Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Dexter, Michigan USA

Bottle. Pours hazy gold with a thin bright white head. Pleasant sweet and sour aroma. Hints of orange peel, pineapple, sour yeast and new oak. Lively carbonation. Very refreshing flavor profile. Decent amount of dry hops and yeast with some citrus sweetness and some lemon zest sourness. Hints of bananas as well. Excellent summer beer.

Almost clear yellow body with a small white head. For a witbier the nose is very funky, like someone poured some gueuze in a classic witbier. First impression when drinking it is that it reminds me of their wonderful Bam Biere. Similar intense fruity tartness and sourness but without the support of the Bam Biere body. Very lemony, pineapples and all kind of tropical fruits, dry orange peels, many spices including the classic coriander, even some dandelions. So far so good, so far so very good actually. But it gets better. Next comes a woody/barrel character that leads to a dry finish and this is what makes it stand out. A the beer warms-up the woody/barrel flavours begin to take over the fruity notes. Oily body with a medium-soft carbonation. Very flavourful and complex by witbier standards. The only problem with the beer is the similarities with the superior Bam Biere. A 750ml goes by more quickly than a 16 year-old backstage after a New Kids On The Block concert.

12oz bottle - Pours out with a small white head. You can really smell the orange spice and coriander. Taste has a bit of the spice their, too. Refreshing, had this on a hot day and found it to be really nice. Not the best of the style and a little pricey, but a good try.

12 oz. bottle from AJ’s (Tucson) - Pours a hazy light golden color with a 1/2 finger thick white head. Very light spotty lacing. Aroma is light citrus, spice, and light yeast. Flavor is bitter and almost sour (Lambic like). Not what I was expecting for a Wit. Light body. Worth a try, I guess.

In general... meh... I had puirchased the bottle about 6 months ago, and maybe it’s better fresh, but at this point the brett funk had taken over the aroma and flavor. The appearance was spot on, but the flavor and aroma elements were all about the funk. Tasty beer, maybe better fresh.

Bottle. Not much aroma to speak of. Soapy white head. Picked up the orange and coriander, also the sour / funk that is Jolly Pumpkin. Not a bad beer, but not my favorite Wit.

750 mL bottle. Hazy honey yellow with big fluffy white head. Aroma of citrus, spice and yeast. Initially lively palate. Taste orange and yeasty with the coriander showing through toward the end. Has a clean finish with almost no lingering taste, but it does develop a good tartness as it warms.

From bottle in Hoegaarden glass. Pours very pale, cloudy orange with orange-tinted-white, lasting head with nice lacing, definitely a nice appearance. Surprisingly light tart orange and spice aroma. Flavor is pleasantly tart, like other JP beers, but the tartness in this one seems to overwhelm the other subtle flavors of orange, spice, and wheat. These flavors seem a little more present as the beer warms up a bit. Body is light-medium as it should be, very slightly overcarbonated giving it a bite on the tongue in the finish. A very refreshing brew that I would drink again, but the refreshing tartness is a little much in such a subtle and delicate style.