Jolly Pumpkin Perseguidor (Batch 1)

Formerly brewed at Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
Style: Sour Ale
Dexter, Michigan USA

Muchas gracias to BDR for sharing! Murky copper color with no head. A very unexpected aroma of dill weed, followed by a mild sourness and possibly Munich malt. Incredibly herbal taste up front: dill and basil. Quite winey. The strong Belgian yeast character and sourness are there, but it’s almost like a sweet n’ sour, not the sour and tartness in most sour ales. Wicked good.

From 12-oz bottle and shared by BDR, pours a cloudy burnt yellow amber brew with a thick and lumpy off-white head that has some nice retention and sticky lacing. Aroma of tart fruit, vanilla, oak, a little yeast funk, and sweet lemon. Taste is medium to full bodied, little carbonation with flavors of tart fruit, vanilla, a touch of watermellon and dill. Finish is semi-dry with a dill and vanilla aftertaste that slowly disappears. Not too bad of a sour ale. Anxious to try batch 2.

5/22/08 12 oz bottle, 2.5 years old. Awesome. I’ve wanted to try this beer for a long time. Thanks to drewbeerme for sharing this. Pours an amber orange with a beige head. It has that aged La Roja smell. This nose is phenomenal. Oak, acidic, funky, with pears and oranges. So abundant, I could sniff this all night. The flavors are sweet at first sip. But the sour oak oranges push out the sweet malts. Finishes with a dry earthiness. A really rare treat. Thanks andrew!

Bottle from ryan. Thanks! Poured into my Rodenbach GC tulip. Pours a light brown/deep orange color with a very nice frothy off-white head and lacing. Nose and flavor: oak, funk, light vanilla, sweaty palms, strawberry, cherry, and chewy malts. Has a great silky mouthfeel, but the flavor kind of ends abruptly when I was really hoping for more prolonged sourness. A little underwhelming compared to what I was hoping this would be, but still a very nice sour ale.

20061216 12oz bottle thanks to Schroppfy. Clouded red-amber. Frothy beige head. Biting up front, tart middle, long tart ending. A bit applish and extremely woody, maybe overly so. Vanilla. Dry. From the notes, it looks like this has improved with time and I’m pretty sure I have much more recent notes that reflect just that.

This is the real deal!
Pours a light copper in color with only a slight head that is quickly gone. Smell is oak, vanilla, slight bourbon and the much loved JP funk. The taste is spot on same as the smell. Good mouthfeel with just the perfect amount of carbonation. An absolutely incredible creation. Thanks to Ron for making this gem, and Chris for sending it to me!

12 oz bottle purchased right from the source when they were released a few years ago. First had this at the Michigan Summer Beer Fest that July. Appearance: This beer looks quite nice and inviting in my DFH snifter. The color is a hazy brown with a one finger head. The head fades to a nice thin layer on top. There is some lacing on the snifter. Aroma: At first, there’s a little funk and sourness followed by oak, whiskey notes, and a touch of orange and spices. The nose is similar to La Roja and Biere de Mars, just a little less pronounced. Flavor: Very smooth...it’s slightly sour (not as sour as some of JP’s other offerings), but there is some sourness in here. The creamy head is followed by oak, whiskey, some fruit and slightly roasted malts. Damn is this balanced. Palate: Did I mention this is smooth. Nice mouthfeel and slight sourness hangs around for a bit. This is dangerously drinkable. This may be JP’s most balanced and drinkable beer. Very nice mix of sourness and oak flavors. This goes down real easy. Overall: Another excellent beer from Jolly Pumpkin. Ron, Sean and the crew deserve all the credit (and then some) that they receive. Definitely worth seeking out. The extra 6 months in the bottle definitely helped this out.

Batch 1 from 2006; a very emotional thanks to Ryan for this special bottle. Pours bright orange, the color of coals and very thick with haze. Unusually thin and very milky skin of white leaves a loose glue of lace up the side of the glass. Soft aroma of lactic acid, red pepper, vanilla, banana; full of attic must and yeasts. Hints of baked pear and cinnamon apples from the Roja; sun dried tomato, spicy wheat, and grasses from the Bam. A whisk of stale agave juice sours it slightly, but built with plenty of hearty brown sugars and caramel. Flavor initially seems very dusty and old, with a lot dry grass, herbs, and minerals. Slowly, a dull spiciness unfolds, bringing red peppers, sesame, and cardamom. Bright citrus juices of mandarin orange, lime, and grapefruit quickly rid themselves of sweetness into a hot balsamic and white pepper sourness. Almonds and hazelnuts dry out the back end. Palate is gentle and crisp; mildly acidic, medium bodied, again showing a quiet, sawdust hint of musty age. Soft golden fruits and some vanilla in a sweet finish. Though it isn’t as emotive or alive as some of Ron’s better projects, this one is still very engaging and creative. Pleasant and quite lovely; perfect for sessions with something comfortably sour.