Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga Grand Reserve

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

Bottle. Cloudy amber coloured with a white head. Aroma of fruits, vanilla and spices. Flavour of fruits, spices, wood and vanilla.

Bottle from MI2CA. Thanks Ted. Pours a dirty, but expected, butterscotch brown with a little white head. A decent amount of activity keeps the small head active. The aroma is sour and tart, funky and dry. Lots of activity in the nose. Sour cherry and a barnyard funky yeast, a pleasant dry oak character, and some tea. Flavors are echoes of the aroma, but with a more defined dry pepper and tea flavor. Strong and distinct barn yard mustiness that with the sour flavor produces a beer that begs you to have more. Fully spicy finish. It’s a very complex beer. Wonderfully earthy, funky, and musty along with fruits and even a bit of hop flavor coming in late.

Bottled (Trade courtesy of Mullman). Dark golden coloured. Unclear. Dense off white head. Sweetness, fruits, light spice, vanilla and grape in the aroma. Flavour is full of vanilla, but in a quite balanced. way. Grape, sweetness and fruits in the flavour. Medium to full bodied. Is light dry.

Bottles from Chris Styles in a hand delivered deal. The barrel aging did not ruin this brew. There seemed to a bit more sour notes than the other which is fine by me, now. Lots of that funky barnyard yeasty stuff going on. Heaven. The low ABV also helped to enhance some flavor as the burn did not distract from the taste.

Bottle from Ogglethorp. Thanks Brian! Opened this one to celebrate Carolina’s win over Duke. Go to hell, Dook! I tried the regular Firefly about a year ago and remember liking it quite a bit, so I was psyched about this one. I wasn’t disappointed. Pours a murky amber with hardly any head. Woah...big aroma--a lotta brett, oak, funk, and a little bourbon boozeiness. Delicious flavors as I sip slowly on this masteful brew. Brett needs some time to breathe but really comes out nicely as the beer warms. Some sour fruity flavors mesh well with the bretty bourbon funk. Would like to find another bottle to have down the road.

Bottle from Secret Santa. Wahoo! When this beer hit the top 50 a year ago was the first I’d heard of JP. Now they are one of my favorite brewers, and I managed to have almost every beer of Ron’s before the highest ranked one and original want-lister. I must say though, it’s a little dissappointing. The aroma is still rich and complex, but the bourbon seems to muddy it up a little bit, dominate the subtle complexity it had in its un-grande version, instead just making it a bit "bigger." There are more delicious oak tones, lemon and spices. The flavor is big plummy oak, rather buttery in the mouth, even a touch boozy, likely from the bourbon. Good fruitiness in the mouth, a gentle peach and lemon zest, and a slight sour orange tang. Still a quite tasty beer. Thanks, Styles!!

12 oz. bottle with a black shrink-wrap over a green cap, bonus beer from Styles in a trade a couple months ago.
interesting aroma of a wet blanket mixed in with some sour green apples. appearance is not quite a crystal clear golden amber nor is it completely murky. flavor is a very subtle mix of green apples, brett, a blend of spices and oak. very soft carbonation with a pleasant dry finish. thanks Chris, very enjoyable.

12oz bottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan!! (Popped open to celebrate finishing the rough draft of a novella.) Pours a murky amber-brown appearance with a light green tinge; small, off-white head with a line of large bubbles retained at the edges. Smells like heaven: the brett character attaches itself perfectly to the sour-mash end of the bourbon, providing a long, aromatic thread of tartness; backed up by plenty of toasty oak, sour cherries, and red fruits; if it were a little more forthcoming it would be a ten for aroma. Reserved palate (which expands itself over time) and light carbonation: lots of tart brett character, sour bourbon notes, with a warm oakiness surrounding it all; hints of a sour, crabapple character as well. Still a bit too lighthearted from what the aroma suggests, and I hope the brett character develops a bit more over time (it seems less than what I remember from standard Luciernaga). Certainly tasty, but lacking a slight oomph. Long finish, showing overripe red fruit, light brett, and sugar.

Note: in a similar fashion to NG Unplugged Enigma, this beer benefits significantly from some time to breathe and unfold in the glass.