Illuminati
Leelanau Brewing Company

Leelanau Brewing Co. "Illuminati"
12.7 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, seemingly without production codes or freshness dating
$7 @ Kunda beverage, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: A careful pour from a longstanding bottle has left an almost completely opaque black body that reveals only tiny glimmers of clear ruby at the base of the glass. The head is a finger's width of dark tan foam. The aroma suggests acidity, and it's lightly fruity, vinous, mildly chocolatey, and lightly woody. The taste is tart, oaky, fruity (tart apple, tart cherry), and secondarily chocolatey and very subtly roasty. It's not that bitter but it finishes bone dry with acidity and oak. So let me de-construct this to find out what I might be missing. It's "stout aged in Bourbon barrels with naturally occuring wild yeasts, open fermented & bottle conditioned.". OK, there's a tiny bit of Bourbon there but time has obviously diminished it. As my palate gets used to the acidity and it warms a bit I pick it up more on the back end. I'm finding a little bit or medium to medium-dark caramel as well, but understand that this is not sweet, nor even sweetish. I get a little bit of a mettalic note and a hint of leather but other than that I'm not really finding Brettanomyces, which is fine as it doesn't actually list Brett. I'm sure there's some there but whatever else was going on seems to have done the majority of the work. In the mouth you're hit with the bite from the acidity right upfront. It's light-medium in body, and delicately bristling on the tongue. The carbonation is moderate, and incredibly fine-bubbled; I'm surprised that the wild yeast didn't find more to eat and ferment it up to a higher carbonation level. All in all this is pretty decent but keep in mind that it's a long-aged bottle; what was initially put out was probably not nearly as rounded and balanced. Where it lacks is in fulfilling the 'promises' made by the Bourbon barrels and wild yeast. It's got oak character, and some Bourbon, so it's OK there, but the wild yeast hasn't given it a whole lot more than acidity and fruitiness. Even if it had, I wonder if that would have worked well with the Bourbon barrels. I do like that fruitiness though.
Review #7,949

A complex combination that satisfied stout lovers of many different stripes. Top of the bottle gets more funk, brett, and wild blast. Stout is there and in strong secondary to what the wild yeast does. Bottom of bottle is more cherry, getting that more enzymes more complexity than just brett.

Aug 2020 Review
16oz bottle from Zerouna’s. Poured into tulip glass.

Pour: dark brown with huge head and decent lacing. 4.0

Smell: bourbon, chocolate, hint of cherry 3.5

Taste: like a BBA stout with grapefruit and tart cherries. Just not my thing. 2.0

Feel: moderate carbonation, fairly rich. 3.75

Overall: Looks good, smells ok, feels ok. Taste isn’t my thing and BBA stout and sour characteristics seem to fight moe than complement. 2.5

 

 

 

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a medium brown foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of roasted malt with some bourbon notes with some tart notes also noticeable. Taste is also a great mix of bourbon notes with some roasted malt notes with light residual sugar with some tart notes clearly noticeable. Body is lighter then expected with some medium carbonation. Enjoyable but missing some balance and need body to be more full.

 

 

 

 

 

Not readily apparent that this is a sour stout, but the label saying it's open fermented and it being brewed at Jolly Pumpkin should give you a hint. The nose has some chocolate qualities before delving into a medium sour flavor that masks the bourbon barrels it's aged in.

A - Pours midnight black with a two finger sturdy tan head. Heavy amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is tart cherries, green apple, coffee and dark chocolate.

T - The taste starts with tart cherries, green apple and red wine. The tart and juicy flavors fade into dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and light bourbon notes.

M - Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Soft creamy mouthfeel with a dry sticky finish.

O - There is a ton of complex flavors going on here. The balance between tart and rich flavors is outstanding.