Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

In short: Funky Flemish sour. Good and unusual.
How: 750ml Bottle, 6 months old
The look: Cloudy amber body with a medium off-white head
In long: Before this bottle I only had small samples in festivals/tasting sessions and I didn’t remember this beer being so funky. Funkier bottle? Bad memory? Lots of barrel in there and lots of funky bretty-ish yeast as well. Very fruity with cranberries, sour red apples, grapes and some cherries. Sourness level is low-average by Flemish Sours standards. A little spicy edge. Finish is somewhat short. Body is very fluffy, again unusual for a Flemish Sour. A very good beer (it’s a Jolly Pumpkin after all). I’m a big fan of funky/bretty beers and I’m a big fan of Flemish Sours. But here the funk and the barrel/sourness were competing with each other more than working together. Felt like an unnatural marriage of two desired qualities, like a 22 year old blonde bombshell and a 76 year old multi-millionaire.

Poured from a bottle. Poured an amber color with a rocky off-white head and nice, rising carbonation. Aroma of sweet and sour fruits with funk. Caramel malt entry is accompanied by hints of sour cherries and oak. Nice bite on the finish. My first Jolly Pumpkin beer, but I will be trying more in the future.

750 mL bottle. Pours a cloudy dark red color with a large foamy off-white head and lots of lacing. 10 minutes after pouring, the bubbles are still rising violently. Nice aroma, sour cherries or raspberries or some kind of fruit, but then it also has a sawdust kind of smell that makes it seem a little more mellow. Flavor... more subdued than I would imagine. Mostly malty caramel flavor, with just a tiny sour bite in the finish. This is a nice brew... definitely interesting the way it changes from the aroma to the taste.

Bottle. Nose is sour with fruit notes- light cherry and raspberry. Unfiltered cloudy brownish with a big white head and active carbonation. Sour up front with a nice sweet cherry middle and a clean finish. Palate is crisp and supportive of the acidity.

Pours a deep amber, with a hint of haze. Nice slightly off-white head that is lush and lasts. Aroma is very oaky, with a hint of yeast and sourness. In the mouth, it’s quite carbonated yet soft. The sourness is at the forefront here, but it’s not overpowering. I’m not a big sour guy (or a big oak guy, for that matter), but this was nice.

Bottle. Pours a murky brown body with quite a bit of cloudiness to it. Aromas are sour and like white wine with some wood and fruit notes. Flavor is wonderfully sour which quickly follows an initlal malt presence that is best defined as oaky. The transition to tartness is quick and a little brusque. That said, I find myself really enjoying this particular Jolly Pumpkin take on how to make a beer both sour and good. The tart nature of the beer is held in check by the organic notes of oak and yeast, which keep it from being a true pucker experience, but this is still not for the faint of heart.

750 ml bottle shared with my wife. Pours a cloudy orange pekoe tea color with a moderate light tan head that lasted to the end of the beer and coated the sides of the glass quite nicley. The aroma was oak, vanilla, and cabernet grapes. The flavor was initially caramel malt, quickly followed by oak and cabernet grapes. I picked up some light sourness along the sides of my tongue. The sounrness became more pronounced as the beer warmed. This was an enjoyable and fun beer! Much different, and frankly better, than I was expecting (I’m not a huge fan of sours).

I’m just not digging this beer. I was expecting what used to be called a Flemish Sour and this just isn’t that. Pour was a beautiful hazy dark brown with a 2 finger tannish head. Aroma was a little weak. Could pick up wood and malt. Taste was very carbonated and dry. A lot of fruit in this one. Could pick up raspberries, sour cherries and citrus. A woody finish rounds out this beer. Notice I didn’t say sour once when describing this. It just wasn’t the mouth puckering sour that I like in the style. It is good, though.