Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura

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

1 year old bottle - Blackish pour with a pretty thick beige head. Aroma has a really nice roasty/sour mix with some chocolate, coffee, and tart fruit detectable. Flavor oscillates between roasty and sour - you can never quite pin it down. Tart upfront with some fruit and brettinesss, settling into some vanilla/oak and coffee. Nice bite and a good mouthfeel. Interesting and tasty stuff from JP - only down side was that this is one of those funky beers that was irritating the stomach by about 1/2 way through the 750 - still a damn good brew.

bottle from lone hill. Black with a foamy brown head. Chocolate, orange, and Belgian yeast aroma. Chocolate, big tangy orange taste with an oaky, roasty finish.

Batch 265 Bottle. Thick black pour, inky opaque with a big bubbly brown head. Strong funky chocolate aroma, sweet and sour. Peaches and dark-roasted coffee. Flavor opens with sourness that fades into some sweetness into a bitter finish. Extremely deep and well-layered. Sourness comes and goes, interlaced with bitter and sweet dark chocolate notes.Sourness shows up much more as it warms. Unique and delicious. Full-bodied and smooth palate, the acidity breaks up any cloying from the intense sweetness. Conceptually near perfect, and well-executed. Easily one of the best beers I’ve ever tasted.

Pours a dark brown in color with a huge rocky head. Plenty of nice webbing on the glass and a continuous froth remains atop the beer.
Smell is the same wonderful tart/funkiness that you’d expect from JP. This is a completely different stout than I’ve ever had and I’m loving the twist. Plenty of dark roasted malts/chocolate coming through that reminds you this is a stout. Full and creamy mouthfeel. I’ve yet to have a bad beer from JP. I love them!

Bottled. Deep brown pour with lighter edges and a frothy beige head. Sticky lacing continues throughout the glass, giving an appetizing appearance. Aromatics consist mostly of fruity plum with raisin, and a surprising earthy character of cut green grass. The roasted malts are more present in the flavor, but overall the beer leans to the sweeter side with a touch of lime citrus and more dark fruits. It lacks the big, roasted espresso notes of regular and imperial stouts, replaced with a larger dry and bitter tone. A bit of astringent sourness on the finish. Not really worth the price tag in my opinion.

To begin, I find this to be a great summer stout. Meaning, if you’re in the mood for a big stout on a warm summer night, this will do quite nicely. Aroma is that typical Jolly Pumpkin sour funk and roasted malt. Surprised at how much sourness there is, expecting those big roasty notes. Then again, this is Jolly Pumpkin and every thing I’ve had from them is big on the sour (must be the yeast strain?). Flavor is more of the same, with big notes of sour oak melding with dark chocolate and roasted dark fruit. Very different for a stout, but not surprising, considering the source. This beer became more sour as it went along, but not in an unpleasant way. Chocolate overpowered the beer but goat cheese seemed to be the proper companion. A "food stout", if there is such a thing. Very interesting, but not typical for a regular stout afficiando.

Dark brown with a tan head. Big smell is vinous JP funk, cocoa, and dark roasted malts. Nice frothy whipped cream mouthfeel. Taste is dry, earthy barnyard, lemony citrus with roasted nuts and cocoa..... Not your average stout beer here.

Bottle from South Bay Drugs. New arrival that I haven’t seen anywhere else. This stout poured as pitch black motor oil with a tanned layer of head. The aroma was a dark roast malt with notes of coffee in the background. The flavor, however, is a roast malt and slight chocolate but souring upon the palate and seems almost unripe at its current condition. It must be aged further to determine if this is more drinkable than its current state.