Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

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

Just a little sour. Very much in the biere de garde style with a yeast common to these beers. Spicy, herbal character. Some fruit and lots of yeast. It doesn’t do anything to blow me away but it very solid.

Thanks to joebrew for sharing. Plenty of head on this gold colored pour. This bottle didn’t exploded like the last JP we opened, which was a pleasant surprise. Excellent spicy nose with some nutmeg, cinnamon, and something I don’t recognize. Ripe fruit taste.

Medium brown with a small white head. Great sour nose with a starburst like sweetness. Great spicy nutmeg, cinnamon, on the mid-palate with a great ripe fruit edge to it. There is a spice I can’t decipher, but it is great nonetheless. Killer dry finish with a good lingering effect. Great beer.

Shared bottle at Uber. Hazy amber with big head. Mild sweetness. Actually, pretty mild everything. Light yeast and musty flavor....a good drinker, but not very overwhelming. A little bit of sour fruit. Not what I expected.

Pours a deep, cloudy amber with a thick, flat, light tan head. The aroma is sweet with melon, tart fruit, bubble gum, and grass. The flavor starts sweet and malty with some fruit. The middle of the tongue detects a slight amount of acid and some funk (brett?) along with other malt flavors like caramel and toffee. The finish picks up very complex flavors: hints of vanilla, lots of fruit (melon, banana), more grassy brettonamyces funk, and hints of acid that is very mild at first but leaves an after-taste like balsamic vinegar around the teeth and edges of the tongue. The finish is somewhat dry with a fruity malt flavor that intensifies into the after-taste. There are also hints of sherry in the finish and after-taste. The mouthfeel is quite nice - light with a very lively carbonation, but also creamy and not biting. Overall, not much like a typical Bière de Garde - it would be more appropriately labeled an Oud Bruin.

third bottle, and same notes... I’m not sure if it’s intended, but all three bottles were sour. Orange color, good carbonation. just hard to get past a sour BDG, as they are not supposed to be sour!

My first biere de garde. It’s hard to pin point what this style is about. Pour was a beautiful medium brown with a nice 2 finger off white head. Aroma of must and fruit. Taste of orange, spices and ginger (?). Heavy carbonation rounds this beer out. Uneventful and not exciting, however I don’t have anything to compare it to

Jolly Pumpkin Biere de Mars 750 ml bottle Released 04/07, idealized 05/07. Moderate pour in a beer mug (it’s all I had :( Poured a clear brown with a huge frothy to rocky fully lasting head with excellent lacing. Smelt of strong sour brett and citrus, and moderate leather, oak, toasted malt, spices. Taste was upfront strong sour brett, orange lemon zest, moderate oak and toasted malt followed by a strong horseblanket sourness and leathery oakiness on a long finish. Palate was light to medium bodied, lively carbonated, watery on a dry finish, lightly to moderately puckering. Overall, this one kind of took me by surprise. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the sourness is not over the top and the oak balance is way above par. There isn’t anything to hate in this one.