Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars Grand Reserve

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

Aroma: earthiness, woodiness, sour, some dark fruits
Appearance: muddy brown, very small head
Flavor: oak barrels, wood, minerals, lactic, sourness, sour cherries, dark fruits
Palate: very tart, very sour, prickley at back of throat
Overall: Probably the best beer they make by far!

Hazy dark red-orange pour with a nice tan head. Intense sour aroma. Lots of funk with some grape and apple. Woody and musty. Very sour flavor with intense fruitiness. Creamy finish with some spicy bite and funk. A little bit of sweetness to it. Fantastic! Thanks Ryan!

What an amazing treat. This beeris delcious!!! Pours a deep auburn color with small fizzy headup top. Nose breaths bourbon, sourness, cider like notes, cherry, just fantastic. Flavors are dominated by the sour funk, cherry, light fruitiness. And it certainly goes down really easy. A damn fine brew.

Thanks to Schroppfy for the gift. This beer is amazing. Beautiful red color, quickly dissipating small head. Fruity, acetic aroma with some oak and vanilla in the background. Excellent intense sourness and touch of oak balanced by a firm malt presence. Great mouthfeel. Some similarities to La Folie, primarily in the acetic qualities. This beer is just plain amazing. The only thing that would make this beer better would be a touch more carbonation and a longer lasting head. Who cares though?! It’s incredible as it is!

12oz bottle thanks to Schroppfy. Pours a deep bloody brown and purple color, soft yet heavy and strong in appearance, almost intimidating. Amazingly vibrant and deep nose, the red wine-scented oak tannins and light note of sweet bourbon hit the nose, followed quickly by an assertive, rich, and deep hit of acidic sour funk. Plums, light char, dry oak tannins, the flavor of mushy red wine grapes, the flavor of old wood, it’s one of the most miraculous things I’ve ever tasted, there’s little doubt. The full-bodied, frothy sourness washes through the entire body, part playing a role of a Flemish Red, but a bigger part going experimental, combining things never before seen together in one beer. Incredible.

Bottle from Styles. Thanks VERY much. The beer wanted very much to come out of the bottle. I had to put my thumb over the top. Fortunately, it was just a little extra carbonation and had no trouble after 10 seconds. The beer pours to a red-hued brownish body that’s hazy, carbonated, and has a dense off-white head. It irradiates a glowing feel. The aroma is lemons, cherries, brettanomyces, pie. Interesting and nicely balanced. I wouldn’t say Bière de Garde at all. More of a Flemish Sour mixed with an Old Ale given the aroma. Either way, it’s really good. The flavor is oak, dry leather, very-light bourbon, orange peel, pepper, tart cherries, floral hops. I sampled this at room temperature. Thank goodness too. So many components of this might have been muddled by coldness. I agree with Mike, this is perfect. The palate is tart, medium-bodied, very easy drinking. Warming feel even at only 7%. Yet again, Jolly Pumpkin makes me a very happy person.

Thanks Chris for the hookup, served in my NB worthy glass: The brew pours a crimson imbued brown with a small tight fizzy head and very good lace. The nose detects brett and horseblanket, cherry and plum, tannin, rye and biscuit malt, mild cardamon and clove, and just a hit and run of bourbon, smell very inviting.

WOW, I was worried this would have become a brett sour bomb but it has kept just enough of it’s past life to make me really enjoy the new infusion of oak and bourbon which was done light handed, oh so YUMMY! Tart when it has to be and dry and flowery the next go around. THIS IS MORE A FLEMISH SOUR and a DAMN GOOD ONE!!! Some spice and even a bit a earthly yeast is noted as well. The mouth feel is light , airy and refreshing, much more approachable than many "sour" beers.

This is it Ron, please don’t over do that aging, this is what I want....I NEED MORE!
Oh, Thanks again Chris.

Batch 65 - thanks to mibirder for this - very turbid amber beer, with a thick, fizzy lace - the stereotypical JP funk is there to greet the nose, in oh such beautiful proportion to the other characteristics of soft oak, fruit skins, vanilla - soft carbonation - funky and acidic, but never to the point of being overly acetic, which is tough to do - just mouth-watering tartness - some strong oak and vanilla sit on top of some tropical fruit and baked apple sweetness, adding a nice balance to the acidity, and light leathery character on the back end - the sweetness wears off in time for the finish, with lingering oak and tannic character rounding things out - this beer is fantastic - certainly the best JP beer I’ve ever had.