Jolly Pumpkin Bière de Mars

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

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.

What an excellent brew- again Jolly Pumpkin continues to impress! This robust ale boast a thin lacing of caramel to compliment its fruity aroma. Excellent.

Deep ruby pour with a frothy white head. The color contrast looks gorgeous. Nose has layers of tart cherry, fresh wood, and a bit of wholesome barnyard funk. Flavor is bursting with tartness but is beautifully balanced by an amazing dried/preserved strawberry sweetness that I just cannot get enough of. Exceedingly smooth and drinkable, as the abv is spot on. Definitely my favorite from Jolly Pumpkin so far ... no contest.

2006 Vintage. An orangey-red color, lightly hazy with an uncharacteriscally Jolly Pumpkin, thin head that is bone white. Aroma is intense with rotting, sour cherries, oak, vanilla, coconut, and a red wine-like acidic overlay. Powerfully intense flavor profile. All of the aroma components are in the flavor with the oak showing freshness, lots of coconut, a solid sweetness, and a balancing tannic bite.

750ml bottle with a very cool label depicting the wind blowing a ship around. This beer was an opaque red color with a thin white head resting across the top. The smell was really good and made me think of fruit, especially cherries. The taste was cherries, tart, sour, but not overpowering.I’m not sure I tasted the oak. I especially liked the mouthfeel as the carbonation seemed bubbly and perfect for this beer. This beer just got better and better as it warmed. I have been consistently impressed by the Jolly Pumpkin beers and I am glad they came to Colorado. This beer was excellent and worth the price of admission. 05/10/08 batch 256 I was a little disappointed that the price went up to $14.99 but since this is my favorite JP beer I caved. This was every bit as good as I remembered from last year. Tart smell, nice sour cherry flavor, some oak this time, the sourness is perfect. This is so easy to drink and a wonderful beer. Still my favorite from JP. 01/25/09 2007 bottle thanks to moejuck Smells acidic like tomatos or ketchup, slight bit of oak and funk, smells really good. Tart but not sour, very easy to drink, subtle flavors, might be better fresh but it holds up well after 20 months or so. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 06-06-2007 14:55:19

Pours brown with a tan head. Smells of light sourness, wood, spices, some citrus, cherries, sugary. Taste is moderately sour with a very nice wraming oakiness on the finish. As the beer warms, fruity elements pop in. Mouthfeel is thick and tarte.

Bottle: Burgundy-red with a wonderfully fluffy and lasting head. Very inviting nose had elements of yeast, citrus and spice. Yeast notes were especially great to smell. Mouthfeel was really nice. Lively carbonation at first, but it mellowed to perfection. Texture was chewy and smooth. Finish was dry and not cloying. Wheaty malts had only a slight sweetness, which offset the bitterness very nicely. In the background there was oak, dried apricot and tart raspberries. Tartness was perfect, btw. What a wonderfully pleasant beer. Very nice.

Although this beer is not recieving much praise, I completely disagree; it’s a great beer. Wonderful tart fruit flavors, intermingled with bitter organic and vegetable notes. The sourness is beautiful. Very nice.