Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from ogglethorp, Thanks! Nose of tart, spicy, fruity, horse blanket! Hazy gold with a big glassing-lacing, slow recedeing white head; Flavor is spicy and tart, yeasty and wheaty! Very enjoyable. Seems exceptionally well balanced and I like it as well or better than any of the others I’ve had, brewed by JP! Underrated!
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from ogglethorp; Nose is sour, woody, and yeasty; slighty hazed gold with a medium white head that gently laces the glass; flavor of crabapples, fairly sour, with some citrus, and spicy pepperiness.Medium body with an acidic finish.
Clarkvv (16760) reviewed Whaleback White from Leelanau Brewing Company 19 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2006 bottle (750mL) enjoyed at Slows BBQ on 11/5/06
Magnificent amounts of creamy white head are slow to recede. The body has a typical haziness of other JP beers, though still demonstrates a fair enough clarity. Appropriate white-gold and lemon colored Belgian wit color. Sheets of lace cover the glass. Excellent appearance as usual from JP.
Tart, even a touch sourish nose is full of vanilla wafers, gobs of honey and bitter lemons. The esters immediately go to work on the malt, bringing it down to nearly nothing and providing an excellent crispness. Spicing is moderately done, contributing a dry, leafy coriander note, with airy white pepper and juicy lemon sugar cookies (from a mix of the citrus zest and pils malt). Some lactic notes are evident on the finish, giving it a bit of a hard edge, which somewhat detracts from this more playful of styles. Strength of aroma is high, with no alcohol or flaws. Barrel character contributes some tannins, giving a slightly sharp note as well.
Fluffy, pastry dough crust is injected with more vanilla wafers and then drizzled with lemon icing. Suddenly someone spills a few drops of 3F lambic in the pie. Light sourness takes hold, followed by a very crisp finish filled with perfumey esters, dry fruit skins and fresh, chewy coriander. Some nutty wood notes help control the sourness somewhat, and light oak oiliness adds a strange twist on the belgian wit bier style. Tight, engaging carbonation greatly helps out where it can, and a not (yet?) too underattenuated body throws enough sweet, honeyish malt in to the equation. Don’t get much wheat flavor/aroma, though it no doubt contributes to the head retention and texture.
Still, if you’re going in to this expecting hoegaarden (which you shouldnt be), you’re not going to be a happy camper. You’ve definitely got to enjoy what Ron is doing to get in to this one.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Sampled at the Ohio Labor Day gathering, provided by me. Cloudy yellow body, thin off-white head. Light coriander aroma, bready, a bit crisp and spicy. Tart, thin, tangy body with light notes of coriander but ultra-thin with sour malts. For some reason this reminded me of sweat, or possibly a lambic gone wrong. Too sour and weak-bodied for this taster.