Leelanau Petoskey Pale Ale

Leelanau Brewing Company
Brewed at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Belgian Ale
Lake Leelanau, Michigan USA

God damn delicious beer! Absolutely beautiful pour, cloudy brownish pink with a perfect, dense, huge head, just like in the picture. Very dry and bretty, farmhousey without any sour, a touch of dry lime in the aroma, light oak, and unfortunately a little soap. Lovely dry flavor, very bretty again with a nice touch of fruits as well. I am lovin’ this. Delicious orval clone.

Bottle: The aroma is floral with some tart cherry and faint caramel. It pours a hazy amber with some sediment and a large off-white head. The flavor starts with a quick dose of caramel and faint cherry. The finish turns to moderate floral bitterness, oak, and faint tartness. It’s medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel.

Bottle courtesy of Styles. Friuty and wood aromas along with some sour. Bronse body with off white head. Flavor is mainly wheat, acidic sour bitterness and some fruit in the mix. Sweet sour left lingering on palate. Good beer. Thanks Chris

A careful pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip still produces an almost four-finger thick, lightly tanned, frothy, long lasting, lace inducing, structurally crevassed head. The beer is a murky honey-amber color that shows an opaque, orange tinged, light red hue when held up to the light. The beer has a distinct Brettanomyces signature aroma to it that is noticeable as I pour the beer. There is a solid malty bread character, a nice biscuit-like note with just a solid, fresh malt character. A spicy mustiness along with some fruity notes of ripe pear, and a touch of slightly under-ripe melon add more complexity. The aroma is quite complex, at times I get notes of black pepper, lightly tart star fruit, musky sweat-dried leather, earthy grain, some bright berry notes at times that turn into citrusy hop notes that becomes more distinct after I notice it (orange zest and a touch of tangelo). I am really enjoying the aroma of this beer, it is quite complex, demanding of an exploration. After visiting the flavor for a bit, I am able to pull out oak-barrel aromas that add a spiciness to the aroma as well a woody-oak character; the aroma just seems to reveal more and more layers, what more can you ask for.

Perhaps a little cold, the beer is quite dry though and fairly light bodied. The finish has a lingering, Brettanomyces driven, butyric acid character that is a bit musky and a bit like a spicy, plastic note that adds a touch of astringency. This blends with an herbal hop bitterness that also lingers on in the finish with a clean bite. Up front the hop character adds an underlying, yet distinct, citrus oil flavor to this beer. This has quite a bit of spiciness to it, much of it is oak influenced, but the Brettanomyces and other fermentation notes also add a fair amount of spiciness to this brew. Underneath the funkiness there is a malt character that provides soda-cracker like notes as well as a dry biscuit character both of which linger for quite some time on the palate along with the other notes. By the time I took my first sip (spent quite a bit of time with the aroma I guess), this beer was only lightly fizzy, which accentuates a soft creaminess. This has a fairly light tartness to it, which accentuates a touch of fruitiness that remind me of a pear more than anything.

The flavor doesn’t quite live up to the layered complexity that defines the nose, but overall this is still quite a good beer. Definitely funky, and definitely interesting and I really like how easy drinking the texture makes this beer.

Pours a hazy sienna brown color with a massive, spongy, cream colored head. The rocky foam settles slowly to a densely patched blanket, with sticky, broken sheets of lace coating the glass well. Aromas include a strong bretty overtone, with notes of fermented peach, orange peel, coriander, light caramel, and a surprisingly strong floral hop presence. Heaps of funky oak show in the nose as well. Some of the fruitiness drops out in the flavor, turning more towards a traditional Belgian pale with a massive brett and dry oak influence. The flavor actually reminds me of an "imperialized" version of Bam Biere with a good deal more floral hop presence. Young Orval also comes to mind. Medium-plus in body and delicately carbonated, the mouthfeel is dry to the point of being almost parching. I’d be very interested to see what some aging would do here. Signature Jolly Pumpkin all the way, this is another winner from Ron Jeffries.

bottle, pours hazy orange with foamy white head. nose is okay, vanilla, funk, flavors vanilla, oak, funky, dry, pale malts. very nice mouthfeel, smooth and vibrant. refreshing funky brew.

0.5 l bottle, thanks Timo A! Hazy amber brown color. Sweetish and acidic aroma with strawberry and grapefruit. The flavor is initially sweetish but gets soon oaky, tannic and dry. Tastes firmly of strawberry, grapefruit and red grape. I like Jolly Pumkin house character but this one is too oaky.

Bottle at Sputyen Duyvil. Poured a hazy brown color with an fluffy off white head. Fruity oak malty aroma. Caramel light hoppy notes. Apricot floral citrusy malty flavor. Coriander notes. Full bodied. Mild tart funky taste. Well balanced. Finish is dry. Very drinkable.