Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
Colour: hazy orange beer with a good, dense, creamy & cream-coloured head. Nose: Imagine: sugarpreserved orange parts, carefully laid in cognac, itself kept in one-year old Bourbon casks. Whiffs of vanilla, iodine, grapes... and alcohol AND fusels.... 6.5% he said??? Taste: again oranges, but these have been worked upon - on a Haspengouw farm, with barnyard odours, horsestables, and wild, but carefully nudged spices from the hedges and hollow roads leading to the farmgrounds. These oranges have crispened and dried on the topmost barnfloor, above the first hay, and are withered and shriveled. But they have retained lots of fruitsugars, and now they’ve been pierced by cloves, and soaked in the illegal, but lovable grainspirit grandma distilled last winter, layering it with all the summerfruit. Rich and velvety palate, and yet only medium bodied. More higher alcohols than ethanol, I’d nearly wager. Everytime another cult brewery pops up in the USA, I harbour a defty scepticism. They want oh so desperately to have their legends too, our western brethren, failing any history. But this time, I have to incline, and bow before the JP Genius. AND I accept the coriander! (*) A hundred thousand thanks to Todd, for giving me this masterpiece. (*) ’cause I can’t discriminate it from the rest!!
Clarkvv (16523) reviewed Bière de Mars from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
March 2005 bottle, one year old, consumed on 3/22/06, chilled to start, from a wine glass Initial nose is plummy. Brett carving the way and lactobacillus in its wake. Oily, with mature oak notes, dry black cherries, moist prunes and the barest hint of choco-caramel adding faint sweetness on the very end. I could almost mistake this for an Italian red wine blend were it not for the malt on end. All this, and I havent even poured the beer yet. Decanting releases a huge blast of aroma. Cherries, prunes, cranberries and plenty of yeast. Lactobacillus emerges very lightly. The body is a deep ruby-mahogany with strong amber-caramel overtones. A creamy, beige head leaves heavy lacing. Head is perfectly retained. Very minute bubbles rise vigorously in the liquid. Warming and breathing allows, finally, for some stronger malt tones to emerge, caramel and vanilla, with the chocolate fading. Will there be enough there to combat the tannins and wild yeasts? I can’t tell from the aroma. But upon first sip, phew!, a big sigh of relief. Not only is there enough residual sweetness, but there is just the right amount of it, allowing brisk fruits (apples, cherries, pears) room to maneuver, while still comforting the palate with creamy sweet caramel-toffee notes, reminiscent of Bavaisienne, but with much less fat honey and rich caramel. Wild yeasts produce tight carbonation, but so much of it, that it comes off overcarbonated for the first 20 minutes or so. Lactobacillus hangs on the edges lightly, but the brett phenols are still quite notable, adding dry, fruit rind notes and further deepening the complexity. Thus far, the wood has been only lightly nutty, mildly tannic, but the tannin-build is inevitable, increasing as it warms. Like dry, nutty almonds/almond skins. Not sure where the cherry (esters?) is coming from, but it is bright and very welcoming, helping to combat the tannins. However, as I finish the bottle, I would hardly say the tannins are overdone. Certainly present, but I think this beer escaped their ruinous effect seen in the reserve series and others. Thanks for the bottle, SuIIy. Draught at DFW, 6/21/23. Still seems great, no significant update here, score unchanged.
beastiefan2k (4724) reviewed Oro from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Used a La Fin du Monde glass, poured with just a little bit of medium low head. The color is a dark yellow, very thick looking, cannot see through the beer. The smell is great, similar to a Belgian Wit. Very strong, refreshing and potent. The taste is zingy, citrusy, and flowery. The aftertaste is a little sour, which is a surprise for a beer like this. 8/4/8/3/15
Rerate: Freshest batch, full rectangular labels now. Poured into a small tulip glass. Pours with a small head but again that thick golden yellow, with no clarity but plenty of light is so beautiful. Aroma is great with full on funky brett. Sour, acidic and that fresh light cherry sourness of the brett. Floral as well, can sit here and smell it all day long. Taste however, is very one-dimensional, soured-grass thing going on. Kind of boring, leaves me wanting more from the beer. No other flavors, leaves an empty feel in the aftertaste. 8/4/6/3/14
Biruski (4902) reviewed Bam Bière from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Pours a cloudy golden orange with a large puffy head that lingers for quite some timeand which leaves nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of fruit, grass, yeast, wheat and malt. Mouth is very light and crisp. Flavor is of citrus, wheat and grass. Starts out sour and tart and progresses to a more citrusy finish. Rather refreshing.
Lubiere (24459) reviewed La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Hazy red brownish ale with a thin off white head. Sweet caramel malt aroma, with faitn ashtray notes, but giving way to fruity esters as beer warms up. Sweet caramel malt with strong diacetyl buttrlike mouthfeel, a bit unpleasant. Medium bodied. Bought in Chicago. Sam’s, Nov. 2005.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8.5
Wow, this is some really interesting stuff - pours a dark amber with foamy off-white head - somewhat musty and tart aroma at first, but that makes way for cocoa, cherries, oak, cinnamon, raisins - the flavor reminds me a bit of Fantome Chocolat, but I think I like this more - orange peel, cherry, port/vinous qualities, cinnamon, nutmeg - chocolate comes in underneath all of these, and finally becomes dominant (but not overpowering) in the finish, along with just the right amount of warming alcohol - I must have more of this.
Ungstrup (52110) reviewed Luciérnaga from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
An unclear orange beer with a white head. The aroma is sweet spicy combined with notes of oranges. The flavor is sweet spicy - especially coriander, but also with fruity notes of oranges, leading to a dry end. A rather average Belgian Ale.
Ungstrup (52110) reviewed Blanca from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 19 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
An unclear yellow beer with a disappearing white head. The aroma is sweet spicy - with ginger being quite strong. The flavor is very carbonated with notes of spices - again strong notes of ginger, but also lesser notes of coriander, leading to a dry end. Less carbonation would do this beer good.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Nearly flat, cloudy burgundy pour - man, I thought I’d smelled oak in beer before, but I was wrong - it smells like my nose is pressed right up against the barrel - as muzzlehatch notes, it does smell quite like an English barleywine (lots of port, plum, toffee, chocolate) - quite acidic up front, but this fades, leaving a lot of vanilla and bourbon character, and oak..lots of it...it’s almost overwhelming - some over-ripe apple and citrus make appearances, but mix surprisingly well - dry, vinous finish - I’m a fan of barrel aging, and this is interesting, but I think bourbon barrels are just wrong for aging such subtle beer - they should take a lesson from Russian River (supplication, temptation) and age in more "appropriate" barrels - thanks to Pailhead for this sample.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
A hazy nut-brown beer with a thin orange head. The aroma is sweet alcoholic with notes of caramel, and hints of herbs. The flavor is sweet with light notes of both wood and alcohol, leading to an end with light notes of hops, and the alcohol still lingering around. Nice.