Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca

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

This is an excellent wit, prolly the best one I’ve ever had. Nice and spicy with a good mouthfeel. Very balanced and refreshing. Good Stuff.

Huge, voluminous white head which takes some time to settle. Spicy, slightly bretty aroma with some unbuttered popcorn. Slight perfume hints as well, and somewhat, uh, footy. Flavor begins at fist as a delicately pastry-like doughiness, followed by a rather harsh tartness. Substantial bitterness covers over a prominent lemoniness. All this, combined with a strong carbonation makes for quite an in-you-face beer. Tarty and bitter doesn’t work amazingly well for me.

12oz bottle. very pale and light, not hazy at all. not over carbinated like some bottles of this stuff. i think this was a little too fresh because i’ll i can taste is coriander and banana. aroma has a lot of banana in it too. finishes dry and peppery. i’ve had bottles of this that i liked a lot more, so i ’ll have to rerate after i age for a few months.6/3/6/2/10=2.5

6/15/07, bottle. i forgot to take notes but i found this beer around when clearing out my cellar. wow i enjoyed this bottle a lot more. very fresh and fruity, funky, and a real joy to drink. 7/4/7/4/15=3.7.

4/21/08, it’s a been awhile since i’ve had this but i found some 12oz singles at a store and good thing since this has been discontinued in 12oz format. pours hazy light golden with white head. bottle is probably 6-12months old. a big bretty lemony aroma. wonderful. flavors are dry lemon drop sour and a touch of wheat. okay so there’s no orange peel and coriander and this is bretty funktastic making this way out of style but who cares, it’s in awesome JP fashion. i love it and could drink it constantly.3.9.

cloudy white beer with a medium sized white head. lemony aroma. woody citrus flavors. not really much else. hard to find the spices.

What a fine beer from a fine brewery. Pours cloudy light orange with an enormous uneven sudsy white head. The aroma has more coriander than most wits - offsetting it is smoothness from the wheat and a hint of orange. Medium / light body that is very crisp with some very smooth carbonation complimenting the sharp biting taste. The taste starts with sour yeast as many Jolly Pumpkins do, there is also a good amount of coriander and some citrus bite. The finish has a ton of coriander and even more sharpness. This comes across as a cross between a wit and biere de garde, which isn’t surprising since this is from Jolly Pumpkin. Excellent wit. <P> Rerate notes: The aroma has what’s listed above, but also some notes from the barrel aging. There is some dry orange in there, quite a bit of graininess and some oak. While it is quite a bit more expensive than other wits, it is so unique and interesting that I don’t feel ripped off. Cheers to Jolly Pumpkin for this fantastic beer.

Bottle. Pours cloudy golden color with massive white head and huge lacing. Aroma is oak, floral, orange, wheat. Flavor is oak, floral, sweet orange, spice. Palate is light, dry, super crisp and tart, higly carbonated. Love this!

The brew is aged in oak casks and then re-fermented in a bottle. Gold color with a large white head. Strong smell of oak and wheat. Somewhat sweet taste, floral, and oaky, with a tart dry finish. Refreshing. Very nice lighter beer.

Bottle. Clear honey-gold color with a big, frothy white head. Spicy aroma (orange peel and the coriander are apparent), apples, yeast, light hops, sweet malts. Quite sweet smelling, and tasting. More spices, very sweet, light hops, pronounced tartness. Floral and tropical. Dry finish. Very bubbly on the tongue. A nice beer, light and sweet, but I think it’s just a less balanced version of the oro de calabaza.