Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga (The Firefly)

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

Love it. The nice hint of sour at the end lends to a fruity concoction that will satisfy in the winter as well as a hot summer day. Very unique and delicious. You might even convince some random girls to drink this. Providing you have the charm to be drinking with random girls.

Bottle. Pours a rich amber color, huge initial rocky white head, solid retention and very nice lacing. Aroma is yeast, lemon zest, grapefriut, spice. Flavor is yeast, lemon, coriander, grapefruit, oak. Palate is light to medium, highly carbonated, tart, dry finish. Superstar!

Bottle from Holdenn. Thrilled I finally got my hands on this highest rated non-"grande reserve" JP brew. Doesn’t actually seem to offer much more than the (fabulous) La Roja and Ora. Aroma is pungent, spicy fruitiness, solid oak backbone isn’t overwhelming and is a great compliment. Slight chocolate, cheese, lemon-lime soda. Very nice. Great pour, dark yellow/brown with a fluffy, lacing head. Delicious flavor, as well, more subtle, fruity, refined. Lots of tropical fruit type flavors (kiwi, starfruit, mango, pomegranite, perhaps), subtle oak as before, good spices. Kind of like an oaky saison. Light grassy hops present. Full, very drinkable, especially as it warms. This really seems to shine most around 60F. Awesome stuff.

Pours a deep copper with a ridiculously huge head despite pouring carefully. This one took a looooong time to pour. I never resort to spooning foam off a beer, but I finally did with this one. The aroma is lightly hoppy with some spice and yeast. The flavor strikes an interesting balance. It’s hoppier than most Belgian ales though still fairly mild. The spices come through well and there’s a hint of oak. At first it seemed a touch watery to me, but as it warmed that went away. The finish is very dry.

Poured a pretty golden brown with some red, first there is a sweet & sour fragrance, then little spices, apples and citrus, woodsy, earthy and funky scent, slight malt scent, light & bubbly on the tongue, light malt, spice, tangy and dry on the palate, interesting beer.

Poured a darker amber color with good head and good lacing. Aroma was of coriander and white pepper. Flavor was much the same had a off citrus flavor to it. not bad not good.

Poured a rich amber color, nice huge initial head, solid retention and very nice lacing, good Belgian appearance. The aroma was very spicey, coriander most abundant, some white pepper, definite citrus/sour notes. The flavor followed suit, finished with a nice dry spice zing. If only it weren’t for that off citrus twist that JP kicks into their beers.

750mL bottle courtesy of my summer Secret Santa, no date. Pours a cloudy golden brown with a rocky four finger yellowish white head. Very spritzy looking, a fair amount of chunked brown yeast. Aroma is quite yeasty with some lemon zest, spicy grapefruity hops with some slight powdered sugar sweetness There is also some apple skin and pear. As I update this I saw someone said something about Orval, and I agree with some similarities. Taste has more of the oak and acidity that I normally get with the other JP brews, though this is more highly hopped--that’s not to say that this is highly hopped though. Slightly bitter finish. Light to medium bodied, high carbonation. Excellent.