Jolly Pumpkin E.S. Bam

Brewed by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Bitter
Dexter, Michigan USA

Thanks to demetriustown for the bonus. Batch 288. Pours a mild plum color from the bomber with a frothy beige head and steady carbonation. Smells of lemon, red apples, and underripe strawberries. Highly bitter, almost sour, but with a fair amount of black pepper and yeast keep this one from getting out of hand.

Frothy head amber in color with suspended chunks. The aroma is funky farmy fruit. I guess I don’t have the words for this but it is fruity not sour but has other strange aromas going on. Jolly Pumpkin has again done their original take on a more traditional ESB Brew. It’s definitely got an earthy taste going on like you might expect from an ESB but there is still that ever present sour note to go along with it. Crisp grain/malt combo is there as well. Medium body and plenty of carbonation. All and all this is one of there more drinkable offerings for me.

650 ml bottle. Big fluffy lightly tanned head. Plain brown colored body. Mild lambic-like spiced aroma with notes of citrus and acidiulous apples. Taste has an earthy and grassy bitterness. Light sourish malts with spicy and herbal tones. Light-bodied. Sharp acidic-fruity, herbal, light bitter finish. Not your everyday Bitter. Nice and interesting brew.

Big light beige shiny head. Deep brown hazy body. Tropical fruity intensely spicy aroma with notes of herbal citric cloves. Dry thin watery barnyard taste with wooden peppery notes. Thin, watery body. Dry wooden faintly acidic aftertaste. Nice, but I really liked the aroma best. (0.65l bottle, not sure who from.)

25.4 oz bottle. A slow foamer after uncapping. First pour is clear but mostly off-white foam dying to a craggy moonscape with an explosion of lace. Nose is a delightful lemon custard, spicy funk and lime zest. Medium light with soft carb. Taste is lemon pith, orange peel and yeast with a dry, white pepper finish. A touch tart. Enjoyable.

750ml bottle, batch 288/289, dark amber color, with a frothy fluffy beige head, yeasty, fruity, funky nose of ripe apples, with some hints of sourness, mustiness and horseblanket, with a wet oaky note, and some light zestiness, within a light toasty malt aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a yeasty, musty, funky, leathery character, with an earthy flowery hop accent of acidic citrusy, with a kind of tobacco leaves taste, and some leafy, grassy notes, leading towards a musty, sour zesty lime, lingering hop leafy bitterness finish.

Bottle: Poured a medium brown color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma consists of tart and sour notes with some grainy malt. Taste is also a weird mix between some grainy malt with some tart and sour notes and an astringent final. Not as balanced as the Weizen Bam that I tasted a couple of days before.

750ml bottle, Batch 280/281. Spicy, herbal, fruity aroma, dusty and lightly tart with background notes of green apple, leather, sawdust and faint dark malt sweetness. Hazy dark rusty red-brown color with a massively foamy, rocky head and a dense pattern of lace. Flavor is a good blend of brown sugar sweetness, tart lemon, oak, moderate grassy bitterness and spicy, funky yeast, and is mildly peppery, earthy and acidic on the finish. Well carbonated, sharp and dry mouthfeel, body is fairly light. Interesting stuff, enjoyable.