Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial

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

Big ’ol bottle. Pours a hazy, dark copper with a small white head. The aroma is nicely tart with sweet notes tastefully melded in. I get some cheese, faint wood, a hint of esters like fruits, light caramel. The mouthfeel is just a bit fizzy and middle of the road between heavy and airy. A distinct tartness rings throughout each sip but never puckers aggressively. More cheesy flavor, some floral character, nice sweet citrus. A solid sweet foundation is present as well. This is really tastefully done.

Pours a cloudy brown with a foamy off-white head. Aroma is bretty and dry, sour flemish-esque. Tastes quite light and creamy with notes of cherry, chocolate, and a slight nutty & sour flemish finish. Creamy body, quite milky with decent carbonation. I could have gone for more assertive spice, though.

Batch #253: This was amber with tinges of red running through and a thin white head. The nose is tart and filled with spice along with some funk, tart cherry and a caramel sweetness toward the end. The palate is crisp and tart with a dry finish. The flavors tend toward sour apple with corriander and cinnamon. While nice, I definitely prefer the "old" JP’s with the circular label.

Bottle from Rozis. Pours a nice amber with red hues and a dense light beige retentive head. Aroma is wonderful and up front with notes of cherry, belgian funkiness, sourness, and sugary malts. Flavor of medium dark belgian malts, apple, and spice countered by a tame sourness and acidity. I pickup some chocolate in the background as well. Dry, dusty, and wood/sawdust finish. Interesting beer, but the finish was a bit distracting for me.

Sampled at the North Park Belgian Beer Party at my house on 3-29-08. Pours with an amber-brown body topped by a thin to medium thick, lasting head with a good amount of lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a bitter grassy note and a touch of spice. Medium bodied and well carbonated.

Pours red/brn. Sour aroma with spices. Flavor was a bit soapy. Very sour and bitter end.

Dark clear mahogany brown with orangish tint; thick frothy beige / cookie-dough colored head. Aroma - very spiced, some barnyard, wet leaves. Flavor - middling maltiness, spice, warmth, brown sugar, cinnamon? more spice, mild herbaceous bitterness, slight bretty house funk. Medium bodied; a little too fluffy. Quite tasty.

Mahogony colored body with a medium white head. Slightly sour apple aroma, though very apealing as I like sour stuff. Very nice taste, sour apple, malts with some lemon-lime and maybe some other fruit accents. Tending is lightly sour, with some almost green-grape taste eminating through.