Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Bottle (Blend 2,2009) Poured a nice copper color with a nice head. Great sour aromas with hints of oak peeking through.Flavor is of tart and sour cherry flavor and oak notes very present.Has a very dry feel,almost like a nice dry wine.Nice complexity’s here.Wonderful Brew!

17/10/2009, 750ml bottle (Blend 4, 2009). With Steve. Hazy pinkish amber, fine light head. Sour cherries, oak and a hint of dusty wooden cellar. Sweet and sour. Assertively sour, with a hint of brett like dryness (but not as dry or horse-blankety as something like Orval, Cantillon, Boon). Mild sweetness lifts the quaffability of the beer, and balance the oaky tannin, without clashing against the sourness or dusty notes. Fun label. A very nice drop. It’d be great to have another bottle and see where this goes over time...

tart sour nose with hints of brown caramel malts, thin head, deep mirky brown color, palate is quite watery which must be from the excessive dryness of this ale, flavor is acidic and tart but far from overwhelming, significant lingering bitterness, hints at fruit but far from complicated in the ester department, some dark malt flavor sticks around at the finish, very mild brett flavors... Far less complex and bretty than most other JP ales, but more sour than most of the others I’ve had

Bottle. The color was fine, reddish-brown and slightly cloudy with a foam that remained as long as there was beer left in the glass. Nice sour notes in aroma, also hay, berries and apples were found. The taste was both good and interesting. A nice acidity, however, far from extreme. Bit Cantillon-light maybe one could say? Also fruit, vanilla, raspberry, caramel and oak. A very pleasant beer.

cloudy copper/amber pour. Huge head. Overcarbonated a bit. Aroma is tart and quite funky. Some tart apples in the aroma too. Flavor is fruity and very tart with some vinegar notes and woody notes. Good stuff.

750mL bottle (Blend 15, 2008) poured into a tulip glass. The aroma on this is so familiar, but I just can’t quite put my finger on it. There’s phenolics, tannis, wood, a hint of chocolate, and more. The flavor begins with champagne and chocolate, flows into spice, malt, wood, and vanilla, and ends with a sour kick and a lingering dryness.

750ml bottle from 16th St. Liquor in West Van. Blend 2, 2009. Let’s start by saying I’ve traditionally been hit or miss with sours. But this is certainly one of the most balanced and approachable ones I’ve ever had. I too get the sour apple aroma in the glass. Pours a murky copper with foamy head. Certainly tart and sour on the tongue with a hard to identify (for me) fruit note (cherry?). Finish is complex and chewy with a woody note just noticeable amongst the earthiness. Very complex and lingering. This gives me more reason to re-examine sours. Delicious and very drinkable!

Blend 6, 2009. 25.4 oz. bottle. Nice dark brown color with a nice little head. Nice sour apple aroma. Fairly pungent beer. Nice sweet fruit aroma. Subtle oak aroma. Wish the oak came through a bit more, but the aroma is still fairly nice. Nice tart apple flavor. Nice fruit flavor as well. Has a nice subtle wood flavor as well. Fairly smooth beer. Not an overly impressive sour, but this beer is fairly decent. A little sour apple, fruit, and wood says it all.