Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Saison
Dexter, Michigan USA

Murky orange-gold with huge foamy head / Perfumed, funky sour yeast and apple nose / Light, crisp and tart body, with great hop balance and finish / Sour, bretty flavors of green apple, green pepper, lemon, coriander, and funk / It could be a saison, it could be a wit, but it’s unmistakably Jolly Pumpkin. A masterpiece, but like all JPs, an acquired taste.

Dull, hazy orange in color with huge white head, made up of tiny bubbles, lasts most of the beer, great lacing. Huge floral kick in aroma, farmhouse yeasty funk, citrus, orange zest background, faint spice (can’t pinpoint). Flavor again all over the place. Floral, spicy hops with citrus (lemon and orange), musty wood, faint yeast, really mild malt character towards the finish. Great mouthfeel, creamy smooth but bubbly carbonation at the same time. Once again this is a beer, my review does no justice. Without a doubt the most drinkable beer, I’ve ever had. Man it’s going to be a flavorful summer.

Attractive cloudy brass color with a HUGE sudsy sno-white head that receded slowly while shrinking from the sides of the glass leaving a full coat of sticky, intricate lace. Aroma included fruity floral hops, with orange, orange blossoms, tangerine and pineapple, spring meadow, bay rum and yeast. Flavor was full-on bitter grapefruit hops, with orange and lemon-lime, strawberry, juicy fruit gum, tropical spice and medicinal herbs, with a hint of rum and rum bitters. A bit of sour yeastiness. Mouthfeel nicely effervescent and cleansing.

Had to re-rate, cuz I love this beer and it deserves better. Pours a large, cloudy head that wants to implode down the middle, but reserves more self-dignity. Cloying, clumpy, mouth-watering lacing. Huge sour barnyard nose which exerts an incredible floral bouquet. Zesty earth notes, dried citrus, wheat, lite green grape, with a sourish pepper aftertaste. Highly carbonated, supremely balanced, and refreshing. Definitely in the top ten best beers...EVER.

12oz Bottle. Nice cloudy yellow color, big huge rocky white foam, unbelievable lacing, unreal retention. Aroma it slightly citric, with noticeable brett influence, very nice maltiness showing also. Flavor is very Orval-like, lots of peppery goodness, very dry finish, good bit of tartness. Fantastic palate, very hard to believe this clocks in under 5%abv. Simply world class.

Bottle with many thanks to schroppfy! Hazy golden body with a riot of bubbles rushing for escape. The head itself is tall and pillowy, almost meringue-like with its peaks and valleys. Aroma of a freshly tended garden. Floral with earthy-sour (freshly cut weeds and turned earth). Citrus and spice come through more as it warms. Lovely, lovely, aroma. The aroma is outstanding and the flavor also delivers in spades. Wow. Words fail. I could drink gallons of this stuff. The yeast character is all over the place, the crisp firm light malts (Pilsner?), the light balance of funk, the citrus smack at the end, the spiciness, this has it all. Crisp and dry palate. Oh so quaffable. This one deserves top 50 status and it is a crime, IMO, if it does not attain and retain such a position. Jolly Pumpkin is one of, if not the best, brewers out there. Oh how I gush…

Thanks to OhioDad for this one. First of all, let me say that I consider Ron Jeffries to be a visionary . He is to beer what Da Vinci was to science. Secondly, let me say that I am Goddamned sick and tired of certain people downgrading great beers such as this. In fact, the ratings given by certain people to this one cause me to lose absolutely all credibility for those certain people. I won’t call people out, but they know who they are, and it seems funny that the beers that get screwed are all American beers on the brink of greatness. To give a beer as good as this a below average score is inconscionable to me; a travesty of this site, and I’d like to see it investigated. Perhaps we need Olympic scoring, with a sliding scale based on # of ratings and the top and bottom few scores are thrown out. If this was an isolated incident it would be fine, but the same 3 or 4 guys keep preventing great beers from getting a fair statistical rating, downgrading good beers like a pack of hyenas ambushing and downgrading the lifespan of a limping antelope. Enough is enough! On to my rating. The pour is hazy dark straw colored, with a 3-finger foamy white head. The aroma is heavily citric, with a great lemon/orange/grapefruit trifecta coupled with tropical fruit, floral notes, and some funky, cobwebby malt. The taste is citric and hoppy and floral, with some candi sugar, pineapple, mangoes, papaya, and apricots. The palate is extremely complex, with a lively density and very intense flavor components. The dry floral elements come out a bit more as it warms, and the substantial malt base reasserts itself. This beer is awesome. Period.

Bottle, courtesy of Schroppfy. (I owe you a kidney, Michael, take your pick.)

Cloudy, dull and orangish-gold in color with a creamy, foamy head that’s off-white and leaving beautiful lacing tracks along the sides of the tulip. Aroma is, in a word, heavenly. Tart nectarines and souring mandarins, sauvignon grapes, freshly split lemons halves, herbal buttered crescent rolls and a touch of sugar and vanilla crème. At times, other alluring aromatic sentiments reminisced of scone batter and lemon shortbread girl scout cookies. Flavor is divine as well. A touch of spiciness is sweetened by sugar-sprinkled lemon heels while a coalescing background vanilla current weaves a creamy tale. Herbal extremities, a touch of mild cackled white pepper and fresh cotton aid the delectable country cadence.

Riesling like tartness is evident and oh so admirable (it’s the character trait that seals the deal and elevates its status to world class.) Soft lemon butter infused with sage further hints at the artesian farmhouse roots. Spicy, curt and teetering on the tart & sour scale, boding flawlessly throughout the palatary playing field. Effervescence is perfect. Yeast strain, perfect. Spicy hops, yes, perfect. Husks spritsed with lemon juice and squeezed tangerines - with a tiny pinch of sugar - bring this beauty to a close. Again, Jolly Pumpkin dominates my favorite beers of all-time. Ron, you’re beautiful. Never change.