Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Popped a gusher! Didn’t manage to lose too much. Appealing aroma, with sour cherries and pits, some fruitcake, brandy, perhaps calvados. Dark orangey-brown color with a foaming head; cloudy with some solid particulates. Palate is rather dry and slightly astringent, seemingly tannic. Fair amount of sourness, but there’s still a light caramelized sweetness hiding in there for balance. Finish is dry and a touch bitter (the latter detracts). Nice complexity, but a slightly flawed beer.

Gorgeous red color with a totally retained off white head. Aroma is subtle, refined and has notes of medium fruit, caramel, and yeast. Flavor is also subtle with sour hints and a bit of malt sweetness; lightly acidic and effervescent. I continue to enjoy Jolly Pumpkin Ales.

Bottle@GBBF07. Complex aroma, light sweet, oak, appel, raisin, alcoholic. Hazy, light brown, beige head, good lace. Sweet & sour, pepper, oak, fruity, tart. Spiced like a saison. Very complex stuff but not out of balance and nice.

Bottle (2008, blend 7). Head is initially huge, frothy, off-white to light brown, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium to dark amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted grain/bread), lightly hoppy (herbs), moderately yeasty (cobwebs, barnyard), with notes of bark, autumn leaves, clove, light note of cherry. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, lighlty alcoholic. Another solid rustic ale from JP...but then, they’re pretty much all this caliber. Go Ron!

Glistening ruby. Thick ivory foam spackle throws sticky lace all over the glass. Red plums, raisins, and walnuts with lighter scents of cedar and leathery yeast. More vinous than it is whiskeyish, with gobs of fruity esters and tannins masking the vanilla and oak. Dense, creamy body. Perfect for its size. Immediate rush of alcohol floods the palate, underpinned by soft bready malts and coconut. Trace plum acidity briefly deters the sweetness, but the alcohol continues to overwhelm the potential array of subtleties. Juicy hop driblets exude, but to a very minimal effect. Body is thick, but elegant, with their savory, tongue-coating hallmark yeast stamp and fresh coconut textures. Yeast and persistent, but understated, cakey malts continue to coat the tongue, which suppress the chocolate and slight tannic tingle. Notes of cask wood [cedar] leave a lasting impression and try to dry it out, but the sweet bourbon and peppery alcohol inevitably return. More hop bitterness would impart more body and better withstand the sweetness. And less bourbon would reveal more phenols and fruity esters. It’s unfortunate that such a beautiful beer lies underneath, but goes practically unnoticed, due to the overemphasized bourbon-aging. However, I’m a sucker for their yeast, and this does show some nice tannic restraint. Pleasant dessert brew.

Slightly sour but malty aroma. It’s a spicey aroma. The color varies with light from brownish amber to ripe apricot. The white head goes quickly, but there’s enough carbonation to toss a little lacing around the edges. Starts tart, maybe a bit sour, fine carbonation, stone fruit and oak. The sour could be a brettomycean thing, but, if so, it’s not all that sour. It is reminiscent of Russian River products though. The finish is dry and woody. For sipping in large sips.

Pours an orange/red color with a thick and foamy light beige head. Lacing is pretty minimal. Loads of spices in the aroma, as well as caramel and vanilla. Medium-bodied and sour at first but nicely rounded out with sweet fruit and malt. There is a light alcohol singe too. The finish is lively with spice and toasted malt. Pretty enjoyable.

Sampled from a 750 mL bottle at the Brewers Supply Group GABF Kickoff Party in Denver. Light hazy, warm amber body with a filmy, moderately persistent off-white head. Smells like the inside of an old wooden horse barn. Nice malt character suggests good maple syrup. Flavor is malty, mostly dry and woody with a mix of phenolic and hop bitterness in the finish. Good texture with tingly carbonation. Very pleasant beer.