Ithaca Excelsior! Le Bleu

Brewed with New York Blueberries and Brettanomyces, LeBleu is a blend of barrels filled in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It’s finished in the bottle with Champagne yeast. Enjoy the dusty rose appearance, mouthwatering aroma of ripe berries, piquant flavor and quick finish.

3.9

256 reviews

Ithaca, United States

Community reviews

4.2 Pours a hazy purple blue color with a finger of pinkish grey foam. The nose is rustic blueberry flesh, dusty oak and basement funk. The palate follows with great yogurt like acidity, touch of sweet blueberry puree, some less sweet rustic blueberry flesh with tannic skin notes blending nicely with wet wood, dusty basement funk. Well integrated sour with a soft dry finish !

3.8 bottle. pleasant potent blueberry pie. sweeter bluerberries than expected, but soft inviting yogurt sourness provides pleasant balance. some light leathery cobweb funk. tasty.

3.7 Bottle shared at Pizza Plant with Dan the owner and others, a couple of years back and the review not loaded. The smell is great, you know its a sour and the yeast adds further delight. Medium mouthfeel with a sourness, its a sipper and comes across like a wine or good fruit wine. A very good sour beer. Complex in the mouth, with the yeast and residual sugar offsetting some of the sourness, not a palate shredder as I feared. However my palate still records it many hours later.Peachy colour with good head.

4.0 Bottle with big thanks to jtclockwork! Batch #E!041. Pours hazy orange amber, perhaps a touch of pink. Dusty rose, I like that. Last third of the bottle pours cloudy as the yeast and sediment start to mix in. Small white head that laces pretty well. Aroma is lightly tart, lemon, Brett, barnyard, fruity, earthy. Flavor is the same, light sweetness nicely balanced by tartness. Very fruity, but with an earthiness. Some wood apparent from the barreling. Light body, champagnelike mouthfeel. Nice beer!

3.7 bottle share at hill farmstead’s post-3rd anniversary. pours cloudy orange-pink with a purple hue, low off-white head, some retention. dusty berries and flowers upfront and a strong minty presence, grass, moderate funk, few minerals, much more lactic than acetic - overall light acidity, nice woodsy notes. average carbonation, light body, ends minty and lightly sourish along with grass notes. enjoyed it even though mint was a bit off-putting.

3.8 Pours a hazy light purple with minimal head and no lacing. Aroma of blueberries, herbal, lactic. Taste is blueberries, lactic. Oak, herbal, light acetic, vinous. Low body and medium carb. Good blueberry sour.

3.9 Bottle (750 ml). Shared by Scott and number45forever at Hill Farmstead 3rd anniversary bottle share. Hazy orange/pink with purple reflects, minimal off-white head and little lacing. Aroma is of blueberries and other berries, menthol, light acetic presence and brettanomyces. Taste is slightly to moderately sweet with blueberries and other berries, malt, brettanomyces, oak and light tartness. Medium body. Moderate carbonation. Dry. Tart and refreshing. Quite complex too. I would love to have it again.

4.4 Batch # E!041 which I believe is the most recent. Aroma is very fruity with lots of citrus, pineapple and other tropical fruit. There is also a moderate berry note and light cherry. The aroma has a medium low barnyard funk. Pours a fairly clear golden orange with some purplish highlights. Pours with a thin white head that quickly recedes but bubbles steadily rise to the top. Flavor is immediately tart but with a faint sweetness. There is a moderately strong berry character along with faint cherry. Light tropical frit and citrus compliment. Finishes very dry with a light barnyard funk at the end. Mouthfeel is medium light bodied with high carbonation. Low astringency and medium low alcohol warmth. The acidity is moderately strong but there is still a hint of sweetness. Overall a very nice blueberry sour, but the blueberry note doesn’t dominate. The acidity is clean and very lactic and the Brett adds a nice tropical fruit and citrus note. The blueberry is a bit faint so maybe better fresh.

3.4 750ml bottle, shared by Nathan at DLD 2013. Copyright date on the bottle reads 2010. Totally hazy brown / amber color. Minimal khaki head. Berry aroma. Good tart taste. Some darker fruit. Berry. Bigger body. Lighter carbonation. More dry. Light acidic taste.

