Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Pours a cloudy yellow almost grapefruit-pulp like color with a great looking head. The lacing on this beer is outstanding. The aroma is hard hitting with hints of acids, earth and tart fruits. Like a sour it hits the palate with quite a burst at first but it is extremly complex and the flavors keep coming. Tastes of wood, grapefruit, some lemon tartness all come through. It has a light body but the flavors keep you more then occupied. It finishes dry and the taste sticks around. Very good.

Bottled at 3 små rum. Hazy, deep amber. Sourish aroma, like vinegar. Vinous flavour with loads of oaky notes. Pretty sour and bitter.

(Bottle) The beer pours deep amber to glowing reddish brown with a stable, creamy off-white head. A buttery oak blanket of vanilla, coconut and mild fresh wood covers the complex yeast aroma of moldy and dusty basement. A fruitiness of apples, rhubarbs and raspberries. Hints of orange and mild lemony citrus, red berries, mild spicy/pepper-like yeast, earthy/light sweet caramelly malt, light herbal hops, mild white grape tartness and just a whisper of clove. The flavour is graceful but the oak has a minor problem - it feels a bit separated from the rest of the beer. Tones of coconut, wood, light caramel, raspberries, unripe orange and lemony citric tartness, milk, mold, white grapes, light caramel and some earth. The mouthfeel is light round and soft with a light to medium carbonation. Dry, lingering finish. Medium bodied.

Bottle into chalice; blend 7, ’08. Pours a cloudy medium brown with a slight muddy tint, creamy light tan head. Nose is cherries and a bit of oak, some vanilla sweetness, with a sourness that’s part big barnyard funk, bit of vinegar. Taste starts out with some sharp carbonation and an equally big dose of earthy, barnyard brett. Sourness takes on a fruitier quality early on, pairing with a cherry note alongside the brett; as the flavor progresses though, the flavor becomes more dominated with the earthy horseblanket and barnyard qualities of the brett, with the funk sitting on the palate for a while as the only lingering aspect of the slightly dry, clean finish. Mouthfeel is dryly carbonated, crisp,light bodied. Very interesting beer.

(Bottle, Stockholm Beer Festival, 20 Sep 2008) Cloudy reddish brown colour with frothy, beige head. Fruity, acidic, spicy nose with fruity hints of apricots. Acidic, fruity taste with notes of dried fruit, balsamic vinegar and a tart, dry finish. Really sour stuff. Lacking the balance of Rodenbach, but still an interesting and tasty beer.

Bottle. Huge head with excellent duration. Color is red amber. Aroma and taste are sour malt, berries and wood.

This one poured a deep, dark copper--darker than most pumpkin ales that I’ve had. It had a decent spicy pumpkin scent and just got better once consumed. It was sweet with lots of pumpkin with a medium to heavy body. It also left a solid pumpkin aftertaste. I enjoyed the pumpkin-red conbination very much.

22oz bottle at Redlight Redlight. Alan at Knightly recommended this one. Though JP bills this as an "amber" its definitely a sour ale. Nose is full on funkines with sour cherry, brett mustiness and a slight undercurrent of caramel. Pours a copper color with nice red hues and foamy head. The bottle was constantly spurting foam for about 4 mins after the first pour. Wierd. Huge sour tart flavor with bits of cherry. Caramel comes through in the lingering finish and hints of wood an vanilla. The only thing "amber" about this ale. A real winner of a sour ale though, this had more bite than most of their brews and I could definitely feel the alcohol but it never seemed overt. Very well done.