Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

Batch 346/348. Bottle from coyotehunter. Pours a murky orangish brown with a small off white head and lace throughout. Lots of lactic acid, spices, oak on the nose. Flavor is tart and sour at first but has a nice rounded sweetness brought on by the malts and spices that rounds it out very nicely. Nice, refreshing and semi-light mouthfeel.

Bottle. Poured dark brown with a beige head. Aroma was full of sour notes, specifically apples and grapes with a slight smokey undertone. Flavor was very tart with apple and grape notes and a slight bitterness.

750ml bottle. Pours a dark brown with a tan head. Smells nicely of sour apples and some wood, followed by a hint of barnyard. Taste is similar with notes of hops, some tart cherry and a little dark fruit with a light alcohol burn in the finish. Drys out a bit at the end. Pretty good...better than I expected.

750mL: rich dark brown appearing brew with a very mild white head with very little retention. some oakiness and sour notes to the nose. mild hop presence, initial main flavor is some tartness/sourness followed by the first tinge of oakiness then some fruity yeast flavors and a lingering oak and alcohol flavor. very dry finish, but there is some malt flavor that is present, which is pretty rare for jolly pumpkin. perfectly fermented beer and the oak is proudly evident, but not overbearing. very good brew.

Finally trying this bottle. Not quite sure what took so long. Poured an opaque brown color with a nice head. Aroma is tart and fruity, maybe some sour berries if you think about it. Taste is sourdough, definite oak, some sweet malt, and an acidic dry finish. A very relaxed funky biere de garde, well done as usual.

Bottle thanks to AmEricanbrew. Cloudy dark amber in appearance with a decent off-white head. Aroma is light tart, fruity, with dough and sweet bread. Taste is grainy with some bread, light nuts and lots of fruit.

Bottle shared by Ethan. Pours dark amber with one finger beige head. Looks tasty. This may sound obvious, but it tastes like a Biere de Garde done by Jolly Pumpkin... just like one would expect. That great oaky sour tart Jolly Pumpkin nose (perhaps slightly less pronounced than in other styles) and then the bready malty Biere de Garde taste with slight oak hints. Nice.

Batch #256. Beautiful, rich mahogany with a soft beige head. Sweet, complex nose of fruit (lemon, slight cherry), some earth (mushroom) and wood, also some. Flavor is a little more tart, lemon biting the palate along with more earth, somewhat yeasty and spicy. Also some great fruit depths, cherry most noticeable, then strong bitterness in the finish. Very smooth. Carbonation borders on overkill, like most JP beers, and here, it hurts just because it competes with the nuanced flavor. This is a very easy beer to drink and a very easy beer to like. Lots of nuance and nothing is overdone.