3.9 Tasted in 2010 (backlog). Deep cloudy pink appearance with a large white head. Aroma is tart and blueberries. Taste is tart, blueberry, light band-aid and oak.

3.7 i’m talkin about disneyworld . . 750ml bottle, finally get to try this! .. . pours a purple tan . .. hay, blueberry, seeds, and sweet tarts .. . mild mouth funk feel .. . good bit fizzy .. . a milder wild ale .. . . clint eastwwod talked to an empty chair, we must never forget that!!

3.9 Corked 750 ml bottle served in a Half Acre tulip. Thanks to stXSS07 for the share. Batch E!041 A: Pours a hazy orange color with a lot of floaties chilling around the bottom. Light wispy head. Minimal splotches of lace. S: A ton of blueberry. Lactic sourness with some fruity and herbal like qualities with a hint of mint. A little sweet malt base as well. T: Same fresh blueberry with a nice mix of lactic sourness. Same herbal like qualities from the nose, but not as minty. A little vanilla sweetness with a touch of oak. M: Light bodied with a prickly, medium-high carbonation. A little fluffy in the mouthfeel. O: Great mix of fruit and sourness with just a hint of sweetness. Definitely a great blueberry beer. Serving type: bottle

2.7 Opening batch 1 (E!021) this weekend means I’ve now tried all 3 vintages (21, 32, 41). Massively over-carbonated, despite a minimal pop from the cork. Dry, zesty lemon aroma; yeast is more citric than funky. Fruit has mostly dropped off, and, similar to my experience with other batches, I’d never guess there were blueberries in this brew. Not bad, I suppose, but there are many superior fruit sours out there which are far easier to obtain.

3.9 She’s a gusha! Nice blueberry flavor though not over the top. Funk is decently mild, the sourness isn’t too high. Not bad.

4.3 750 ml bottle to oversized snifter (shared with the Mrs; thanks chouffe!). Looks good; an opaque deep orange with off-white lacing. Smells good; semi-sweet and funky. Tastes like it smells with blueberry notes and some spice as it warms/opens up. Nice on the palate too. REALLY GOOD! One of the best American wild ales I’ve tried.

4.1 750ML bottle, batch E!O32. Poured hazy medium orange with a short-lived whitish head. The aroma picked up sour oak, vinegar, and berries.. came across as very sour and engaging. The flavor found blazingly sour blueberry skins and vinegar, with accents of funky, fruity Brett, vinous notes, and oak.. very dry on the finish, again from the bugs and wood plus some prickly carbonation.. blueberry vinegar came back after the swallow. Medium-bodied with bright carbonation on the palate.. very sour and well-executed.. loved it!

3.7 Bottle 750ml. corked @ chriso s Pre-GBBF Shindig 2012. Gusher !! Hazy matt medium - red orange colour with a small, fizzy, virtually none lacing, fully diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy blueberry, tart blueberry, berries, moderate baking yeast, funky. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet and light to moderate acidic with a average to long duration, wood, berries, blueberry, funky. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is flat. [20120804]

3.3 4th August 2012 ChrisOs Marvellous Pre GBBF Mega Tasting. Cloudy amber beer, nice pink head! Light dry palate. Light blueberry tartness, in fact a little sherbetty because of the seltzer like minerals. Light dry finish. Approachable.

4.2 Bottle at Chriso’s Pre-GBBF Shindig, 2012, London. Many thanks to swoopjones! Pours cloudy pink with a fine, white head. Well and sour character with plenty of vibrant berries. Fairly dry. Extremely fresh.

4.7 Thx. to Rian / Thirstybird (still an awesome username). 75 cl. bottle sampled @ RBBSG 2012. Fancy bottle. Pours a bright fox red with no head. Smell is lots of sweet mashed blueberries with a lighter streak of lactic sour, light brett, lemon and sour green apples. Taste is bloody full of forest fruits, blueberries, soft mellow sourness, awesomely good, light sour malt leading into a light berries, lactic, brett, lemon, sour green apple ending, ending nicely tart. Rather full body for a sour but not full residual sugar or the bacteria not having cleaned it up, this is just fuller than usual, still sharp, clean, drying, yeah.

