Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Poured a hazy golden color with ruby highlights into the flute glass. A ridiculous head stuck around a while as the lacing stayed on the edges. A very sour scent with hints of vinegar. A rush of vinegar, pickle juice, vanilla, oak, and citrus rush the palate and wake it up. Very complex and dry. This was the first sour ale that I have enjoyed, I may be warming up to the style.

bottle. poured a hazy deep amber with a big fluffy nearly-white head that stuck around forever and left thick lacing on the glass. smell is sharp lemon and orange, maybe some grapefruit, a bit of sweat, some woodiness, a bit of hops, and maybe even a hint of melon. taste is more of that, with a bit of a spicy soup flavor. there is a bit of a cherry component to the malt note, which comes out a bit more in the taste. finishes lightly dry, lightly bitter, and lightly sour. medium to light body with a resinous but quenching mouthfeel. good stuff! quite complex.

750ml bottle. Impossible to open without foaming over. Pours a reddish-amber with an out of control head. Flavor was very strange. Kinda sweet, but sour and fruity, Strange one. Didn’t really enjoy it.

Nice color and nice thick head. Initial flavor was a little too sweet for me. Had kind of a barleywine sweetness. After a while it kind of grew on me and I liked it. Nice Beer

Glad this one didn’t go all Mt. Vesuvious on me. Reddish cloudy color. Light overall with some fruits. Sour and funky but not overly funky. Nice bite and overall nice for me.

75 cl bottle. Pours violently into the glass, orange glowing bronze with a dense offwhite head. Strong sour fruit aroma, cherry and other fruits, hints of vanilla oak, as well as Brettanomyces farmyard. Good sour fruit flavours, mellow vanilla, noticeable alcohol. Soft and full-bodied. Seriously good stuff.

Very fine balance of sweet and sour. This one is very tart, but without the cripsness of some sweeter sours like Duchess. Very complex. Apples and pears dominate among the flavors, the mouthfeel is full bodied though not very filling. The carbonation is lively but it doesn’t fill up your stomach. Very nice brew.

Rating #400!!

My first Jolly Pumpkin gusher. Odd because I bought it a few weeks ago and let it sit in the fridge until tonight. Ah well, I didn’t lose much thankfully. Stunning brown body with red running all the way through. 2 finger thick off white head, fully lasting and leaves tons of coating lacing. Finally fades to a thick layer of foam after quite some time. Nose has huge doses of Brettanomyces, oak barrels, sour cherry pie filling, barnyard and funked up yeast . Very drying at first sip, almost shockingly so. I assume this is all the Brett’s doing. Beyond that is a very crisp dose of cherry, earthy wooden notes, vinegar and sour candy. Midway though a ton of peppery spice comes into play, further enhancing the drying sensation. Apples and other assorted berries show up towards the end, and also a red wine hint is noted. Medium bodied, very drying but ultimately extremely drinkable. Finish is interminably long, with doses in turn of Brett, yeast, cherry, apple, pepper and finally more wood that carries on seemingly forever. A wonderful experience, and one that demands taking your sweet time with.