Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Bière de Garde
Dexter, Michigan USA

Pours rather boisterously a ruby gold color with massive 1-inch dense sudsy head. Cider-sour on the nose, flowery and bitter-citrusy; seems more like a gueze than a biere de garde. More sourness on the tongue, crisp carbonation quickly cleans the palate leaving surprisingly strong medicinal hoppy bitterness on the palate. Grapefruit and melon pop out on the tongue, along with dusty spices and metallic tinges. Light body, yet heavy carbonation fills the mouth quite quickly. Alcohol is well buried. I can imagine this being very refreshing on a summer deck. Impressive depth for an American brew.

Bottle courtesy of unclejedi. Thank you, sir. This has been one of my most wanted beers for quite a while, very excited to finally try it.Pours a really nice looking amber/orange body, tons of carbonation shooting up from the bottom of the glass. Huge, pillowy white head, very sudsy and soapy looking. Unbelievable lacing all over the glass, I don’t see how a beer of this style could look any better, so I have to give it a 5. Nose is tremendous, lots of flower petals, various spices, yeast, barnyard funk, oranges, lemons, apples and pears. I’m probably shorting it by not giving it a 9, but for some reason I can’t quite go there. Flavor brings a ton of oak into play that I really couldn’t get in the aroma, along with the wonderful sour fruits and yeasts that were present in the nose. Medium bodied, lively carbonation. Very refreshing, even when we were freezing our asses off. Finishes crisp and bitter, also with a nice sour note to round things out. Wonderful beer, criminally underrated I think.

750 ml bottle. Poured a slightly hazy dark orange color. Head was tall, rocky, and off white with good retention. Aroma was of sour fruit with a hint of oak. Very tart and effervescent on the tongue. The acidity tapers off somewhat but lingers a while. Tasted of oak and sour fruits with toasted bread and graham cracker in the background. I was initially disappointed, but the beer improved as it warmed a bit and was given a chance to breathe.

Sample, at the Mondial de la bière, savoured June 2 2006; eye: "thick", suspended matter, caramel with a tiny white head; nose: scotch, wood, dill; mouth: dill, resinous, grape juice, full body, lightly carbonated FRANÇAIS Échantillon, bue au Mondial de la bière, savourée le 2 juin 2006; oeil : « épaisse », matière en suspension, caramel avec une petite mousse blanche; nez : scotch, bois, aneth; bouche : aneth, résineux, jus de raisin, corsée, légèrement carbonatée

Cloudy brown/ruby, light tan head. Nose is JP funk, earth, musty cherries. Flavor is must, leafy malt, sour cherries, oak, lemon. Tart/sour with a leafy malt finish.

Rerate. I didn’t realize I had rated this one. 750mL bottle, no date. Clear orange brown with a creamy two finger yellowish white head, great retention--I don’t know how it could look better. Nose has plenty of caramel and funky brett with some dry oakiness in the background. Digging a little further the fruitiness (didn’t I mention fruitiness?) presents itself as white grapes and tart cherries. Flavor continues with not a ton of acidity, but enough to keep the caramel sweetness at bay (ha! I said the same damn thing in my old rating). There is also kind of a buttery caramel note--much like I get in New Glarus’ Unplugged Belgian Quadruple. Dry low to moderately bitter (3 out of 10) lingering earthy finish. Once this got to room temperature there the alcohol was just noticeable. Moderate carbonation--lightly tingly yet also creamy--with a medium body. I very much enjoyed this. 7-5-8-4-15--3.9 Old rating. Can’t remember if I bought or traded for this. 750mL, no date. Hazy orange with hints of brown and a 2 1/2 finger light beige head, very nice retention--glad this didn’t asplode when I opened it, which I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with a few times with JP. Aroma of sour apple flesh, dry oak, a fair amount of barnyard funk, leathery brett, and a wonderful bready sweetness that helps keep the sourness at bay. Flavor adds a fitting buttery note to the brett that fits very well. This doesn’t seem to be as tart or sour as JP’s other offerings, and that’s fine with me. Still some tart apple notes, plenty of dry oak, light spices and alcohol are the only other notable additions. Fairly fruity with minimal bitterness and some earthy elements. Moderate carbonation with a medium body. Very good beer. Ah, yes--I picked this up at the Blue Maxx during the RBSG. 8-5-8-4-16--4.1 The average of the two is a 4.0, which I’ll change in the overall.

Trade from jasonmech77. Deep amber beer with a light haziness. Aroma is just incredible, earthy funkiness with a soft leathery dustiness. There is a surprisingly prominent red grape sweetness. Much less of the lemony citrus that I normally asociate with Jolly Pumpkin, but still maintaining a distinct house character. The acidity is quite restrained here, letting the soft earthy malts come through. Definitely more balanced than other JP beers. Softly bready but also insistently fruity. Red wine with soft spiciness on the back. Really nice beer.

750 ml bottle shared at Glouglouburps rooftop tasting. Poured a slightly hazy orangey/amber/brown with a tight white bubbly head. Aroma of wood, sour fruit and some nice funkiness. Dry medium palate. Flaovr is very tart with notes of sour fruit and wood with a sligh kick of funkiness. This style is slowly growing on me.