4.0 Bottle. Enormous hassle getting the artificial cork out of the bottle (-1 on the overall for that). Nearly cost me a rabbit, a butler’s friend, and a finger. But it’s worth it. Beautiful pour, champagne head atop a warm peach hue, gold with pink highlights. Deep acetic aroma intermingled with soft hints of blueberry. Lemon tartness, again relatively mild hints of blueberry in the main body with some blueberry skin on the finish. Not the blueberry intensity of blabaer, more in the vein of a very nice American sour as with Brute. In the end I only drank half of this the first day -- the acidity was all that -- but it stayed quite nice for the second day after recorking.

4.0 Bottle thanks to Adam. Really great tart blueberry flavor with light funk and vinegar. The fruit is present and greatly compliments the tartness.

3.9 Bottle courtesy of mixylplik3, thanks again Matt. Pours a slightly hazy deep dirty copper color with a huge bubbly white head that sounds and dissipates like a bubbly fountain soda. Smells of tart berries, funk, and lemons. Sour and funky fruit dominate the nose. The bubbles jump at my nostrils like a glass of ginger ale. Sour and tart flavor grabs your taste buds and never lets go. Lemony tartness mixed with some berries and hints of artificial flavor. Medium body with moderate level of carbonation and a tart bubbly mouthfeel. I’ve had this in the past and remember it being bracingly sour, this time it seems a little milder. Very flavorful nice sour ale.

4.4 I LOVE BLUEBERRIES!!!! AMG AMG, ok this is great, tart not so much funky great blueberry aroma, tons of blueberry flavors. Great!

3.6 Hazy reddish brown amber colour, no head. Aroma of blueberry, tart, fruit, apple acid, brett and acetic acid. Quite sour flavour, tart, red fruits, blueberries. Dry finish, apple, berries, rather sour with brett notes. (From 75cL bottle @ RBBSG II, Wilrijk. Courtesy of ThirstyBird. Thanks Rian!)

3.4 11/VIII/2012 75cl bottle @ RBBSG - (2012-910) Thanks to ThistyBird for sharing the bottle! Little cloudy copper red beer, no noticeable head. Aroma: bretta for sure, sourish, little fruity, some lemon, bit of chloride, some forest fruits. MF: lots of carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish, very lemony, sour start, little fruity, strawberry jam, little bitter, very spicy, peppery, hot peppers even. Did they put any type of peppers in this? Aftertaste: very dry, puckering sour, lemony endin.

3.9 Bottle at Chriso’s Pre-GBBF Shindig 2012. Poured with a fine & rapidly disappearing white head on a hazy, pink-hued amber body. Green apples, white grape, lemon, funk & wood on the aroma. Lemon, Granny Smith, yeasty funk, bitter fruit skin with touches of blueberry to taste. A great, intense sourness. Dry & mouth-puckering all the while remaining bright, fresh, crisp & clean on the palate. Light to medium body, well structured & medium carbonated mouthfeel with a lingering sourness & light grape skin bitterness in the finish.

4.4 at RBBSG thx to Thristybird for sharing !! Head: none Colour: gold Smell: quite sour, some berries and fruits, vinegary , nice ! taste: blueberrys, other fruits, some peach, citric, very nice dose of sourness and tartyness, this one was so awesome ! i really want to have a couple of bottles of this! !!

3.7 So either my rating from a couple years ago got nuked or I never put it in, but this is from around 2009-2010. Anyhoo...bottle thanks to hbmason...thanks Tim! - Pours reddish amber with a big bubbly thinnish head. Smell isn’t too pungent--light mineral and mild fruit. Not much tartness. Taste is tart, but not terribly sweet. Blueberries come in the finish, with a bit of funky brett. Light and effervescent. A bit of a letdown, but still solid.

4.0 Appearance: Pours a very cloudy amber gold. No head. Aroma: Funk, brett, berries and citrus. Taste: Sour berry, vinegar, light toast, no hops. Lemon finish. Mouthfeel: Full bodied. Rough. Overall: I enjoyed this, and would like to try more of various vintages. Between this and Brute, it’s safe to say Ithaca is doing a good job with their sour program.