Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Bière de Garde
Dexter, Michigan USA

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.

Dark iced tea colored pour with a 2 finger, off-white head that fades to a thin lacy layer. Aroma of dark fruit, apple cider, vinegar, sour funk, spices and wet charred oak. Powerful sour flavor with lots of caramelized dark fruit notes, and a strong balance of oak. Velvety, oily medium body.

Pours a burnt amber with a rocky white head. The nose is doughy/musty. The flavor has some funk and the finish has some juicines.

Batch 256. Not a gusher like most of JP’s beers! Pours a hazy, dark mahogany color with an average, off-white, creamy, pillowy head; it settles after good retention to a small, pillowy, frothy layer and leaves minimal tight lace. Nose is certainly JP-esque with some sourish notes; certainly some sweet grain notes and rich caramel make up the malt base with some overtones of overripe cherries, sour vinous white grapes, and and almost pickled note bring the tart citric notes. Other notes include, white pepper, sage, ginger root, anise, doughy and lightly musty yeast, and faint vanilla oak notes. Flavor is similar but is rather quick to disappate from the tongue and not as complex. Flavor starts mildly tart with overripe cherries, vinous white grapes, and light sour apple, then some caramels, sweet grains, and musty yeast filter in, and towards the finish lighter notes of sage, ginger, faint buttery notes and faint white pepper find their way in to the mix. Palate is nice for the style with a perfect medium body, nearly lively carbonation, and a silky feel with a quick drying feel as it progresses. Finishes fairly quickly with the tart notes fading to just a light overripe cherry note and a dry oak and sage note finish it all. Certainly a very drinkable, somewhat refreshing, and quite complex beer. The more I had, the more I seemed to like it. Biere de Mars seemes to be one of those styles that takes the malty, aged qualities of the Biere de Garde and adds some tart, refreshing qualities making it a beer you want to drink more and more.

Bottle shared by eaglefan, thanks Brian! Poured a nice sized tan head, retention is very good as is the lace, lightly hazy amber/orange color. Nose is pleasently spicey and malty, lightly doughy and a touch bretty. Body is med/light with a good carbonation level. Lively on the palate, lightly sour and acidic. Light fruit flavors, spices, bready malt notes, lightly sweet with a more palatable tartness, my level. Fairly dry finish is lightly tart but clean and lasting. Thanks again Brian!

Man I love this brewery! Big spicy caramelly aroma with some noticable funk. Pours a dark reddish amber with a thick tan head, looks delicious. I taste sour cherries right away with some apple skins, the body is sweet, caramelly, with a creamy oaky finish. Wow, this is a really great beer! This may be one of my favorites from Jolly Pumpkin, this a Lucieranaga.