Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars Grand Reserve

Formerly brewed at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Sour Ale
Dexter, Michigan USA

Bottle, hooked up by Tronraner. Pours red with tons of floaties. The aroma is very sour with true vinegar, musty basement, oak, grapes, grass. Carbonation is lively. The flavor has hints at cranberries, cheese, vinegar, oak. This is one solid beer. I’m surprised to see this is bourbon aged, I don’t get any flavors that would lead me to guess that.

Bottle, thanks to 2009 Summer Secret Santa, shared with NachlamSie. I’ve been looking forward to this one. Pours a dark rust color with a finger of beige head. The aroma is musty funk, currant, oak, sweet rye bread, some brett, and lots of vinous nuances. The flavor is oak, white wine, currant, and a pleasant farmy tartness. Some vanilla, honey, and grass notes come out with time. The finish is quite dry and clean. Extremely good beer, I wish I had more.

Bottle batch 65 courtesy of styles. Oak wooden barrel along with lot of sour for aroma. Caramel colored body held to light a firery orange and this disapating head on pour. Flavor had some serious sour pucker to it. Sour pears and abundane of tart to go along with some cotton candy. A good candy caramel from last three swigs a plesant suprise. Leaves the palate sour tart and dry. Thanks Chris.

Bottle... Poured amber with an off-white head. Tart and oaky. A little bit of an alcohol warmth and a grainy, puckering finish.

16 month bottle thanks to kryptic!
Pours a little darker than the original, still semi-transparent mahogany with a beige head, slightly smaller. The bourbon knocks out some of the fruity nose of the regular and creates a creamier, more simple profile, but there is still ample brett influence in lemon, also some light wood and similar spice. The harmony in the brett-bourbon marriage is very impressive and is present in the nose and flavor. Mouth also is a hint sweeter, slightly more vanilla and bourbon to add to the tart notes. Very woody, also some refreshing lemon. Carbonation is lower, which is better given that it doesn’t compete with the flavor. Shorter finish due to the lack of the fruit, but definite brett influence here as well. Overall still great, but I think the fruit qualities of the regular are lost here, and unfortunately the beer becomes less interesting as a result.

shared a 12 oz bottle with MereLikesBeer. This stuff, as epic as I thought it was going to be, really didn’t blow me away. Yes, it was very aromatic, and intensely sour and complex, but to me, it was too much like their La Roja, and I think there should be a little more variety in JP’s brews. If you get the chance though, you should get check this out. Cheers! Happy 250th beer rating!!

Yet another exceptional beverage from the great people at Jolly Pumpkin. This is my third from them, and clearly not my last. I picked up a bottle of this with my friend BeerBaron617 a few days ago at the brewery and were waiting for our 50th (my 50th and his 250th) to rate! So...Here it goes! This poured a great dark amber and there was quite a bit of sediment hanging out in the glass. The head quickly went away but was a light tan color to begin with. Smelled like a nice red wine with dark fruit aromas. Super oak aroma - very woody. Very carbonated but leaves a sweet flavor in my mouth and it’s really juicy. I am really happy I had the opportunity to try this out. Cheers to Jolly Pumpkin.

Bottle thanks to Scott. Pours a deep burgundy with a soapy head. Nice oak aromas, with some brown sugar and darker fruits. Big oak up front, typical of the better aged Jolly Pumpkins. Finish is long and sour, with a little heat from the bourbon. Carbonation is a tad high, even for me. Some burnt candies and tobacco start to appear. This is an interesting take with the bourbon, and it’s quite good. But these weird off flavors kind of keep creeping up in the finish. Not perfect but interesting and solid.