Jolly Pumpkin Maracaibo Especial

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

Nice tart and sour aroma (pretty standard for the Jolly Pumpkin beers). Pours an opaque reddish-brown, with a nice slightly off-white head. Wow... there’s a lot going on in this beer. There’s tartness, a touch of spices, a touch of baker’s chocolate, and a long tart finish. Definitely something I want to get more of.

bottle - Pours dark brown with a small white head. The aroma has malts, yeast, and a sour fruit smell. Some kind of sour malt dominates the flavor and is joined by the yeast and a hint of citrus and spice. It’s a solid beer, but the sourness wasn’t doing it for me, at least not in this beer. (100th Michigan beer rated... nifty)

Date: 06/17/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip

Appearance: clear dark brown with ruby highlights, big lasting creamy beige head that slowly oozes out the top of the bottle but leaves lace on the glass,
Aroma: nice tart aroma of oak and chocolate,
Flavor: nice dry chocolate flavor with lots of woody oak character, a little orange sweetness sneaks through, touch of spices including cinimon grows as it warms, lasting light bitterness,
-------- /> Date: 10/29/2006
Mode: bottle

continues with the dry chocolate flavor along with plenty of complex character
-------- /> Date: 04/03/2008
Mode: bottle
Vintage: 2006

Aroma: still the tart chocolate aroma,
Flavor: drying out even more with the chocolate flavor, tartness in control, bretty cobwebs showing up,
Overall: a couple more years will let the brett shine,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 8/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.9/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

This amber ale poured with a decent beige head and a sour funky aroma. The flavor is sour and spicy malt with a lot of citrus. There is a carbonated mouthfeel and a long dry finish. This is a complex brew that makes for an interesting drinking session.

Bottle share courtesy of Patrick767. A dark, crystal brown colored brew with a small cream head. Roasted malt aroma, notes of boysenberry, strawberry, wet grass and a bit of a spiced candied sugar aspect. Heavily carbonated, dry, sour malt flavor. Some apple flavors came out as it warmed along with a few other fruits. Good stuff.

I could tell as soon as I popped the cap that I was in for something special. There is a wonderful nose on this beer. Plenty of spice, tartness and funk. The taste is incredible. The taste has a nice dose of cacao. The mouthfeel is full and creamy and just the perfect amount of carbonation. This beer is a real treat.

750 from pantanap last Feb.; nose has chocolate, caramel, and some light funkiness; Clear honey-brown (color of a cinnamon grizzly bear for you hunters) with a big beige glass-lacing head; flavor of tart dark fruit, berries, and caramel; finish is peppery spices and tartness!

This special brown ale is a new definition of the genre. Sour and sweet notes ping-pong off one another. Cacao and chocolate comes into the mix as the sour element rounds out the complexity. A damn tasty beer that must be tasted to be explained.