Jolly Pumpkin Diabolical IPA

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Dexter, Michigan USA

Bottle: The aroma is rather light and consists of caramel, roasted grain, and light citrus hops. It pours a dark and slightly hazy amber with a half inch off-white head with decent retention and lacing. The flavor starts with a light-moderate amount of caramel and a hint of fruit. There is some roastiness in the background. The finish has moderate amounts of pine and grapefruit bitterness. Medium bodied with soft carbonation and a soft (almost creamy) mouthfeel. The brewer should be listed as North Peak Brewing Company, as that is who it’s bottled under.

On tap at the brewpub. Definitely an English style IPA, not the typical super hoppy american IPA. More like an ESB. Bread and caramel malts overpower some light floral hops. Not much else in this beer. Faint malty aroma.

GABF. Nose was big floral and pine hops mixed with a good amount of caramel. Flavor is organic, earthy, hoppy, veggies, sweet caramel. Very nice! I had no idea what to expect from this, but I was pleased.

One of a number of 11.5 oz. Grain Belt type barrel bottles brought back from Traverse City labeled North Peak Diabolical IPA. Poured to a high ball/sampler glass a clear, copper/amber color with an average, off white head and periods and commas for lacing. The aroma was some caramel sweetness, grain, and a touch of fruit esters. The flavor was malt based with some moderate hop bitterness. Not all that diabolical but a nice, smooth IPA in the English style to me.

On tap at JP Cafe. Poura clear, dark copper color with a small off-white head. Aroma is piney, malt, earth. Flavor is malt, piney hops, earthy notes. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, finished bitter. Decent, nothing exceptional here. Malt forward, more like a APA than IPA.

Poured a deep orange color with a nice head. Aroma was sharp piney hops with nice balacing malt. Taste was much the same, lots of piney and earthy hops, with a nice malt backbone, sharp bitter finish. A nice non funked beer from JP served at their new brewpub in Ann Arbor.

GABF 2009. Pours clear orange with an average, fizzy off-white head, mostly lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (hay, straw, cereal, meal), average hop (grass, herbs), heavy yeast (sweat, horse blanket, barnyard, earth, leaves) with notes of apple and pear. Medium bodied, sticky texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness.

GABF2009 - I came to this beer expecting some kind of funky, JP style variation on this rather done-to-death style, so I was really surprised when I was greeted with a straight up IPA, and a really good one at that - as I said, we all know this style is done to death, so it is really hard to make an IPA stand out, especially at GABF, but JP managed to do it - first of all, it really is diabolically bitter and aromatic - I never though JP could satisfy the hophead in me, but it really was intense - the malts were lean and dry, really letting those hops explode onto the palate, but somehow not letting them overburden it - I don’t have much else to say - it really says something about the state of american craft brewing when a brewer does something "different" by making a solid IPA.