Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Grand Reserve

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

Muddy orange colour with a small white head. Malty, caramel sweet aroma with a light tart and fruity note. Malty, light fruity flavor with an acidic note and hints of wood.

(Bottle 37,5 cl) Pours an unclear amber with a small, off-white head. Fantastic bourbon aroma. Medium body, lots of woody and bourbon accents and a distinct tartness. No real bitterness. Courtesy of madsberg. 120207

Bottle. Hazy orange coloured with an off white head. Aroma of fruits, wood, vanilla and hops. Light acidic flavour of fruits, wood and vanilla.

Bottle in a trade from MI2CA. Pours a brownish red with little head and slow, but present activity. Aroma is first of sour cherry, earth, and oak with a sharp alcohol fruit poking out at the end. Bourbon and sour fruit end up combining for a very pleasant aroma. Flavor is sour cherry, musty earthy yeast, tart (nearly vinegar) sourness, and a mixture of oak and light bourbon. More fruitiness becomes present in addition to sour cherry, apple and a vinous grape character. It has a distinctly dry feel and finish, definitely kissed by the bourbon and oak. I really enjoy the JP beers and sour beers are becoming among my favorite. This isn’t quite as good as the regular La Roja at this point, but is still well assembled.

Bottled. Amber coloured. Unclear. Light brown head. Fruits, light sweetness, spice, vanilla, grape and a light sourness in the aroma. Quite balanced and very very nice. Flavour is way more bland. Grape, sweetness, light caramel and loads of apple. Medium bodied. Ends on a sweet barrelish vanilla note. With that nose I would have expected way more, but still a nice beer. Thanks to Mullman for the trade.

From a 12 oz. bottle with no bottling/freshness date, sampled at cellar temperature in a chalice. Poured a reddish amber with a tight, foamy, bubbly topped off-white head that settled into a thin sudsy lacing. A nice wild ale nose, funky, musty, Brett yeastiness, oak vanilla, sour fruitiness, hayish, a subtle caramel maltiness and a whiskey barrel-like alcohol. Good even, steady carbonation and a crisp, dry, slick, smooth medium-light bodied mouthfeel. Unique tasting, a sour, tart fruitiness of apples, grapes and pears, a musty bread, farmhouse yeastiness, a very light oak vanilla creamy that meshes with the bourbon barrel woodiness, a soft caramel maltiness, the alcohol is spicy and warming in the palate, and a dry yeasty, malty, spicy alcohol finish. I was surprised to see this on the shelves, didn’t know it existed, but it was from Jolly Pumpkin, so I had to try it, easy, sipping drinkability, well worth trying.

12 oz bottle, via MikeMac. Pours a dark amber colored body with lots of small chunkies floating about. Very small fizzy beige head quickly ran to a thin ring. Nose is pretty huge on the bourbon with lots of fruitiness, some alcohol, vanilla, light funkiness, and yeast. Flavor is as equally over-bourboned as the aroma indicated. Thought under that there’s a nice funky fruity base with some toffee, caramel, and spicy yeast. Finishes fairly dry with some light bretty notes. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a slight cloying stickiness. Carbonation is fairly fizzy and lively. Overall, I liked this, but the bourbon was too over the top. A little less and this would have been really good.

hazy rusty amber. nice nose, musty white grapes, wonderful bier de garde. would do well with some aging.