Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza

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

Bottle: Poured a brown color with a nice amount of head. The aroma was oak, sour, spice, and dark fruits. The flavor was dark fruits, spice, and the signature sour oak from JP. Overall, another quality brew from Jolly Pumpkin.

Pours a dark cloudy chestnut brown color with slight amber hues when held to a light source and a 1.5 finger foamy beige head. Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting ring, leaving minimal lacing. Earthy vinous aroma with a very prominent tart oak presence. Spicy and peppery with a bit of cinnamon, corriander, cardamom, and a bit of a medicinal note. Lots of dark fruit notes as well. Once again the flavor is dominated by the earthy funky tart vinous presence. Lots of spice and dark fruit notes, especially pepper, cinnamon, plum, raisin, dark cherries, raisin and fig. Nice malty backbone balances things out pretty well. Dry tart finish. This is a very complex unique beer. Think christmas beer/ sour hybrid.

Dark brown with a super foamy head. The first sniff of the bottle is tart funk and some spice. Smelling the glass brings heavy funk with possibly chocolate hiding behind and cherries and a few fumes. The flavor is strong sour, some flavors like grapes, no noticeable alcohol, body is not thick and the finish isn’t dry like the fuego I had the other day. This is a good beer, especially if you like sours, but didn’t do the trick for me as other Jolly Pumpkin beers have. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 12-04-2007 04:14:21

2007 Vintage ~ Blend 2

12/15/2007: Jolly Pumpkin Noel de Calabaza Special Ale has chocolate, earthy, and dark aged fruit flavors. It also has some dry oak character and a balancing dry bitterness in the finish. The beer has excellent balance. The aroma is the tell-tale Jolly Pumpkin funk with some acidity and fruity malt. The beer is dark brown in color wtih a frothy, lasting tan-colored head, good lacing, a medium to medium-full body, a very smooth texture and slight creaminess. This is a fantastic beer for the Christmas-time!

1 pt. 9.4 fl. oz. bottle shared by nvhall. Thanks Nick! Rating #333 for this beer.

750ml bottle batch 333. Pours a dark brown with an endless head. Smells very sour appleish, with some malt and other fruit and spice. Taste is like a damn fruit salad...grapes apples, some orange, cherries...the list goes on. Some notes of oak in there too. Very bitey carbonation with a noticeable sour to it. As it finishes theres a detectable burn on the way down. Pretty good.

Blend #3, 2007. Pours a deep brown with a huge fizzy tan head. Nose is catty, green grapes, cherries, some hints of wood, loads of funk and apricot. Flavor is noticeable wood presence, tactic sourness, unripe grape, chardonnay, cherry, and red wine. This beer matured amazingly. mouthfeel is medium with loads of carbonation making this drink like a champagne.

750ml bottle - $13.49 at Beverage SuperStore in Suwanee, Georgia. Batch #331. Appearance: Cloudy, mahogany-hued body with a truly gigantic, foamy, khaki-colored head. Even after a hearty pour, there’s a foam snake creeping out of the bottle. It’s no drain pour, but it has been placed in the sink to prevent any unsightly messes. Smell: Sharply aromatic nose that’s all at once sweet, tart, and spicy with notes of mixed fruits, fine oak wood, sugary gingerbread cake crumbs, pungent funk, conspicuous spices, and a wholesome whiff of nose-tingling menthol. Taste: Sweet syrup-coated cake with a mix of fruit flavors: golden raisins, sweet cherries, green apples. Also, a little splash of tart Merlot. Oh, and some menthol and spearmint, though this is eventually superseded by a strong licorice flavor. Undertone of funkiness throughout. Teeny dash of cocoa powder and mulling spices and crushed walnuts. Zip of oak wood with some additional vanilla tastes. Touch of alcohol on the latter half. Raspberries arrive late. Fruity, tart, spicy finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Highly carbonated, obnoxiously so even. Drinkability: A true multitude of complexities within this one, and, as always, it’s another weird, wild ride from Jolly Pumpkin.

Bottle sample at Muckfest 2009 Day 1. Cloudy amber pour with a medium tan head. Tart and fruity aroma. Tart fruit flavor gives way to sweet malt and some alcohol in the finish.