Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Batch 931 Bottled 12-02-11 P: Gushed once the top was popped and tumbled into a murky burnt sienna body. Head has moderate retention and presented itself as a mound of dense frothy cappuccino that settled to a bubbly big with filmy lacing. S: Astringent medicinal aroma, chocolate oranges, funky basement yeast, sour dough bread, moldy rye, foam shoe polisher with mink oil, and faint whiffs of tropical fruit bubblicious. T/M: Taste comes off as a Flemish with sour lemon tea flavor that brings a spiced lemon pinesol essence that coats the palate like cooking oil. Funky basement brett, old leather, oak, cayenne pepper, and berries. Burnt cocoa, very faint cinnamon, linger in the background. Moderate body with spicy carbonation. O: An interesting beer to say the least. I was unsure about this from the first taste but as it warmed it began to grow on me. Funky and tart but not as spiced as I expected. It’s not a fantastic beer but I like the approach Jolly Pumpkin took on this. Probably wouldn’t buy it again considering the price.

Bottle. Pours a hazy brown color with a thick off-white head that disappears quickly. Nose seems a bit light to me, though I get some of the spiciness coming through. Taste is slightly sweet up front, but with a bit of sourness in the finish.

Crispy, tart, dark, slightly bitter. Tiny bit of sweetness. Refreshing if you want a dark beer on a hot day.

Bottle, shared between a few of us. Medium hazy brown with a lively tan head. Aroma is not as sour as most JP beers I’ve tried-- the cocoa is readily evident here, like a dry cocoa powder. The palate shows the trademark lactic sourness (love it or hate it, can’t escape it -- I love it), but the cocoa and spices are easily found and combine to make a really intriguing flavour profile. Moderately carbonated, bordering on lively. The more I drank, the more this really grew on me. Oddly quenching and filling both at the same time.

Bottle. Moderate grain and hay for the malt, perfume and grass for the hops, light mustiness for the yeast, with notes of apple, red wine, wood and vinegar. Head is small, frothy, light beige with a few spots of lacing and good legs, and is mostly diminishing. Color is murky, medium red/brown. Flavor starts heavily acidic, then finishes faintly sweet, moderately acidic and lightly bitter. Palate is medium, oily with a fizzy carbonation and has a tart finish. It’s nice how the flavors unfold in a sequence in this tasty Belgian Strong Ale.

Medium brown pour with a white head. Aroma is full of dark fruit with some toffee thrown in. The flavor is similar. I get a lot of caramel and chocolate notes, as well as some tart apples, oak and a bit of funk. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

pours murky amber with thin semi tan head. nice aroma of tart green apples and pears. taste is slight tangy apricot and apples, slight hop finish.

Bottle. Pours a hazy brown with a finger of white head. Settles in minutes with sheets of thin lacing. Aroma is tart/sour, lactic, mildly oaky, vinous, and fruity. Flavor is moderately tart, lactic, slightly vinous, with a moderately boozy finish. Alcohol is not particularly well masked. The cocoa and spices didn’t come through, masked by the tartness. Flavor gets more vinous, tart, and bitter as it warms. Moderate carbonation, medium body, crisp texture, a moderately astringent, warm, and oily finish. A moderately sour and boozy brown ale, very pleasant but hardly worth the price. Maybe shouldn?t be classified as a sour, but it is definitely not a belgian strong ale either.

Bottle pours burnt caramel with a medium white head. Aroma is dominated by Brett acidity. Tastes like a sour brown ale without any of the characteristic sweetness. Some hints of cinnamon and brown sugar on the aftertaste if you can look past the sour yeast flavor.

Amber coloured and clear. Has a white head, lasting. Acidic aroma, fruity too, red berries, faint wood. Flavor is acidic too, light sweet, moderate bitter. Dry texture, light astringent.