Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Jolly Pumpkin’s long exodus to the Colorado market has been an anguishing one for curious drinkers, myself included. Ever since I sampled their goods at the 2006 GABF I’ve had an unshakeable thirst to try more of their calculatedely, cogently complex beers. When my friendly neighborhood wine savant told me he had recently recieved the first wave of Jolly Pumpkins at his store, it was just a matter of donning a pair of pants and finding my car keys before they were securely in my posession. Among the offerings, Jolly Pumpkin’s Roja took the dubious honor to be drunk first on account of the store manager’s reccomendation. An accurate pour and a close examination up to the light justifies the beer’s Spanish title with its passionate redwood hue, ringed by a rustier red-orange eclipsing a boring, planar white head. The aromatic qualities of the Roja smack of a latin fiestyness where raw spinach, iceberg lettuce and endive brawl with the fruity fragrances of mandarin orange, cherry and strawberry, each side vying for territory like a flavorful West Side Story. Black pepper integrates fluidly into the run-amok scents, alongside fresh leather, vanilla ice cream, vinegar, lumber and the littlest peep of watermelon. Strange stuff indeed. The flavor begins with a tried and true combination of sweet & sour - the sweet bolstered by sweet vinegar and the sour by regular vinegar. If this sounds too lip-puckering, be not afraid. An umami rich wood flavor assuages the overwrought vinegar flavors, resulting in a well paced, well toned and mature flavor. Slowly this precarious see-saw of tastes clears like morning fog, revealing a beer hinging on spiced pipe tobacco smoke. It is strong, and grapples the tongue where it wraps it in a viscous binding of ineluctable smoky, pricking spice flavors. The Roja is not for the faint of heart, but adventurous souls will be right at home.

Thin wisp of foam for a head. Good carbonation. Bunch of floaters in there. Dang I hate floaters. Some fruit and a bit of tomatoe in the aroma. Dark orange in color. Medium bodied with plenty of malts. Buttery and sweet with caramel. Lots of butter. Creamy dry and slightly bitter finish. Pretty good stuff. I expected this to be much more sour than it was. Good for me I guess.

In short: Funky Flemish sour. Good and unusual.
How: 750ml Bottle, 6 months old
The look: Cloudy amber body with a medium off-white head
In long: Before this bottle I only had small samples in festivals/tasting sessions and I didn’t remember this beer being so funky. Funkier bottle? Bad memory? Lots of barrel in there and lots of funky bretty-ish yeast as well. Very fruity with cranberries, sour red apples, grapes and some cherries. Sourness level is low-average by Flemish Sours standards. A little spicy edge. Finish is somewhat short. Body is very fluffy, again unusual for a Flemish Sour. A very good beer (it’s a Jolly Pumpkin after all). I’m a big fan of funky/bretty beers and I’m a big fan of Flemish Sours. But here the funk and the barrel/sourness were competing with each other more than working together. Felt like an unnatural marriage of two desired qualities, like a 22 year old blonde bombshell and a 76 year old multi-millionaire.

Poured from a bottle. Poured an amber color with a rocky off-white head and nice, rising carbonation. Aroma of sweet and sour fruits with funk. Caramel malt entry is accompanied by hints of sour cherries and oak. Nice bite on the finish. My first Jolly Pumpkin beer, but I will be trying more in the future.

750 mL bottle. Pours a cloudy dark red color with a large foamy off-white head and lots of lacing. 10 minutes after pouring, the bubbles are still rising violently. Nice aroma, sour cherries or raspberries or some kind of fruit, but then it also has a sawdust kind of smell that makes it seem a little more mellow. Flavor... more subdued than I would imagine. Mostly malty caramel flavor, with just a tiny sour bite in the finish. This is a nice brew... definitely interesting the way it changes from the aroma to the taste.

Bottle. Nose is sour with fruit notes- light cherry and raspberry. Unfiltered cloudy brownish with a big white head and active carbonation. Sour up front with a nice sweet cherry middle and a clean finish. Palate is crisp and supportive of the acidity.

Pours a deep amber, with a hint of haze. Nice slightly off-white head that is lush and lasts. Aroma is very oaky, with a hint of yeast and sourness. In the mouth, it’s quite carbonated yet soft. The sourness is at the forefront here, but it’s not overpowering. I’m not a big sour guy (or a big oak guy, for that matter), but this was nice.

Bottle. Pours a murky brown body with quite a bit of cloudiness to it. Aromas are sour and like white wine with some wood and fruit notes. Flavor is wonderfully sour which quickly follows an initlal malt presence that is best defined as oaky. The transition to tartness is quick and a little brusque. That said, I find myself really enjoying this particular Jolly Pumpkin take on how to make a beer both sour and good. The tart nature of the beer is held in check by the organic notes of oak and yeast, which keep it from being a true pucker experience, but this is still not for the faint of heart.