Leelanau Petoskey Pale Ale

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

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.