Jolly Pumpkin E.S. Bam

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

Bomber at Jerry’s. Dark caramel with big, foamy beige head / Floral, tart, apple nose / Medium body, fruity & lushly hoppy, with long, tart, bitter finish / Flavors of apples, dry hops, cherries, caramel, and coriander / A bitter? Only in the JP universe. Perfection.

22oz. At the SATRG. Pours a light brown with reddish hints. Crazy massive head with somewhat decent retention. Awesome aroma of citrus, nuts, cheese and something else. Very lasting slightly bitter finish. Up front the tart is there as with all JP. Very cool nutty middle and a great caramel finish with hints of roasted nuts, lightly tart and sour citrus and of course a healthy dose of hops. This is one of their best, very very complex and amazing.

Pours a dark hazy chestnut brown/ orange-amber color with a thick frothy off-white head that has excellent retention. This isn’t giving way at all. I mean it barely settles into a thick cap that lasts throughput leaving large chunks of soapy lacing that practically coat the glass. Sweet citrus aroma with lots of orange peel and some nice chocolate and caramel malt. Tart earthy notes with some nice peppery spice, more citrus, dark cherries, light fruit, oak and vanilla. This is a very complex aroma. Let’s hope the flavo is the same. Nice chewy full body with some art sour oak/wood flavor. This slightly puckering earthy taste is a perfect compliment to the citrus peel notes and earthy hops. Once again, there is a prominent orange peel presence with some soft carbonation and a nice malt backbone providing excellent balance. The aftertaste of this beer makes me salivate for another sip. Extremely quaffable. Another excellent offering from the folks at Jolly Pumpkin.

Bottle at Rudy’s tasting May ’08, courtesy of IPFreely. Dark golden brown, small frothy white head. Awesome aroma, hoppy, fruity, some yeast. Waste is terrific - bitter, earthy, fruity. Perfect soft carbonation. Short sharp bitter finish. Amazing, best beer of this tasting. Thanks for sharing Tim.

OMG - I think I’m in love. This beer is a perfect marriage of bretts and hops. Dry like a good saison should be, full of bretts like a good sour and full of hops like an IPA! Pours a copper with minimal head. Aroma is bretts and hops. Flavor is the acidic sourness from the yeast and hoppy bitterness from the hops. Floral hops abound in this one. I can taste notes of hay and grass, farmhouse, leafy autumn evenings and freshly mowed lawns. By the way, this is not a Bitter, but a Saison. I don’t remember Bretts being part of a Bitter.

Amber color with a med-lg head. Classic bam aroma with some nice sour/wildness, brettiness, citrus, and funk. Flavor is again classic Bam (as good as any regular Bam batch I’ve had) but a bit more hoppyy/peppery/citrusy with a crisp finish. Awesome.

750m (batch 288 of 289)l purchase at Belmont Station and consumed in my hotel room. Really a fascinating beer. The pour was a deep red with a huge rocky head that was very attractive. The aroma was like a quality bitter but with a really obvious funky character that defined it. Very enticing. The flavor was complex and showed some of the sourness and farmhouse character that I’ve come to expect and enjoy from the better JP beers. I wish I could get this locally, especially at this low alcohol. I would drink it all the time.

Bottle. Lots of cheesy funkiness with apple and pepper spices. The really hoppy/grassy notes and the perfect use of malts. This beer is no joke. Beautiful JP typical mouthfeel. JP beers are always hit or miss for me and this one is a triple down the line, 3 RBI’s.