Leelanau Good Harbor Golden
The traditional bière de garde was a hearty solid beer that was fit for storing to use as compensation to farmhands instead of gold.
After a long day in the Leelanau sun we would rather get paid in this beer than gold.
Good Harbor Golden celebrates its magnificent appeal as a stoic, solid, quiet-type ale.
Because the beer spends so long in the oak it won’t be ready for the public until sometime in May.
After a long day in the Leelanau sun we would rather get paid in this beer than gold.
Good Harbor Golden celebrates its magnificent appeal as a stoic, solid, quiet-type ale.
Because the beer spends so long in the oak it won’t be ready for the public until sometime in May.
3.8
247 reviews
Lake Leelanau, United States
Community reviews
Pours a pale gold with a white head. Aroma is citrusy and spicy. Tastes tart and spicy with some bready malt, wood, and sweetness. Medium body.
Blonde doré. Entré surette. Fruité. Baies. Belle amertume. Légèrement boisé. Mûre (Piquante). Melon. Citronné. Levure sauvage. Excellente.
это пиво очень вкусно. я бы, конечно, рекомендую его всем. пожалуйста, обратитесь его. очень хорошо!
Bottle from Lawson. Batch 1, 2013. Pours a bright, tawny golden orange, some bit of head. Aroma citrusy, Brett, juicy, body lively and tart, finish dry and lovely. This is top notch.
Bottle - Tart, citrus, white grape and a nice sweetness. Clear gold with a thin white head. Effervescent and well carbonated. Lots of tartness and white grape. Easy drinking and quite nice.
750ml bottle, shared with the staff at Dutch’s. Mostly clear golden orange color, with lots of very-fine particles suspended in the body. Thin ring of off-white head, leaving good ropes and dots of lace. Satisfyingly oaky flavor, lemon-citrus and acidity, some mild belgian-type yeast, light spiciness, and good bigger farmhouse barnyard funky flavors. Medium body. Smooth, kind of crisp, lighter carbonation. Lightly slick in the mouthfeel. Satisfyingly moderate sour taste, lighter to moderate sweet. Wonderful big oaky and lightly citric flavor. Great, sour golden ale. Not really like any biere de garde I’ve ever had -- lacks that big, soft, highly carbonated spicy mouthfeel that is common with the style, but I don’t miss that aspect at all. Do get the a lot of oaky funkiness and mild spiciness that is reminiscent of traditional examples, though. Just like Jolly Pumpkin is known to do, this example of biere de garde takes a lot of liberties... with pleasing results.
Bottle @ home, thanks to readbaron. This beer rocks! Hazy golden orange appearance with a thin white head. The carbonation is a bit dull but this is an otherwise great beer. There’s a massive amount of bubblegum, pineapple / tropical fruit brett, and candy in the nose. Some moderate acidity - both lactic and acetic. Some cheese, lots of tropical fruit, mango, passion fruit, and pineapple. There’s vanilla and oak in there as well. Moderately tart. Tons of candy. Low bitterness and sweetness. If the carbonation was higher, this would be a 4.5-4.6. Supremely chuggable. JesusOfCO- this is what you should be aiming for. Fuck yeah.
Bottle, batch 1 2013, nearly two years old. Pours a clear yellow-gold with small white head that quickly subsides. Aroma is pleasantly gueuze-like, though much less tropical than I remember it being the first time I had this beer (and didn’t rate it). White wine, lemons, musty cork, and lots of stone fruit, like unripe peach. Taste is moderately sour and acetic with lemon juice, oak tannins, unripe peach, light honey, and green mango. I’m reminded slightly of Temptation. Aroma is really the star here but it’s an excellent beer overall, even if it lacks the magical tropical fruit of bottles past.
@ Party Source / Bellevue KY --- Cloudy light amber with a nice bubbly white head that drops quickly to a cover, streaks and shreds of lace. Taste is tart sour lemon and wheat and hay that is excellent as a quencher and appetite awakener. When does bier de garde become sour ale? This one must be close to the edge. Still, it is well done.
Batch 1 2013. Purchased in westlake, OH. Off comes the cap and out comes the beer! Pours a beautiful golden with an inch of white head and a whisp of lacing. Both disappear rapidly. Funky farmhouse aroma. Mouthfeel is light with a good dose of carb. Taste is tart! I wasn't expecting a sour beer. Flavors include lemon farmhouse must sawdust etc. great flavors and a fantastic beer. I am very impressed.
Devil’ Den, Philadelphia 750ml bottle: Pours golden with a white head. Aroma is bretty funk, tart fruit, and sour ale aroma. Taste is way more similar to a sour ale than to a biere de garde. In fact, I don’t think I have ever had a biere de garde this sour. But, it is a nice, slightly lemony sourness. Very mild amount of sweetness. Nice tart finish. Quite good.
bottle. Golden with one finger head. Holy smokes this is sour. I can’t imagine that drinking straight lemon juice would be any more tart. I love sours, but this might be over my limit.
Refrigerated 75 cl brown bottle poured into a tulip. Aroma is slightly tart, light body, some lacing, and low carbonation. Taste is tart and some oak.
750 ml bottle. Pours a a lighter yellow with a thin white head. Not much retention. Aroma is fairly juicy and sour with a tartness similar to the part of a plum just beneath the skin. Tastes pretty tart and dries out in the finish.
