Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

I didn’t like this beer at first, but after a little bit I started enjoying it. (Be careful when you open the bottle - it is fizzy as all-get-out!) The odor is rather unbeery but pleasant, reminding me of a nice brandy. Taste is also brandy-ish, unlike any other ale I have ever sampled. This brewski is smooth and imparts a nice tingly sensation, with a strong but not disagreeable bitter aftertaste. You have to love the pirate kitty on the label! I admit I bought this beer because of that, but I am glad I did because the contents were a pleasant surprise.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pours a translucent dark amber color with a large amount of fine effervescence and topped with a large off-white head with little lace. The aroma begins with toasted bready and caramel malts, but then the wild yeast derived funkiness begins to emerge with some oakiness, light lactic acid and some cherry. The taste begins with initial maltiness of heavily toasted bread crusts and dark caramel with a brief, restrained sweetness quickly clear the way for a veritable tide of funk induced flavors along with sour cherries, red apple peels, vanilla and some puckeringly tannic, fouled wood barrel tastes. Fairly earthy and acetic at times. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with high carbonation.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 8

A beautiful reddish colored ale. A large frothy reddish tinged-white head rises above. There's some hang time. It settles into a thick soapy ringlet. A vinegary nose. The tasting is sour dark fruits. Very nice. Light-medium bodies. Well carbonated. Delicious!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

sampled on 9/24/10. 750 ml bottle with ryan. blend 14, 2008. pours a cloudy medium brown/red. thin head. aroma is tart, funky and oaky. medium body. taste is lovely tart, fruity, funky, oaky with a little sweetness. mouthfeel is full. aftertaste is tart.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Thanks gully for sharing this brew. Opaque brown brew sitting in my glass. Sour apple aroma combined with watermelon, this aspect of the sent brings me back to junior high and eating jolly ranchers. I can also smell some nail polish and alcohol what is surprising given the relative low content. First sip the oak aging was very prominent with vanilla and wood shinning through. More sour watermelon jolly ranchers. Malts are tasty and thick with a yeasty flavor. brew seems a touch overly carbonated but is still ok. Great brew I’m glad I could try it.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle, Blend 4 2008, ABV 7.2%, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Amber colour, moderate off-white head. Very nice sour & sweet & funky aroma. Moderately sour and oaky flavour, fairly light bodied.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Wow! I looked at this on the menu and based on the seeing the word Jolly, I ordered it. There's a lot going on here. Very French, very complex, very good. Hazy copper coloured beer with a high carbonation level. Nice tart aroma and taste that has hints of fruit and old yeast. Excellent for the style.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Slowly sipped on a couple glasses of this fine treat. Pours a cloudy amber color and holds a pencil thin off white head along with a few spots of lacing from time to time. Vinous and tart, it awakens the palate quickly. Great aroma of earthy yeast and funky, fermented fruits. Sweet and sour mouth feel with a drawn out and pleasant finish. Tastes wonderful with an abundance of sour fruits coupled by a caramel and toffee malt backbone. Lively and mildly sour compared to some others in the same genre. All around fantastic beer.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

a biere de garde...really?! more like a sour/amber ale. not sour compared to, say, russian river, but for an "artisan" amber, it’s pleasantly tart. this was actually worth the $10.99 price-tag. nothing that quite blew me away but almost...a very solid all the way around. funky sour barnyard aroma, smooth full body, velvety finer thick head atop a dark cloudy amber body, and some slightly sour tasrt fruits and a touch of hops and sweet malt. well done! still like it, but downgraded a tenth. the house character is the same in too many JP beers.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Re-rate 10/2/09. This bottle is probably a couple of years old. Murky reddish-brown pour with a real thick long-lasting head. Heavy lacing. Tart and sour, cherries with bretty funk, ripe plums, some yeast and apple. A bit astringent in the finish. Seemed a tad muted, perhaps a little past it’s prime? I don’t know, this is still very tasty, but I’ll have to compare this to the one year old bottle I have. I’m going to leave the rating as is. Original Rating: This was a bit of a gusher. I had to pour it fast for minimal losses. A deep murky amber color, or brownish, with a huge khaki head that is controlled quick enough. The aroma here is yeasty, some champagne, flowers and some fruit. Very nice. Tart cherries with some raspberry kick off the flavors with a little bit of a spicy bite, funky brett and wood notes show as well. Dry and sour in the finish. Pretty complex, I’m not sure what exactly I’m tasting at times but I like it. Good beer.