Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Something of a disappointment at the festival. It poured a flat golden brown. The aroma had a touch of JP funk over a light fruitiness and mild spicing. In flavor it seemed like a watered down Christmas ale brewed with tired malts. I’m surprized that my rating is so high.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/events-detail.asp?eve of Barrel Aged Beers, Chicago, IL 11/03/2007<font size=-1>

Draft, pours dark and clear. Off white tan head. Raisin nut aroma. Overcomplicated beer, there is too much going between the number of flavors (plum, rum, raisin), and the medium to higher alcohol.

Pours a hazy dark color, beige head. Aroma of barnyard, hay, raisins and plums. Flavor has some spiciness to it, sour flavors with oak, earthy flavor, fig and raisin. Interesting beer

"Enjoyed this with friends at a tasting event in a Riedel Snifter. We had this at room temperature and letting the beer breathe really brought out the flavors A - Three finger head that was cream colored. It’s a deep brown Belgian Strong ale with no fingers on the glass and no light showing through. Very nice to look at. S - Bread, Cinnamon, Vanilla and Figs. The dark fruits here were nice. T - Woodiness, malt, hops anda spiciness. There was some spice that threw me off a bit and I didn’t like it. Like they put pepper seeds in the beer or something. I’m getting some metallic taste like copper. M - Lost of bubbles but not overly heavy to drink all in one sitting. O - Interesting beer for sure. It’s pretty sour and bitter with too much spice but a nice array of dark fruits. If you find one, pick it up."

A - pours dark cola brown with high long lasting head that laces. S - aromas of sour yeasts and chardonnay oak barrels. Hints of sweet pickle and barnyard funk M - medium bodied sour beer. Dryish ending. T - sour Chardonnay and oak through out. Hints of yeasts, barnyard funk and lemons. O - very good dark sour beer. 6+\7- ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

UPDATED: JAN 29, 2012 Color:Dark brown Aroma:Saddle Body:Medium sourness, barn, salde Finish: Dry Mouth-feel:Complex

Chocolate aroma. Shoeshine, cedar, strong bubblegum flavor, with a mild malty aftertaste.

Poured into a snifter. Batch 903, Bottled on 10-3-2011. 3.5 A: First pour gave me a hell of a lot of head. Minutes later, I got my glass full. Opaque plum brown color. Three fingers of beige creamy/frothy head. Retention is good and moderate amounts of nonuniform lacing is left. Yeast particulates accumulate at bottom of glass. 4.0 S: This wouldn’t be a JP brew if some bugs didn’t find their way into the oak barrels. Mild lactic sourness that gives a fruity tart apple, cherry, and unripened plum vibe. Mild earthy and hay funk to accompany. Very light oak with a mild generic spiciness. Not all that malty despite the bottle telling me it would be. Some toastiness and some hints of dark caramel malts. 3.5 T: Very interesting. Starts out with some tangy lactic fruitiness in the form of peach, wild apple, and unripened plum and cherry. Funk is again earthy with hay, horse, and rotting wood. More spice than in the nose and more dark caramel and maybe some dark candi sugar as well. Good, but the spiciness doesn’t work all that well with the sour and funk components, though the peppery portion does. 3.5 M: Lighter medium body. A good bit too much carbonation, which I put in check with some swirling. Smooth. 3.5 D: Unique beer. There’s some stuff I liked and some that I didn’t. In any case, I understand why this costs $13, but I don’t think it’s worth the price to purchase again. Worth a try though. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-30-2011 10:03:03

Bottle at Nighthawk Diner Brown muddy/ruby color, medium offwhite head. Can’t leave the bottle fast enoough, so the aroma stayed with me (or rather my pants) the whole evening. Sour aroma with apple, raisins, taste of brown sugar, berries, and sourness from fermentation, spicy. good carbonation, rather shy finish