diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 9b7ce7aeb4..43e739cad9 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -486,7 +486,7 @@ func NewConfig() *Config {
 
 	c.ClientID = defaultClientID
 	c.ChannelBufferSize = 256
-	c.Version = MinVersion
+	c.Version = DefaultVersion
 	c.MetricRegistry = metrics.NewRegistry()
 
 	return c
diff --git a/utils.go b/utils.go
index 93bdeefef6..4dcd797af7 100644
--- a/utils.go
+++ b/utils.go
@@ -192,12 +192,13 @@ var (
 	}
 	MinVersion = V0_8_2_0
 	MaxVersion = V2_6_0_0
+	DefaultVersion = V0_11_0_2
 )
 
 //ParseKafkaVersion parses and returns kafka version or error from a string
 func ParseKafkaVersion(s string) (KafkaVersion, error) {
 	if len(s) < 5 {
-		return MinVersion, fmt.Errorf("invalid version `%s`", s)
+		return DefaultVersion, fmt.Errorf("invalid version `%s`", s)
 	}
 	var major, minor, veryMinor, patch uint
 	var err error
@@ -207,7 +208,7 @@ func ParseKafkaVersion(s string) (KafkaVersion, error) {
 		err = scanKafkaVersion(s, `^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$`, "%d.%d.%d", [3]*uint{&major, &minor, &veryMinor})
 	}
 	if err != nil {
-		return MinVersion, err
+		return DefaultVersion, err
 	}
 	return newKafkaVersion(major, minor, veryMinor, patch), nil
 }