Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga Grand Reserve

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

Old rating Thanks to Tom for this one! Orangey, copper color. Funky aroma, barnyard, leather. Initial taste is leather and wood with some funkiness. Overly woodsy taste. Seems like the too much of the tannins were extracted from the wood for my liking. 7/3/5/3/12 3.0

Re-Rate I had another bottle. Batch 130/131. I got none of the overpowering woodiness I seemed to have gotten on the first one. There was some beautiful brett, some nice tart/sourness and a wonderful flavor. I thouroughly enjoyed the beer and when I was finished I wanted another. New rating reflects this bottle.

12 oz. green capped bottle gift from Styles. Pours a cloudy orange/brown color with an average frothy white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Good sour fruit and woody aroma. Medium body. Medium sour fruit flavor with a good solid balanced sour fruit finish of long duration. Another very interesting beer from this brewer.

12 oz bottle - Columbus X tasting

Thanks to Brian for bringing this. It was one of the first batch and has held up remarkably well. As with most Jolly Pumpkin releases it is excellently made and released when ready instead of being rushed out the door. I can’t wait to try the other three Grand Reserves and the latest batch of Perseguidor. If you can get your hands on a bottle of regular Firefly try them side by side. It will probably even stand up for a few more years if you want to save it for a special occasion or tasting.

Aroma / Appearance - The scent of sour mandarin oranges mixed with a bit of lemon extract filled the space above my glass. There was a tartness that was about as intense a sourness as you get from a Jolly Pumpkin release. The brownish red body was slightly murky with no carbonation that I could see.

Flavor / Palate - The combination of sourness, orangeness and tartness hit my senses at the same time. The flavor woke up my flagging palate and was only marred by a slight medicinal finish. It is definitely more funky than the regular Firefly. I’m not sure which I like more; in the end I would probably take either if offered.

bottle shared by beerlando: pours a cooper orange very thin off white head. aroma of some nice sour and small funk. slight apple fruit and almost apricot very very good. flavour is a bit watery than expected. very funky and just a bit sour. a little crabapple and slight alcohol burn in the chest. finishes dry with a small bitterness.

Bottle shared at Columbus Tasting 10. Poured a very pale gold and clear. Sweet and tart and extremely sour for a belgian ale. Not a fav of mine.

thanx to Beerlando for sharing this.poured a golden translucent color with a small white head.Nose was sour and oak, suprising me that they classify this as a Belgian Ale.Lots of tartness and funk on the flavor with some apples coming through.The finish was sour as well.

Batch 1? with the white printed label. Pours a mostly clear, dark apple cider color. A minimal, wispy film is all that shows for a head. Sudsy, spotty lacing dots the glass randomly. The aroma shows caramel, tart apples, sour, dry yeast, and mild spices (primarily cinnamon and coriander). Some funky oak scents come through as well. The flavor is sour and vinous, but well balanced by caramel and citrus fruity sweetness. The Jolly Pumpkin funk is present, but not overpowering. The oak really shows strong on the palate, as it dominates the flavor on the back end. Medium bodied, and pretty smooth by JP standards. Like the La Roja, I think the barrel aging might have gone a little overboard with this one. Solid brew, for sure, but the oak seems out of place.

Sampled @ Throwdown 3, courtesy Beerlando, thanks Brian - I’d been waiting a while to try this one. Pours a cloudy copper color with a thin soapy head. A bit of funk aroma on top of some malt sweetness. The funk comes out more in the finish, and a woody character is well pronounced in the finish as well. Overall, it seems the flavors are more tart and well-integrated than the regular Luci I had before.