Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

750ml bottle from Florian’s. Hazy brick red body with a quarter inch of off-white head. Smells malty, fruity, and spicy, with kind of a pithy quality to it. Tastes fruity, sour, and spicy. Very complex, can’t quite put my finger on some of the qualities in the flavor. One thing I didn’t notice in the flavor or the aroma is alcohol. The mouthfeel is definitely on the lower side of medium-bodied with a fair bit of carbonation, which suits this ale quite well. Very drinkable for the ABV and complexity. Reminds me of a lambic in a lot of ways. Very very good.

Aroma was fruity, kind of sweet with a touch of tartness. Pours to a thick tan head over a dark amber color. Taste was great, had a nice sugary sweet start that end ed in dry tart apple finish. Very Good!

Pours a fizzy, murky brown color with a big cream head. Has some nutmeg in the aroma with some indistinguishable fruit aromas to go along with the malt and woodsy scents. Initial caramel sweetness that quickly made way for a tart, dry fruit finish. Good stuff.

Sampled at the RBSG 07 Grand Tasting. Very nice sour nose on this dark beer. Sour body with apple dominant. Vague oak character

Rerate. June 24, 2008
Either the beer or my tastebuds have changed noticeably in the last year. Sweet raspberryish aroma. Reddish orange appearance, very light head. Rustic tartness, cranberry juices, mildly stiff oaky bitterness. Soft carbonation. A little too much of caramel/hazelnutty flavors, and alcohol a tad overprominent. Still good, but no longer earthshatteringly.

June 24, 2007
Cloudy brownish/red/orange appearance, like unfiltered apple juice, with a fair light brown head. Wonderfully evocative aroma, like apple tart, like Rodenbach without the vinegar. It says ’amber ale’ on the bottle but that seems to be a misnomer. Deliciously sweet and tart. Brett comes through gently in the flavor. Very mellow, unobtrusive hopping adds body to the beer, as well as a soft oak influence to create a very deft mouthfeel. Jolly Pumpkin clearly cares about their beers from beginning to end. This is one to seek out.
9 4 9 5 19

The presentation on this beer is awesome the whole way through. The bottle is cool, the label is brilliant and the beer looks really good too - clear Tokaj-like orange-red with nice head retention and lacing.
The aroma reminds me of Dark Isle to a really disturbing extent. Pepper, Granny Smith acidity and some of that lichen smell that Saison de Pipaix has. Actually, for such a beer I was pretty surprised at just how few elements there were to the aroma. The weird pepperiness and acid keep everything else hidden. There’s an evident malt richness to the flavour, but it’s underneath a decent bit of appley acidity (a touch of acetic, but not at bad levels.) There’s a definite warming sensation without being harsh and a rasping woodiness to the finish which definitely is harsh. There’s a touch of malt toastiness and hop bitterness way in the background, and the tannin and acid combine to give an apple core kind of flavour. The alcohol, tannin and acid all just clang around really working against eachother.
Well, I don’t really know what to say about this beer. I suppose it’s the ultimate proposition about whether the brewer’s intention means anything, and to be honest if I didn’t know he encouraged these kind of flavours I probably would have rated it even lower. I can’t help but respect someone who’s nuts enough to do something like this... but it just doesn’t work for me. Actually I really disliked the stuff. And I guess that’s the ultimate arbiter. Because of its rarity I really didn’t want to throw it out, but I ended up tipping at least a third of the bottle and couldn’t bring myself to finish what was in the glass. Everyone who loves this stuff should definitely seek out beers from Dark Isle and Gulf Brewery in Australia - I’m more than willing to trade! Many thanks to Linc for hooking me up.

$7.99 from H.W.C. Pours with a exploding head (darn my dirty pint glass). After spooning off three fingers, I’m left an awesome creamy goodness of a head, that lingers and clings to the glass. Orange peko tea color. The nose is mild, a little of sour cherries or something with a little bit of funk. And there it is, in the flavor as well: not quite the sourness of Brett, but a litte sour. Not quite the slick of diacetyl, but somethings there. Interesting. 7,4,7,4,16:3.9 2nd rating: Tasted at Saarlander’s SoCal tasting with saarlander, cquiroga, dirty martini & kittiesandbeer, JohnC and others. A bit of nice sourness. Pale amber color. Decent: 8,3,7,4,16:3.8

Bottled sample via lubiere. Amber and hazy in colour with strong carbonation. Aromas of cherry, caramel, almond, vanilla, yeasty Belgian funk, and a bit of spice. In the mouth, there’s a touch of malt and caramel to start before the drying/sour effect takes over. More herbs and almond are apparent, with some mild cherry and lemon fruit notes. The strong carbonation and dry character takes a bit of the punch out of the flavor, but makes for a more drinkable product. Not quite up to the Rodenbach Grand Cru, but still VERY nice.