Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

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

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.

750ml shared by emacgee - thanks, Ethan! A very dark pour, with a sort of dusty look to it and a lively head. Really nice nose, with understated oak and tartness, with mild fruitbread notes too. Full body, with the carbonation playing nicely on the palate like a lot of JP beers. A bit of zing and spice in the flavor, to add contrast to the mild acidity and wood flavors. Very nice.

Thanks McBackus. Pours a dark ruby copper with a thin light tan head. The nose is yeasty and tart, nice oak character, fruity, sweet malt. Flavor is tart and oaky, vanilla, spicy, nice acidity, yeasty, some sweet malt, fruity. Palate is tart and spicy.

(Bottle) The beer pours beautiful clear mahogany reddish brown with a creamy off-white head. Perfectly balanced aroma with notes of dry lemony citrus, spicy and dry oak wood, light horse blanket, fruity and basement-like yeast, prunes, raisins, white tart grapes, black cherries, tart pears and green apples. Herbal hops and mild cookie-like caramel malt lingering in the background. Undertones of earth, dust and black tea alongside a tiny touch of cocoa and ginger. Nice brett and phenol character. The flavour is medium acidic, light sweet/dry and light bitter. Tones of lemony citrus, unripe green apples, tart pears, light horse blanket, mold, wood, some herbal hops and super dry honey. The mouthfeel is soft and rich with a medium carbonation. The finish is earthy and citric with a light touch of milk chocolate. Medium bodied. I like.

Brown pour with a small offwhite head. woody, tart, spicy, fruity. a bit funky. Flavor is woody, tart brettiness, excellent mouthfeel, a bit dry, barnyard abounds.

Cloudy brown pour with some orange tints, small cream colored head. Aroma holds tart fruit, wood, lots of spice, and some molasses and caramel malt. Flavor starts with definite tartness, then slowly shifts to heavy sweet malt and alcohol, with notes of bretty acidity still lingering near the finish. Palate is wondrous- seems to warm and slowly melt right into the tongue, and the acidity combines with the sweetness to linger beautifully. A really good brew.