Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

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

Bottle says this is Blend 7, 2008. Big foam-producing head. Slightly sour, yeasty, cheesey aroma. Smooth and enjoyably bitter, with a good amount of citrus flavor too. Robust and has that handmade quality I have noticed in other JP releases. I agree with ricke who said that this grows on you and gets better as one reaches the bottom of the bottle. At US$15 (reduced to 12) for a 25.4 ounce bottle, it is priced too high.

(bottle). Clear ruby/amber color. medium off white head. Light sour and oak aroma. Moderate oak flavor with light sour & malt. Avg duration. Smooth finish. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Spare lacing.

Ruby colored with some orange hues. Slightly hazy. A big dense but still quite fluffy head with an off-white, almost yellowish, color stays around for quite a while. Good lacings. A rather fine-tuned smell, with some faint champagne-like characteristics. Plenty of fruity aromas (mostly ripe apples). Some vinegar. Sweet chocolate. General pleasant tart notes. Plenty of funk going on as well - wet hay, dirt and horse blanket. Some phenols. An interesting smell to say the least. The taste is not as rich as the smell actually. Fruitiness (sweet cherries and currants, tart apples) and a semi-harsh funkiness (horse blanket, stable). Grass, chocolate, yeast, barrel notes, and dry earth. The finish is semi-dry with notes of green apples, grapes, some alcohol, faint medicinal phenols and a floral bitterness. Medium body and the beer is quite dry from start to finish. The carbonation is rather prominent at fist but it calms down after a while. Actually, the beer undergoes a positive development throughout the journey, it opens up and gets a better overall expression. This is a very good and interesting beer, but not exceptional. The smell outweighs the taste, which is kind of a shame. And as noted, it got better after a while in the glass. Would definitely have it again if it was offered. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

29th July 2008. Reddish brown cloudy beer. Sour tartness but with a medicinal twist. Plenty of oaky dryness in the finish plus more medicinal spicyness. Slightly out there flavour but a nice beer.

Bottle, Blend 4 2008, ABV 7.2%, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Amber colour, moderate off-white head. Very nice sour & sweet & funky aroma. Moderately sour and oaky flavour, fairly light bodied.

Courtesy of Bov. Vinous. Hints of raisin in both nose and taste. Complex. Nice lacework. Dry finish. Not my style of sour ale. Still pretty pleasant. Thanks a lot Bov!

from crackedkettle.com - clear red-amber colour with a little foam left; aroma of sour apples and vinegar, dried cherries; tasty and lively palate, robust carbonation and a solid malt body; moderately dry and long fruity, decently hoppy finish; sourish

BATCH 4 2009.Pours a dark cloudy amber orange. Smells like sugar, citrus and cork. Very light on the palate with plenty of carbonation. Taste of green apples and citrus, very dry finish. Really good stuff.