Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca

The perfect match for my tastes, I instantly fell in love. An appreciation for it’s old-world brewing style and oak-aging make revealing the subtle hints Curacao and coriander that much better. I am truly inspired by this ale.

cask at Happy Gnome. Pours a cloudy yellow/gold with a thin white head. Aroma of wheat, citrus and a bit of spice. Nice funky cellar flavor to go along with the tart wheat and spice. Very light and good on a hot day.

Pours a hazy gold-orange color, it is topped by a frothy off white, creamy head that is held up by an ample carbonation. The aroma is spicy with orange peel dominating, but there are notes of ginger, pepper, a hint of musty cobwebs, earthy coriander, and a bright citrus acidity. The aroma is quite nice.

The beer is nice and light on the palate. It starts with a citrusy orange character and finishes with a bright acidity, that moves to an herbal perhaps woody tannic note. There is a nice light wheat character here that mixes well with the other refreshing components of this beer. This really is quite well done actually, at first it seems like a straight up Belgian Wit, but there are subtle notes of complexity here, and I do believe that there is perhaps a bit more acidity than is typical of the more simplistic Witbiers out there. This beer has lots of good spiciness to it as well, I get notes of ginger, pepper, coriander. I like that the coriander is used correctly in this beer, it is not too strong and the earthy-herbal note that is typical of overly-spiced versions is held nicely in check.

This is definitely one of the best Belgian Wits that I have had, I am a sucker for a good Wit, but I think that this has struck a really nice balance. It is bright, citrusy, and quite refreshing, yet it has some subtle complexity to it, but not so much that it gets in the way of this beer being refreshing like it should. Hopefully the barrels that this beer is aged in will be properly inoculated, because this could use a bit more funky complexity to it, that would definitely make this beer perfection in the glass come late spring to summer time. This is by far the best beer from Jolly Pumpkin that I have had, This is in fact just a world class example of this style, and I hope this brewery can get their Barrels going such that all of their beers can get to this level.

Bottled, poured in a dimpled mug. The color of JPCB is a washed out light yellow. It has a large creamy head that doesn’t leave a lot of lacing. The aroma is tart with a hint of wood and cooked yellow hominey. This is a wonderfully refreshing beer with just the right amount of citrus tart balanced with a surprising smoothness. There is a lambic-like taste that makes me think of wild yeast. The finish is quick and dry. This is an excellent Jolly Pumpkin beer and one of my favorite wits.

All I can say is WOW. This is some unreal sh**. Poured with an enourmous white head, a slight hazy golden color. Awesome aroma that smelled of oranges and cloves and corriander. Not at all heavy in the mouth, nicely fizzy and finishes with a nice tartness. Very Very good stuff.