Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

Pours an attractive copper/ruby color with a thick billowy white head. Classic JP aroma - tart, floral, lemony, and spicy. Taste is a little tart, with lemon and spice notes present. Funky sweet throughout with a dry finish. Much better if it warms a good bit. While the funk here isn’t as intense as in other JP brews I’ve had (this particular bottle anyways) - La Roja seems more like a vehicle for the oak aging and funk characters than some of the other brews. Still, a pleasure to drink and a great beer.

Large bottle, poured a cloudy dark red and had lots of foam, the bottle slowly oozed up with bubbles looking for my glass to escape to, aromas of wood, wine, sour apple, faint dark malt, sweet caramel and citrus spices, sour and sweet fragrances overlapping each other, citrus and malt tangled on the tongue, faint citrus fruit flavor, tart green grapes and wood taste, has a wine like presence in the mouth, lots of carbonation, as the ale warmed the alcohol emerged but was always in the background, it did not distract me from the flavors of the ale, some sips have a very faint berry flavor, small bite on the tongue and dry in the finish, interesting drink.

Bottle. My first of this type (biere de garde). La Roja was just not favorable in my opinion. Crazy head exploded from the bottle - have your glass ready. Aroma is sour, green apples - a bit winey. Taste follows. Just not really well balanced or smooth. Ehhh. Others have rated it high so I guess I’m off, possibly just not what I was expecting. An odd taste.

The color was amber with very deep red hues. The head was creamy and light beige. The aroma was alcohol, spice, sweet, caramel, and candy. The flavor was tart, candy, sweet, very complex, and fruity (especially apple). The palate was very nicely carbonated. The finish was warm and tart.

Pours a caramel brown with a medium light tan slightly frothy head. The aroma was very complex. Plums, candied fruits, caramel, sour cherries. Very reminiscent of a Flemish Sour Ale. The flavor imparts an initial sour harshness, with fermented grapes, glue/lacquer vapor, alcohol, and sour cherries. The palate was fairly dry, seems like there is more alcohol than there really is. I really enjoyed this beer. It tasted more like a Flemish Sour than I was expecting but I like those so it worked out well.

Clear copper with an overflowing head. Open this near a sink. Sour aroma of fruit, oak and leather. Taste is tangy; fruit and brett with a fair amount of sweet malt (caramel). Medium Body. Metallic finish.

Brown bottle, 1 pint 9,4 ouces, purchased on February 18 2007, savoured on April’s Fool 2007; eye: creamy and voluminous beige head that remains, amber with oak refllections, clear, light effervescence, lots of lacing; nose: oak is dominant, woody, chestnut, vinous, tannin, sour, caramelized and slightly spicy malt; mouth: oak, chestnut, woody, caramélized malt, tannin, sour green apple, light acidity, lightly fruity, slightly dry woody finale with a hint of sourness, lightly sour, a bit thinner that I would have liked, creamy texture, lightly bitter, medium body, not much carbonation; overall: nice FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 1 pinte 9,4 onces, 7,2 %, achetée le 18 février 2007, savourée le 1er avril 2007; oeil : mousse beige crémeuse volumineuse qui se maintient, ambrée avec des reflets chêne, claire, légère effervescence, dentelle; nez : chêne est nettement domainant, boisée, marron, vineux, tanin, sure, malt caramélisé et légèrement épicé; bouche : chêne, marrons, boisée, malt caramelisé, tanin, pomme verte sure, légère acidité, légèrement fruitée, finale boisée légèrement sèche avec une petite pointe surette, légèrement surette, un peu plus mince que j’aurais aimé, texture crémeuse, légèrement amère, corps moyen, peu carbonatée; en résumé : bien

Dark brown in color with medium cream head and nice lacing. Aroma was very strong and vinous, citric with grape notes. Flavor was just as strong, very sweet and sour. Lots of cherry, grape and fruit, with some maltyness.