Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada Obscura

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

Bottle. Deep black color with a thick brown head. Funky, tart aroma - the unmistakable JP aroma. Chocolate malty flavor with some burnt, bitter character, which gives way to sourness. Really unusual beer; i enjoy the Jolly Pumpkin treatment of a stout.

Bottle. I am late to the game with this one. Haven’t been drinking much beer recently and rating even less. However, when a bottle of untried JP crosses my field of vision, it will be purchased, tried, and rated. I am currently in a hotel on Philadelphia so my glassware choices are slim. It is either one of hotel water glasses or a Saison Dupont glass that I bought on this trip. In the words of Sir Topham Hatt, "Here we go!"

Big fizzy nut brown head sits atop an opaque black body. The aroma is a very nice combo of nutty roasted malts and some funky yeast/JP house character. Assertive roasted malts are first, they are then quickly displaced by a tart yeasty almost funk that is very welcome. It is also contains a good bit of bitter hops, more than I expected, and more than I thought could possibly work in a beer like this. Though it does. A fine creation that manages to blend three distinct flavors: roasted malt, funky wild yeast, and bitter hops together in a formula that would never work on paper but works quite well in the glass. Kudos.

750 mL bottle split with NachlamSie. Pours black with mahogany edges and a nice tan head. The aroma piques my interest right away: nutty malts and roasty notes are strong, with maybe a bit of cocoa, but then there is also an assertive oaky cellar tone with some sour berries and cured leather. The flavor actually startled me with its complexity. The better part of it is roasty or musty, and a clean hop bitterness hits up front. Woody and nutty malts stay even throughout. In the middle I get a few raisins and maybe a splash of brandy, and a hearty dose of floral acidity. The finish really brings it together. The roastiness lingers, but a distinct bite of lactic sourness kicks in, leaving an aftertaste much like cocoa powder and smoked cheese. The elements aren’t things I would normally associate with each other, but they are blended together very gracefully. I am impressed. Very drinkable indeed.

Bottle split with Tronraner. Pours intensely dark ruby, black in average lighting, with a nice tan head. The aroma has some tart cheese and barnyard along with roastier flavors of a stout. Now I’m thinking, what the Hell? What a confusing night, DFH Red and White and now this. I gotta say, I like it, though. The flavor has a lightly ashy, toffee flavor like a porter then the clean, Balsamic vinegar sourness over top. Flavors of coconut, earth, coffee, flour, sour apples, dark chocolate. . .man. What is going on? I can’t say that I like it as much a straight-up stout, but I think I enjoy it as much as I would any soured beer. This was a very pleasant, unique surprise. I’d recommend anyone try it just to develop an opinion on this delightful curiosity.

750 mL capped bottle, purchased from Liquor Max. Pours opaque with an average sized creamy light brown head, completely lasting, fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (burnt, coffee, molasses), light hops (grass), average yeast (dough, leather), with notes of wood, alcohol and prune. Heavy bodied, fizzy texture, lively carbonation and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness, moderate acidity and bitterness; roasted malt, oak barrel, bitter alcohol and dark fruit flavor.

Bottle. Pours dark black brown, tan head. Aroma is pine, molasses, popcorn, tangy bleu cheese, chocolate, coffee. Flavor is bleu cheese, sour dough, coffee, anise, molasses, caramel, pine, smoke. This is quite a complex stout. I’m impressed, but I didn’t expect any less from Jolly Pumpkin.

One of the most complex stouts I ever tasted. The taste of coffee is the first impression. A very nice full bodied beer. I am impressed by it

thick syrupy black pour with a large dark brown head. nice roasty aroma. excellent toasted smores flavor. notes of vanilla, oak, bret, maple syrup, and oak. sour but yet roasty and sweet. never had anything quite like this.