Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

Bottle, batch 256. Pours an enticing ruby with a creamy light tan head. A mild JP funk on the nose, some apples, tart, caramel, tinges of cherries, grape skins. Quite tart, wonderful caramel complementing the tartness, a mild oak woodiness with some nice drying tannins. A wonderful brew, very balanced with the sour, caramel and oak complementing each other exceptionally well. Extremely drinkable!

Batch 256. Aroma is funky brett, figs, oak, and yeast. Reddish copper color, lots of floaties, and a gentle carbonation. The taste is barnyard brett, oak, subtle fruitiness (lemon) and some light roast, with a fairly bracing sourness present. It seems like the barrel character, with all the funky bugs that reside in said barrel, really dominates every aspect of the beer. As much as I love the critters in the JP beers, I wish they would maybe blend in the wood aged portions with regular beer to show off the base beer a little. This is no Biere de Garde, at least not anymore.

bottle, nose is sour and somewhat fruity, cola colored with small foamy heady, tart green apple is predominant with some bitter aspirin and dry to finish

orange/brown body with a nice white head that leaves webbing on the glass.outstanding aroma of funk,oak,melons,apples,lemons,brown sugar,and caramel malts.flavor is a little less complex with a bit more funk shinning through.

Bottle shared by Crosling, thanks. Poured a cloudy caramel orange-brown color with a moderate off-white head that faded to a layer. Fruity aroma (citrus, apple, light berries) with some funky yeastiness and a hint of oak. Tart, funky entry with some light yeastiness leading into a fruity (citrus, green apple, and apricot) with a lightly dry, oaky finish. Smooth, light drying finish. Pretty good beer, but not as funky as I have heard others say it was.

2007. Autumn colored, with a lasting foam that forms great shapes. Nose has some funk, a bit of oak, some fruit, could be more vibrant. Flavor is nicely balanced. Brett, oak, funk, some fruit, with a bit of an unpleasant cooked corn note as well. Just ok. I’m not the biggest JP fan. All their beers taste the same.

Another eagerly anticipated Jolly Pumpkin offering. To all appearances it is a clone of their Roja; it has the same color head and body, save for a slightly thinner head. The aroma too is duplicated, with a few tweaks and modifications. Contrasted to the Roja, the Biere de Mars sustains a stronger suite of banana, vinegar and a pinching wood scent. Throw in some dry pretzel dough and a handful of decadent Ghiradelli chocolate chips and you’re in for a vaporous world of wonder. As an after thought I might have found some cotton candy, but I can’t confirm whether it is a real scent or my head is swimming from the earlier intake of Biere de Mar’s wonderful perfume. The flavor is certainly less delicate, causing me to clench my teeth with its eye-watering sourness. Heavy doses of spices hit the tongue, mostly All-Spice and cinnamon. After these two clear out the tongue is victim to a long and dessicated hoppiness. Another splash on the tongue, though, and we’re back to a world of sour hurt. A lovely beer, especially to smell, but not for the faint of heart.

bottle: pours a dark chestnut brown with a medium sized foamy off white head. aroma is heavenly good amounts of oak and a burst of sour, good tart apple, cherry-vanilla. aroma is amazing. flavour is full of JP funk bright apple tartness and a good balancing sour. caramel fades in and out the whole time you taste it. finishes well with the dry wood flaovur and more tartness.