Jolly Pumpkin La Roja Grand Reserve

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

Thanks to drewbeerme for the bottle. I’m in love with this beer--and I need more! The aroma was a nice mixture of sweet malts, a touch of sour, banana, marshmallow and a light oak scent. Murky reddish brown in color witha decent head that created nice lacing. The palate is full for the style and leads to a wonderfully balanced set of tastes. First a light sour flavor tickles the tongue and opens up your tastebuds for the flow of caramel malts that are behind it. Throughout all of this you get hints of apple, oak, and a very, very faint tinge of bourbon. Wonderfully complex and easy to drink at the same time. 4.6
Updated for the new batch--32 month. Even better than before, which is saying a great deal for this incredible brew. The sourness in stronger now. Lemon tartness is light and incredibly drinkable. Perfect mouthfeel and carbonation. I’m not sure I’ve had its equal.5.0

Big thanks to Northernbrews for bringing this mindbogglingly good sour to Redlight before the throwdown. Pours a reddish brown with a off white head. Nose is hugely sour but with some dark caramel creeping in. I don’t get any real bourbon. Taste doesn’t give any real bourbon either but there is huge lingering woody notes at the end of this beer that clearly denotes this as the barrel aged version.Immensely tart and sour up front with even a slight bit of vinegar. Cherry skins. Huge lingering notes of sour cherries stick around for long after the beer is gone. This is simply amazing. The best JP beer I’ve had.

ON tap at Stone. Cloudy caramel color with no head. Sour aroma with good oaky motes and a caramel sweetness. Initial sourness transitioning to an oaky taste of caramel and vanilla with a semi-dry finish.

(BIG THANKS TO KRAMER17801 FOR THIS BREW)pour was a muky brown with not much head.aroma was a beautiful blend of bourbon,vanilla,sour funk,cherries,and caramel malts.first thing that hits the tounge is a rush of bourbon and vanilla.i then taste some chocolate,sourness,cherries,caramel malts,and lemons.wow this is very unique and exceptionally fantastic!(RE-RATE:9/9/08.20 MONTH BA AGED BOTTLE).wow,the aroma is outstanding!i get oak,vanilla,cherries,bourbon,and a slight sourness.flavor is much of the same.ultra smooth and yet still a nice long lasting palte.this is one of the best beers i have ever had.

I forget who sent me this...thanks. Pours with more foam than expected. A beautiful beer, woody looking red at the bottom, fading up into a mury light brown with a hint of red. Aroma of rich, spiced caramel. Boozy ripe fruits and oak add nicely. Slghtly less than moderately sour flavor, muddled fruits and some spice. Vanilla and oak show themselves at the finish. Moderately carbonated with a full body. I could drink five more.

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!

Good lord this was delicious. Brownish pour. Aroma is full of bourbon, sour cherries, fruit vinegar, wood and maybe some vanilla. Flavor is sweet tart, vanilla, wood, bourbon, just delicious. Really well done. This was a bottle of the original batch. And it is still amazing

Hazy scarlet-rose in color with little movement detected in my Goose Island reserve glass (seemed fitting.) Some scattered white particle dust for the head. Displays a nose for complexity. Neglected walnut shells sitting in a shallow puddle of whiskey & rye. Gentle aromatic massage of packing boxes, prunes, nutmeg, cattails and coriander. Flavor confirms that this beer was forged in heaven, taking the standard La Roja recipe to perpetual bliss. Souring compounds come calling early and often, levitating flavor dimensions of tart black cherry squish and peppered and aged cranberries.

Farmhouse fashion is elegantly embodied by brett and an earthen grain tradition. Caramel and toffee slowly decomposing over hay feed. Bourbon barrel accentuations serve a supporting role, with the corresponding nuances evolving the flavor complexity to resemble rye. Some tannic resins and wine cask qualities when it’s all said and done. Celebrates the multiple dimensions of palate intricacy. Slick, streamy slide that channels straight through the mouth. Barrel aging has subdued the effervescence, but there’s some distant natural carbonation that’s still hanging around and interjecting its own genius contributions. Finish brings us full circle with whiskey and rye, warming the mouth feel as a pumpernickel-sourdough mix fills in the rest of the faculties. Not a bourbon knock-out - just another fantastic creation that has few to call its peers. Thanks so much for the bottle, Styles!