3/29/13. 750mL shared by GT2 at Meridian Pint during CBC. Golden pour with a small off-white head. Lots of stone fruits and tropical fruits with some lactic and acidic tartness. Juicy, fruity, and lightly tart all around. Really good stuff and I wish they would have let us buy the other Leelanau bottles to try as well.
Bottle. Very good sour. Nice color. Complex flavor...very tart but still pleasant. Very clean finish.
Bomber. Hazy gold. Tart, funk and yeast. Super tart and clean. Goes down easy.
Bottle from Capone’s. Pours turbid bright, deep gold with off-white head and a lot of carbonation. Nose is funky yeasty malt, hopcitrus, notes of florals. Tastes complex, semi-dry with hopcitrus, a pronounced tartness, and funky yeast esters. Finishes complex.
Bottle. Thanks to Jay for picking this up for me. Pours clear gold with white head. Nose and taste of Brett, lemon funk, canned peaches, citrus and orange zest, tart pear, light bread and oak. Medium body.
Bottle shared by a friend. Cloudy yellow pour with a medium white head. Aroma of malt, orange, lemon and funk. Malty and wheaty flavor with some oak character before a citrusy and sour finish.
Sample at the Aficionado’s "Hidden Gems" beer tasting on 05/24/2013: Pours a hazy golden color with a medium thick off-white head that diminishes slowly. Small patches of lacing on the glass. Aroma of citrus, oak and malt. Medium-bodied with flavors of bretty oak, apricot and biscuit malt. The finish is fruity with an oaky and herbal aftertaste. Pretty good all around.
Bottle. Hazy gold pour with a small ring of white foam. Grainy lemony aroma, pretty typical american sour farmhouse ale, tart flavor, citric acidity light bodied and refreshing. Palate is dry, with lively carbonation.
Bottle 750ml.
Pours blond/golden with low white head. Some lacing. Aroma is of fruits, sourness. Taste is pretty much the same. Palate: Ligth body. Overall: Very fruity, somewhat ligth body. A good beer.
Bottle (750 ml). Shared by Julien, Pier-Luc & Benoit, thanks! Pours cloudy straw color with a small white head and some lacing. Aroma is fruity (peach, lemon, apricot, pear) with wood/oak, tart and funky notes. Taste is slightly sweet and moderately sour with, again, lots of fruits (peach, lemon), wood, funky notes and an underlying malt presence. Light to medium body. Moderate carbonation. Very good refreshing Sour (Bière de Garde?), but there’s something missing to make it a great beer.
Bottle from Pier-luc and Julien, Thanks! Pours a cloudy blond, small white head, little lacing. Aroma is fruity, peaches,lemony, oak. Taste is fruity, peaches, lemon, a bit herbal, funk, tart, oak. Low body and medium carbonation. Pretty good stuff.
750mL shared at Meridian Pint during CBC celebrating my 5500th rating. Pours a glowing, low haze peach color with minimal acid cut foam. Nose is brilliant peach/nectarine, juicy, fresh, like smelling fresh fuzzy peach juice after a bite. Taste is bright starfruit, peach/nectarine, and I’m told crabapple. Palate is perfectly lactic sour. Bright, fresh, brilliant nectar fruit flavor all around. Incredible.
From the bottle at Meridian Pint. Pours a slightly-hazy light peach color. Nose is light funk, wheat, and heavy stone fruit. Reminiscent of fruity batches of Fantôme Saison. Fruity and tart with a bit of body. Really exceptional and super smooth for 7.5%. An amazing beer that I was absolutely stunned by.
750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 4/29/2011. Fast gusher upon opening as expected, but didn’t lose any. Pours very cloudy golden straw color with a 2 finger dense and fluffy bright white head with great retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings on the glass, with plenty of carbonation streaming off the sediment. Aromas of huge tart lemon, peach, sour apple, pear, apricot, pineapple, pepper, clove, oak, hay, straw, funk, and earthy spiciness. Incredible aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity, spicy, and funk notes. Taste of big peach, tart lemon, sour apple, pineapple, pear, apricot, clove, pepper, hay, straw, oak, funk, light leather, and earthy spiciness. Moderate tart acidity on the finish; with lingering notes of tart lemon, peach, pear, sour apple, pineapple, apricot, clove, pepper, hay, straw, oak, light leather, and earthy spiciness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity and balance of tart fruity, spicy, and funk flavors; with nearly zero cloying flavors present after the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a crisp, acidic, and lightly prickly mouthfeel that is very nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is an absolutely incredible barrel aged wild golden ale. Huge complexity and balance of tart fruity, spicy, and funk notes; and very smooth to sip on. A highly fantastic offering. As the carbonation died out because of the gusher, it became slightly harder to drink; but with full carbonation this was absolutely insane.
great beer. tons of sea-foam cream head. rocky head and sticky lacing. nose is full of tart green apple, oak, and slight earthy essence. taste follows nose with a fair amount of directness. good carbonation, medium mouthfeel with slight oily residue and dry, oaky finish.
Hazy golden with a white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, fruity, citrus, yeasty and brett. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate acidic. Dry and moderate finish. 300912