Jolly Pumpkin Fuego del Otono (Autumn Fire)

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

6/05/2008: Fuego del Otono (Autumn Fire) pours a mostly clear, light copper color with a HUGE, dense and rocky light beige head. There is a substantial amount of carbonation that sustains the perpetual thick head that creates puffy lacing on the glass. The aroma and flavor contain the tell-tale Jolly Pumpkin funk and spice. Some spiced (cinnamon) apple cider notes are also apparent in the aroma. The flavor is lightly malty, fruity (like apple sauce and white grapes), spicy (nutmeg, clove?). It also has the wonderful, subtle but not so subtle combination of sour, tart, and acidity. These subside a bit as the beer warms and combines to form a warm, lightly chocolately and nutty-like flavor. I also pick up some faint ginger notes toward the finish as well as a really, really light nuttiness if I hold the beer in my mouth for a bit. This beer has a medium body, yet it feels light and airy on the palate, and even soft and mellow. Overall, this is another good Jolly Pumpkin brew, but it seems to be missing the complexity - no, that’s not the right word - maybe uniqueness is what I’m looking for - to really differentiate it from many of the other Jolly Pumpkin offerings...

1 pt. 9.4 fl. oz bottle (6.1% Alc/Vol) from River’s Bend Wine and Spirits in Maineville, Ohio ($8.99+tax). Rating #217 for this beer...

OK, it’s official, I’m not a fan of Jolly Pumpkin beers. The last one was classified as a Sour Ale, and I didn’t like it. This one is classified as a Belgian, and it tasted again like a Sour Ale. 750ml bottle, poured a nice clear amber with a foamy off-white head. Very nice looking beer. Aroma was of tart, sour apple. Taste was tart, sour, and biting. Poured this one down the drain.

foamed right out of the bottle. cloudy amber color. nose that was sour and had a hint of vanilla. tastes of the sour vanilla as well.

Bottle to my head. Pours drown amber with white lacing. Light carbonation. Aroma is that classic jolly pumpkin funk, spice, and no etoh. Flavor is sour tongue tingling and dry. Maybe some nuts in the finish. Good.

Bottle courtesy of jrob_21.

This one is a gusher; the cap explodes off of the top and I swear at least a third of the 750 ends up all over my kitchen counter and in the sink. It just keeps bubbling up and out as a steady fountain until I pour most of it off into a couple of tulips. So...great big off-white head with what look like cinnamon flecks on top, glowing red-brown beautiful beer down underneath, some sediment. Lots of spice and chestnut in the aroma, amazing how strong the nuts come forward here, some musty notes, a whisp of sour. The flavor is heavily spiced but nonetheless beautiful: quite tart, again all of those chestnuts, mild funk, tannic, grape skins, leather, nutty sweetness, lots of spice. Mmmmm. Lovely. This one went down much too quickly.

I’m cold, hungry, and jobless (for the summer, I’m in school, not a hobo), but all is well because I have a bottle of Fuego del Otono. I don’t know what the spices are supposed to be but I don’t much care because the great funky, tart, fruity apple/pear flavor of this is delicious. The only odd thing was that on one whiff I’d get a scent like a skunked European pils and on the next I’d get the funky scent everyone expects. Otherwise, a balls-out hard-nosed ass beater.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange/gold with typical billowy head. Aroma is unmistakenly brett and funky. Probably the most in any Jolly Pumpkin I’ve tried. Slight nuttiness in the taste to go along with the funk, pepper, and brett. Somewhat prickly on the palate and goes down yeasty and slightly tart.

Batch 3/2007. Poured a hazy copper color with a big off-white head. The aroma had a great funk to it. Barny leather notes all over it. Leathery funk flavor with a light tartness. Bitter finish and a light body. The aroma was more tart than the flavor but neither too much. Very nice.