Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

A terrific, refreshing, and interesting sour ale. One of my favorite sours to date actually. A reddish tinged dark beer with sour cherry and "funk" aroma, but smells wondefully balanced, and not overpowering on the sour side. Spicy and complex, with a very smooth, refreshing taste...a bit smokey, presumably from the barrell aging. Nice sweetness to balance it all out. Will definitely get this one again and again.

Thanks to OleR for sharing a bottle. Pours dark reddish orange with a small offwhite head. Aroma is very acidic, spicy, fruity and vinegar. Flavour brings the expected sourness from the nose back, along with a complex mix of earthy and citrus notes, berries, spices, vague liquorice, wood and funky notes. Sparkly and fresh, very enjoyable.

Poured a medium red with a thin off white head. Nose was acidic, bright, fruity, slight chardonnay scents. Taste is citrus, tart strawberry, funky, vinegar, slight horse blanket. A dangerously drinkable sour.

750 mL bottle from Sam’s Quik Shop (Blend #8, 2007; bottled August 14, 2007). Brownish-red pour with a fizzy off-white head. Wonderful sour cherry, tart aroma. Big, bold sour flavor of lemon, cherry, blended with some oak; just spectacular. I’ve had this before and don’t remember it being this good. Maybe this is a great batch, maybe it benefitted from being cellared for 2 years. At any rate this is wonderful.

750ml bottle. Pours a deep dark ruby with a large off-white head. Excellent aroma of tart fruit. The taste is tart with a caramel malt backbone and a smooth oak finish. Not too sweet. Very nice.

Slowly sipped on a couple glasses of this fine treat. Pours a cloudy amber color and holds a pencil thin off white head along with a few spots of lacing from time to time. Vinous and tart, it awakens the palate quickly. Great aroma of earthy yeast and funky, fermented fruits. Sweet and sour mouth feel with a drawn out and pleasant finish. Tastes wonderful with an abundance of sour fruits coupled by a caramel and toffee malt backbone. Lively and mildly sour compared to some others in the same genre. All around fantastic beer.

Pours a murky ruby red with a nice-sized cream-colored bubbly head. Retention is fair, and the sour fruitiness starts to waft out right away. The nose is strong with acids, grapefruit, and vinegar. Things started to go downhill at this point, once the eyes and nose took a backseat to the sense of taste. This was my first true sour and despite the warnings in the aroma, I wasn’t prepared for the assault on my tongue. Acrid tartness, tons of vinegar, and funky citrus. If I didn’t have a problem with the style itself, I think this would score much higher, as I’m pretty sure this is everything a sour is supposed to be!

Bottle. Pours a very dark ruby red color. Smells tart and a little malty. It starts tart but it fades a little to quickly for me.