Leelanau Good Harbor Golden

Leelanau Brewing Company
Brewed at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Bière de Garde
Lake Leelanau, Michigan USA

Name: Good Harbor Goldent
Date: April 25, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, DLD
Appearance: cloudy yellow, fine white head, streaks of lace
Aroma: sweet and spicy aroma, light malt sweetness, lots of spicy hops
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, lots of oak and spicy hops, light bitterness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

random bottle bocky pulled out to give us a break from the imperial stouts...

pours hazy but bright yellow like a child’s finger painting of sunny (wtf? i actually wrote that in my notes?)... with a soft white head which leaves behind a lot of spotty drippy lacing. smells oddly like canned peaches... sweet pale fruit, cinnamon/spiciness, wood, dirt and minerals with a bit of sour grain in the back. a light sourness is present on the palate akin to watered down lemon juice... dusty wheaty grain, stony minerals, warm wood and some spice/pepper before that funky bretty yeast catches up on the finish. the medium body is a bit chalky in the mouth. a pleasant acidity and sudsy carbonation clean the palate off quite well. neat-o... 8/4/7/4/16/3.9

From out of the depths of the bockyhorsey stash as a respite from all of the imperial stouts we were sampling. Pours a golden light pils color. Aroma is of bleu cheese, mild vomit, and predominant vinegar. Taste is marred by too much carbonation. There is some kind of sourness and hops behind all that. Palate cleansing and tasty after spending way too long working the bubbles out.

Bottle. Pours a murky golden color with a minimal white head. Lots of carbonation. Aroma is of mild oak, cherries, hops, yeast, and grain. Taste starts off with lots of oak and tart cherries, followed by yeast, hops, grain, and acidic citrus. Mouthfeel is light and crisp. Very refreshing with a nice sour bite. Again for these Leelanua beers, it’s good but not $12 good.

Hazy gold with good, creamy white head / JP funky, clothes closet and sour fruit nose / Light to medium body, very tart, with good finish / Sour flavors of lemon, barnyard straw, grass, pineapple, passionfruit, funky brett, and oak / Not on a par with JP’s own brews, but real good.

Clear yellow gold pour with a big, effervescent, white head that fades quickly to a thin layer. Smells of cereal, pear, Belgian yeast, and the classic JP sour funk. The flavor is not far off the aroma but with a much more dominant, lemony, acidic, sour kick. This is a real sour beer lovers beer. It’s not very far off from a good geuze in that it really has that great balance of wheat malt and sour funk. This would make a great replacement for champagne and a very good pairing with fish, Mediterranean, and grilled chicken.

Sampled at the Bockyhorsey tasting, courtesy of Bockeyhorsey. Slightly hazy golden color pour with a foamy head. Aroma of grain, malt and funky yeast. Lots of wheat, yeast and sour citrus in the flavor. Some spice comes through on the finish. A very nice, refreshing brew.

Sampled from Bottle at Bockys. Fermented yeasty along with wheat grain. Gold body with white foamy head. Flavor had an acidic bitter wheat flavor to it. Beer was a truley a good refreshment to the palate after the 6 samples of Impy stouts before this brew. Thanks to Styles for sending this one to me.