Clarkvv (16523) reviewed La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales 21 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
2004 draught at the MBGSBF. Pours a deep reddish-orange with some darker browns swimming around. Medium sized dark yellow/cream head, quite bubbly and translucent. Aroma holds some yeast, red berries, stiff caramel malt and some spicy yeastiness as well as a hint of the bourbon aging. The aroma dosent prepare you well enough for the flavor however, which is intensely bourbon tinged. Very interesting as this is my first belgian ale with bourbon aging. Strong and lightly bitter, but there is ample sweet malt to back it up. This kinda takes away from the belgian characteristics, though they are hard to hold down, as there is a ton of yeasty complexity in here. Maybe tone down the barrel aging and this would easily be in the mid fours.