was attempting to sell them substandard beer, in 2003 the residents revolted, bought the brewery and established Lervig, an independently owned and operated craft brewery.
Not surprisingly, in the first few years the brewery mostly produced top-notch pilsners as a substitute for the once-popular Tou pilsner. Then in 2010 they hired American Mike Murphy as the head brewer and made a turn towards craft beers. Since that day they haven't looked back, creating high standard, tasty beers time and again. Many know Murphy and the brewing team at Lervig as an outfit that is continuously pushing the boundaries – the collaboration with Evil Twin where they brewed an imperial stout with frozen pizza and actual money in it might have something to do with that reputation!
Yet they are also well versed in combining experience and creativity to bring accessible, easy-drinking beers to both everyday folks and craft beer lovers alike. It's no doubt one of the many reasons for the demand throughout Norway and beyond – in 2019 almost one in every five of Lervig’s beers was sold abroad. One of those creative yet easy-drinking crafts is this Fully Evolved Pilsner. As a throwback to the style that first set the wheels in motion, Murphy has returned his attention to lager beer, albeit with a slight twist. Can conditioned, the Fully Evolved pours slightly hazy with an amber hue. The aroma reveals a gentle pine and biscuity malt, while the flavour, driven by the modern European hop varieties of Denali and Aurora, is bright, lively and grassy. Finishing equal parts crisp and bitter, it's an exciting, yet thirst-quenching lager.
In 2018 a US investment fund spent $20 million purchasing half of Lervig – I can only assume the townspeople toasted their newfound fortune with this symbol of where it all started.