Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Grand Reserve

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

Bottle shared by psprings at hellbilly’s hellraiser 3.0 tasting. Pours a cloudy maroon with a small pinkish head. The nose is sour wine grapes, wood and funk. The taste is sour astringent cherries, orange peel and funky yeast. Medium body. Good stuff. I’ll have to compare the regular version now. Thanks Paul!

Noted some time last April 2008, 12 oz bottle: Deep amber w/ a short lived, sparse off white head.. Mostly clear. A musty brett and oaky wood up front, vanilla and hints of chocolate and caramel. Acetic aromas and a touch of alcohol in the nose. A light toasty malt. I didn’t notice any of the typical plasticky phenolic character from the house yeast in this one. Well balanced flavor and a bit on the tart side. Caramel with vanilla in the smooth flavor from barrel aging. Brett character is subdued with a toasty malt finish. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a soapy aftertaste which was also a bit chocolatey and vanilla. Hot mouthfeel and borderline astringent from the alcohol, lighter medium body, low carbonation level. I’m not sure what to think about this one. Smooth at the start, but harsh in the finish. Nicely complex, but a bit annoying with the dry, hot finish. I’ll have to find another bottle and re rate.

[Round label bottle] Poured a hazy red amber color with a thin ring of off white bubbles around the edge, and light lacing on the glass. Aroma of tons of cherries, vanilla, wood, caramel, vinegar, oxidation, and some wild yeast. Taste of sour cherries, light bourbon notes, nuts, cardboard, light vinegar, and a tart finish. Thin and short finish. Thanks for sharing Walt!

Bottle, with Hezron. Thanks for sharing this one Nathan! Warm mahogany pour, fine just off-white bubbles. Jammed with bright spring farmy smells--apple blossoms, green grass, a bit of sheep. Honey and cola add depth and a sweet roundness. Viney, iron flavor, like deep concentrated essence of some ancient dry port. Tobacco, raw and pungent. Late in the glass, some surprising hop bitterness. Elemental. Inspiring.

12oz bottle, batch 48. Pours a beautiful murky brown/red with slight bubbles round the edge, no real head. Tons of bubbles well up all along the glass wall. Tart, sour, slight acetic nose with lots of oak on caramel, bourbon, hints of cherries. Tart, full pucker, acetic and woody, some light bourbon and vanilla, caramel rolls around on the tongue. Some prickly carbonation, tart, drying, a little hint of the alcohol in the chest. The bourbon barrel (more wood than bourbon), caramel, and full on sour meld very nicely on this. Excellent.

A solid upgrade to the already delicious La Roja. Much for sourness and acidity in the finish, a soft bourbon flavor, with lingering tart cherry in the finish with a good funkiness.

Corked bottle.
Pours a nice, dense amber with a nose of sour cedar and candied, earthy vegetables. Flavor is a springy, zesty coriander with lemon peel and cedar plank chips. Average mouthfeel. A very refreishing and invigorating sour; it’s CPR for the mouth.

Zeeland 08’ tasting. Poured an amber red color. Aroma was vinegar and cherry. Taste was cherries again, sharp vinegar, with a distant sweetness not found in most. A nice sort of vanilla, bourbon and wood seem to round everything out. Judging by reviews, I think this one just keeps getting more and more sour.