Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Grand Reserve

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

Thanks to bgramer for this one. An aggressive pour left me with only a ring of foam on top of this deep red colored beer. Aroma is of sour cherries, malt vinegar, lactic acid, and some bourbon as it warms. Flavor is very tart with cherries, vinegar and oakiness. I was surprised to actually taste the bourbon but it worked really well in this one. This is just plain delicious. Lots of sweet and sour going on with a slight sweet tart vibe reminiscent of Rodenbach Grand Cru but more sour. Mouthfeel is extremely dry and low carbonation. I would have liked a bit more carbonation in this one, overall though it was awesome.

Bottle shared by iowaherkeye. Sampled side-by-side with the regular La Roja. Poured a slightly hazy dark orange color. Attractive aroma of cherry, oak, non-specific berry, and a splash of vinegar. I didn’t get much of the bourbon barrel cutting through the base beer aroma. Booze came through in the flavor somewhat, but in a champaign-ish kind of way. Moderately acidic with cherry, vanilla, yeasty bread dough, and white wine vinegar flavors. Good stuff.

Batch 48. Label states 32 months in oak. Ruby red with little head. Very nice oak, vinous, fruity aromas, smells much like some well aged Cabs or Merlots. Medium body with little carbonation. Big sourness from front to back with cedar wood, red wine, cherry, with some caramel sweetness. Very nice barrel aged brew here..." Is it beer, or is it wine? "

Bottle shared by mentor, thanks Paul! Poured a clear golden-amber color with a thin off-white head that faded to a ring. Lightly tart aroma with some fruitiness (berry and light citrus) and some yeast and oak peaking through. Tart, funky entry leads into an overpowering lacto, almost sour milk flavor with some light brett and a moderate fruitiness. Smooth, but not really sour, unless you take the sour milk flavor into consideration. I liked regular La Roja better, and I was pretty let down by this.

Orange color with a small, white head that leaves a light ring. Aroma shows a lot of the barrel with coconut, wild yeast and mountain fruit notes. Flavor has a lot of wildness, red fruit character, funk and a lot of barrel contributions. It’s a funked out sour ale with a lot of complexity. It’s a nice ale.

Bottle from Styles. Pour was beautiful for an aged brew, nice off-white head over a fully amber body with some deeper reddish hues. Aroma was bretty funk, citrus, caramel, tart fruits. The flavor followed, everything coming together wonderfully from the aroma along with spicey oaky (cedar even) barrel elements, tart apples, and vanilla. This is up there with some of my highly liked Russian River products, and I’m incredibly glad to have had the opportunity on this one. Thanks, Chris, a generous bottle to have sent me!

Cherry brown color with ok lacing even in my small sample (thanks to eaglefan438). Huge aroma of brett. The flavor was a wonderful brent of brett, sour and tart fruit and heavy wood and ash notes. Nice.

12-oz. Opaque dark brown with slim off-white rim, not much lace. Enormous tart funky green apple nose. Mild, somewhat thin and still body. Big oaky flavors up front followed by light apple and dry leaves. Mild green apple tartness kicks up at the end. Soft, mellow, and beautiful.