Jolly Pumpkin Weizen Bam

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

750 ml bottle: Aroma is lemon, wheat, yeast, and especially tart and pungent. Appearance is a cloudy yellow with a nice thick really carbonated head. it almost looks like home made lemonade. Taste is nicely tart with a slightly sugary back end. Flavors are wheat, light lemon, yeast, somewhat of a weizen like taste but really subtle. Aftertaste is clean with a slight lingering yeast flavor. Overall, this is a nice hybrid beer. It’s not really a straight weizen. It’s more of a mixture of a belgain ale and a weizen, but good all the same. Cheers!

Batch 315/316; Sampled August 2008
A soft pour produces a two-and-a-half finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The beer is deeply hazed and has straw color as it sits on my desk, when held up to the light, despite being so light in color, it is opaque in my 25cl tulip glass. Lots of grain-like aromatics are noticeable; grassy, crushed grain and bright wheat notes are noticeable. There is a light tartness to this brew as well as a musty, earthy funk. Some slight clove and the wheat aromas are all that weakly links this with a traditional German Hefeweizen. None-the-less the aroma is quite nice smelling. Other aromas of lemon zest, crushed saltine crackers and some slight phenolics of the none clove variety are also noticed. Interestingly enough, the wheat and grain character is perhaps the biggest contributor to the aroma.

Quite light feeling with a zesty carbonation that causes the beer to dance across the tongue. The flavor is much more what I was hoping; it is in fact a nice mix of traditional German Hefeweizen flavors and the signature JP barrel funk. Flavors of clove up front yield to a tart lemon zest character, but then switches to a mix of banana (this is very soft) and clove flavors as well as some light, spicy oak notes and a tart, wheat driven finish. The barrel funk is definitely young here as it is not overly noticeable; a touch of roundness seems to belie some tannic oak notes, a light tartness and a boost to the spiciness of this beer are what is most noticeable. My second pour has me noticing a touch of green apple fruitiness and, along with the light oak character, is somewhat reminiscent at times of an oaky chardonnay.

Like each of the Bam beers, this is eminently light and quaffable; it is very dry and quite close to water in its heft. This lightness works quite well here as it keeps the beer refreshing and there is lots of complex character to keep one interested in exploring the nuances of this brew. The aroma is a bit of a miss for a beer that is touted as a mix of a Hefeweizen and the JP barrel aged character, as the traditional Hefeweizen notes are much muted and even lacking. This is for the most part made up for in the flavor, but I wouldn’t mind a touch more of an assertive Hefeweizen character here either.

freshly tapped at the malthouse on the night before GTMW.... pours a hazy yellow orange, strikingly similar to a mimosa (not that i drink those!), with a soapy white head.... aroma was lemony citrus and pineappl with very little of anything else..... watery citrus flavors with light carbonation....i’m hoping to try this one again from a bottle with some age as i wasn’t totally diggin on this.

Bottle, shared by Mike. A brief break from IPAs. Surprisingly lemony after a day of hops. A bit of yeast. Flavor is similar enough to the aroma - nice, but nothing stunning. Quite thin.

Pours very light hazy yellow with a small white head. Aroma of funk, lemon, wheat, and oak. Taste is the same with a very tart dry finish. Great beer for a hot day. Go Grim!!!!

GTMW 08 - Pours very hazy yellow / orange with a dense off-white head. The aroma has smooth wheat, pineapple, light banana and only a small bit of funk. Light body with soft carbonation. The taste is a bit watery and finish has a bit of the Jolly Pumpkin funk. This did not blow me away at all - hopefully it will be more impressive from the bottle and a rerate will follow.

750 ml - Thanks for sharing, Hopscotch! Ultra hazy gold, thick creamy white head. Nose of lemon oak and vanilla pineapple warms to swirls of banana spice. Soft sour citrus funk and spice flavors round to notes of bready wheat at room temp. Medium bodied with light carbonation. Made for a perfect beach beer....

Very pale yellow. Some pedio, wood and a lot of wheat on the nose. Tart, slightly fizzy, very wheaty and lightly lemony. Interesting beer, doesn’t entirely come together but it’s okay.